The Cleveland Clinic announced its list of the top 10 medical innovations that have the potential to transform healthcare in 2017.
The 11th annual list was announced Wednesday during the Cleveland Clinic 2016 Medical Innovation Summit, held this week at the Huntington Convention Center of Cleveland and the adjacent Global Center for Health Innovation.
A team of more than 100 doctors and researchers assembled by the Clinic examined nearly 200 nominations to identify and rank the top 10 innovations. The panel doesn’t highlight brands or companies, but rather the innovation and its potential applications in healthcare.
The Top 10 Medical Innovations of 2017 are listed below in order of anticipated importance:
1. Using the microbiome to prevent, diagnose and treat disease
Trillions of bacteria in the body make up communities known as the microbiome. Within the last 10 years, researchers have discovered that the chemicals microbes emit can interfere with how food is digested, medicine is deployed or how a diseases progresses.
The National Microbiome Initiative has accelerated research and development, and biotech companies are looking at the microbiome’s potential to develop new diagnostics or therapies and probiotic products to prevent microbe imbalances.
Experts believe that next year the microbiome will solidify itself as “the health care industry’s most promising and lucrative frontier,” according to a news release.
2. Diabetes drugs that reduce cardiovascular disease and death
In the past, medications have fallen far short of addressing the mortality rates for type 2 diabetes. Half will die from complications from cardiovascular disease. Those odds reach 70% after the age of 65. But new medications began dropping mortality rates this year.
Empaglifozin modifies the progression of heart disease by working with the kidneys, and liraglutide has a comprehensive effect on many organs, according to the release.
2017 could bring a complete shift in the medicines prescribed and further research into new ways to target type 2 diabetes, experts predict.
3. Cellular immunotherapy to treat leukemia and lymphomas
One of the first cellular immunotherapies is about to hit the market, and early results suggest leukemia and non-Hodgkin lymphomas might be curable, even in advanced stages, according to the release.
Chimeric antigen receptor (CAR) T-cell therapies are a form of immunotherapy in which T-cells are removed and genetically reprogrammed to find and destroy tumor cells. After attacking and killing foreign cancer cells, they often remain to minimize the risk of relapse.
The treatment, results for which have been impressive, is expected to be presented to the U.S. Food and Drug Administration next year for treatment for acute lymphoblastic leukemia.
4. Liquid biopsies to find circulating tumor DNA
“Liquid biopsies” are blood tests that uncover signs of actual DNA, or cell-free circulating tumor DNA (ctDNA), which is shed from a tumor into the bloodstream and is more than 100 times more abundant in blood than tumor cells.
Several companies are developing testing kits expected to hit the market this year.
Liquid biopsies are being hailed as a flagship technology of the Cancer Moonshot Initiative, a national effort to end cancer.
5. Automated car safety features and driverless capabilities
New automatic safety features could make a dent in dangerous car accidents, which remain a leading cause of death and disability as well as a major expense.
The automated features include collision warning systems, drowsiness alerts and adaptive cruise control. More are likely coming.
Though legal and safety questions remain, major investments into driverless cars are being made by software, private transportation and auto manufacturing companies.
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Author – Lydia Coutre, Crain’s Cleveland Business