HP Innovation Journal Issue 03: Summer 2016 | Page 13

and commercial mobility with diagnostics, digital health, big data, precision medicine, and theranos- tics will disrupt existing, established structures in our healthcare system. This will allow new models of partnerships among technology and pharma- ceutical industries (see fig. 1). Fig. 1: Commercial mobility for digital health revolution W hat will our future look like? Blended Reality, the fusing of our physical and digital worlds, is a uniquely promising value proposition for 3D print applications. Blended Reality vision for digital health Blended Reality is a versatile concept that can be extended from the physical and digital worlds to the chemical and biological world. In the convergence of healthcare diagnostics and digital health, it can play a fundamental role: the transformation of human biology, real-world parameters into digital data to obtain contextual health information and enable personalized drug treatments. The fusion of microfluidics, edge computing The foundation and evolution of healthcare From the very beginning of mankind, health- care was purely empirical and mostly a com- bination of empirical and spiritual skills. While access to cures was exclusive and very limited, the success rate was not very high in most cases. During the Renaissance a systematic exploration of natural phenomena and physi- ology laid the scientific foundation of modern medicine. A real breakthrough in quality and access to healthcare services has taken place in the past 150 years as an aftermath of the Industrial Revolution. It brought significant advances in science as well as societal chang- es: expanding government-granted access to the establishing working classes as the Microfluidics and microsensors Manipulation of the working fluid by ac- tive components such as micropumps or microvalves. Micropumps supply fluids in a continuous manner and micro­valves determine the flow direction. Embedding microsensors in microfluidics channels enables measuring biomarkers real-time from bodily fluids. Precision medicine A medical model that proposes the cus- tomization of healthcare, with medical decisions, practices, and/or products being tailored to the individual patient. Theranostics Ongoing efforts in clinics to develop more specific, individualized therapies for various diseases, and to combine diagnostic and therapeutic capabilities into a single agent. main human capital of the industrialization process in the Western Hemisphere. Keeping a business’ employees healthy became an indispensable prerequisite to increasing the national economic output and well-being on a societal level. In order to grant standardized access and quality healthcare, technologies became centralized and protected by gov- ernment policies and regulations associated with massive capital investments and service layers (see fig. 2). Healthcare has always been driven by technology Healthcare timeline Today 20 th Century Pre 20 th Century Ancient times Healthcare 1.0 • Rudimentary • Highly personal 1-1 • Access: Exclusive Healthcare 2.0 • Foundation of modern medicine • Shift to scientifically- based medicing • Access: Limited Healthcare 3.0 • Industrialization, centralization and standardization • Rise of complexity and specialization • Technologies challenge healthcare economics • Access: Benefit Key trends shaping healthcare Convergence of technologies Healthcare 4.0 • Decentralization enabled by microfluidics • Focus on prevention • Personalized treatments • Big data and digitization • Access: Democratized Empowered and engaged customers Regulatory changes Shift toward decentralized, preventive, and personalized treatment models New entrants = Disruption Fig. 2: Healthcare has always been driven by technology with direct societal and economic impact Issue 3 · Summer 2016 · Innovation Journal 13