A Single-Day Comprehensive Medical Examination for Preventive Healthcare
1. A short description of the innovation or technology.
The idea is to set up a method and system for semi-automated medical examination (blood test, CT/MRI/PET imaging, DNA genetic/epigenetic sequencing) within a single day, coupled with consolidated diagnostics by artificial intelligence. The individual's snapshot results would be made available on-line in secure on-line electronic medical records.
2. The reason that innovation is important, either in terms of health impact, societal benefit, or other factors.
Annual medical examination by a family doctor with a stethoscope is a 19th century concept. As the population increases and ages, the healthcare system suffers from stress, i.e., difficulty in finding a family doctor and longer waiting periods. When each issue is identified, an examination (biopsy, blood, imaging, mammography, urine, etc.) is made, followed by an appointment with a specialist.
As the medical knowledge increases, it is becoming obvious that such process has much waste and that there is great room for improvement by streamlining the process. For example, recent research indicates that any cancer can be detected by a blood test.
3. A description of the current state of the industry surrounding the innovation you have identified and suggestions for future development.
Some of the elements exist already, but they are fragmented in bits and pieces with very high cost. 23andMe already offers personalized DNA service for Genetic Risk Factors and Drug Response at reasonable cost. However, direct detection of epigenetic marks is still in the early stage of development.
AI to combine the data, consolidate the results and analyze the diagnostics is still missing with no prospect in sight at the moment.
