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The Impending Medical Revolution as Expressed by X-Prize Founder Peter Diamandis

By lenrosen4

October 5, 2014

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October 5, 2014 – Rather than paraphrase the content of an e-mail I received yesterday from Peter Diamandis I am reproducing it largely in full. It is a statement about the revolution medical science is undergoing as we speak because of a convergence of a number of technology breakthroughs. But rather than me telling you I will let Diamandis describe it. It is his words that appear below in italics.

We are in the midst of a (medical) revolution driven by exponential technology: artificial intelligence, sensors, robotics, 3D printing, big data, genomics and stem cells.

Today’s $3.8 trillion dollar healthcare industry is in the deceptive phase of its march towards dematerialization, demonetization and democratization

What does that mean? Imagine a time within the next 10 years when:

Sensors and AI democratize and demonetize accurate diagnosis. Where an autonomous health scan is identical for the poorest on Earth and a billionaire in Manhattan.
Large-scale genomic sequencing and machine learning allow us to understand the root cause of cancer, heart disease and neurodegenerative disease and what to do about it.
When robotic surgeons can carry out a perfect operation (every time) for pennies on the dollar.
When each of us can regrow a heart, liver, lung of kidney when we need it instead of waiting for the donor to die.

These breakthroughs are materializing because of the convergence of the following key accelerating technologies.

Artificial Intelligence (AI):

AI will enable better diagnoses and personalized medical recommendations.

Johnson & Johnson is teaching IBM‘s A.I. called Watson to read and understand scientific papers that detail clinical trial outcomes.
One such Watson system contains 40 million documents, ingests an average of 27,000 new documents per day, and provides insights for thousands of users.
After only one year, Watson’s successful diagnosis rate for lung cancer is 90 percent, compared to 50 percent for human doctors.

Sensors:

Wearables, connected devices, and quantified-self apps will allow us to collect enormous amounts of useful health information.

Wearables like the Quanttus wristband and Vital Connect can transmit your electrocardiogram data, vital signs, posture and stress levels anywhere on the planet.
Google is developing a smart contact lens that can monitor the wearer’s blood sugar levels for diabetic patients.
The $10M Qualcomm Tricorder XPRIZE is bringing the Star Trek Tricorder to life in the next 15 months — not for a doctor or nurse, but for you, the consumer.

Robotics:

The precision, accuracy, and mobility of medical robotics will allow us to serve more humans around the world, faster and cheaper.

Over 1.5 million surgeries worldwide have been performed by Intuitive Surgical’s Da Vinci robotic system using 3D HD vision inside the body, with precise movements that don’t have the tremors of a human hand.
Companies like Suitable Technology’s BEAM, and InTouch health allow top physicians to beam into locations around the world for consultation and rounds at hospitals.

3D Printing:

On-demand manufacturing will make medical devices cheaper and more readily accessible to millions, and it will make scarce resources like organs-for-transplant abundantly available.

3D Systems is 3D printing precise dental and anatomical models, custom surgical guides, implantable devices, exoskeletons, hearing aids, prosthetics and braces for scoliosis and other applications.
Students at Washington University 3D printed a robotic arm for about $200. Traditional robotic limbs can run $50,000 to $70,000, and they need to be replaced as children grow.
Dr. Anthony Atala’s team are 3D bioprinting with cells to produce tissues, blood vessels and even small organs.

Genomics & Big Data:

The cost of genome sequencing has plummeted 100,000-fold, from $100M per genome in 2001 to $1,000 per genome today… outpacing Moore’s Law by 5x.

At Human Longevity Inc., our mission is to accumulate the largest genomics data set ever. We will sequence over 1 million full human genomes, microbiomes, MRI body image scans, metabolomes, and more…
Next, with that large data set, we’ll be able to unlock the secrets of our biology. We’ll find insights into and cures for cancer, heart disease and neurodegenerative disease, and ultimately extend the human lifespan.

Stem Cells:

We are now in the earliest stages of stem cell therapy development. Future therapies will be transformative and, frankly, mind-boggling.

Stem cell therapy promises tissue regeneration and renewal – and thus a “cure” for everything from blindness to spinal cord injuries, type 1 diabetes, Parkinson’s disease, Alzheimer’s disease, heart disease, stroke, burns, cancer and osteoarthritis.
In 2012, researchers at Cedars-Sinai reported one of the first cases of successful therapeutic stem cell treatment – they used patients’ own stem cells to regenerate heart tissue and undo damage from a heart attack.

Diamandis, seen in the picture below from Xconomy San Diego, is Chairman and CEO of the X-Prize Foundation, and a co-founder of the Singularity University, an institution focused on science and technology and role they play in solving the challenges of the 21st century. I have written about the X-Prize on numerous occasions and recently was asked to join the X-Prize Vanguards in the launch of the newest $15 million prize quest, to develop software for teaching children literacy and numeracy without the need for bricks and mortar schools. And if you haven’t read Abundance – The Future is Better Than You Think, I highly recommend it.