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...For those waiting longer and longer for test results or even to see a doctor, patience is essential. However, technology is now offering greater and faster access to medical expertise - and that's good news for all patients. 

Innovative technology has always been a critical element in improving healthcare, but in recent years the pace of change has increased exponentially. New techniques for diagnosing and treating patients have revolutionized the quality of care patients receive, while improved information flows mean that records and medical data are more readily available to physicians than ever before. This means shorter waiting lists, faster results, potentially fewer inaccurate diagnoses and a better atmosphere for patients in general.

Numerical radiology

In some areas, technical innovation has transformed healthcare practice from the ground up. For example, medical imaging techniques have advanced dramatically over the past seven years with the introduction of digital X-ray cameras with flat panel displays. Digitisation of both still and moving X-ray images has resulted in clearer, faster pictures that can be manipulated to show details that were previously difficult to see.

Some 80 per cent of X-rays involve taking pictures of lungs and skeletons. Thales has developed a wireless system specifically for these types of examination: the Pixium portable X-ray system. And while devices that emit radio waves - such as mobile phones - are often banned in hospitals because of the danger they may interfere with other electronic equipment, the Pixium system relies on low power wi-fi connections that do not affect sensitive circuitry.

Catching cancer mid-stream

Besides producing images, radio waves are also used to treat cancers. Treatment can involve projecting high intensity beams of X-rays, electrons, protons and heavy ions at diseased areas of the body. The machines that produce these different types of radiation are known as particle accelerators and they are being used more often and more widely as deaths from cancer continue to rise.

More than 7,500 particle accelerators are already installed in medical centres throughout the world. However, some of the devices are very expensive: the latest proton therapy system, for example, costs €100m. Technologists are constantly working to reduce the cost, size and the invasiveness of these devices.

Jean-Pierre Brasile, advanced systems manager of Device Hardening, Instrumentation and Safety at Thales and his team recently demonstrated a new cyclotron - a circular particle accelerator - that helps detect cancers. The cyclotron uses radio frequency energy to accelerate protons that are held in a circular path thanks to a magnetic field. This proton acts as a bullet to transmute oxygen into fluoride. This 14-ton instrument is primarily used to produce Fluorine-18, a radioactive isotope that is injected into patients to locate cancers.

Remote control

While technological breakthroughs such as these are a boon for patients living near enough to take advantage of them, distance remains one of the greatest obstacles for effective healthcare. Expertise gained from research in completely different fields, such as aerospace, has been applied to improving healthcare and overcoming this particular challenge. For example, from the earliest days of space exploration, the health of astronauts was vital for the success of a mission, but sending a doctor into space was never a practical option. The solution? Telemedicine, which provides medical consultation to people, no matter where they are located.

Through telemedicine, doctors can communicate with patients through an advanced form of videoconferencing technology. For people in particularly remote areas of the world, or even those where the population isn't large enough to merit a large medical facility, telemedicine can make a significant difference to the health of the local community.

Satellite communication allows specialists to confer via video links and to share X-rays and other data, which they can annotate in real time. Case conferences and other meetings also routinely take place electronically. Other satellite-based services, such as the Global Positioning System (GPS), help to improve medical care. Health services already deploy GPS to direct ambulances and doctors on emergency calls, and to track patients who might get lost, such as those with Alzheimer's.