By Duncan Higgins / Source: TechRadar

Imagine computer-controlled A&E rooms, DNA tests on your smartphone and 3D printed drugs tailored to your body. What sound like scenes from The Matrix are, in fact, becoming a reality, as the technology sector increasingly shifts its focus to health-related gadgets and apps.

Sales of fitness bands have come thick and fast, and this year is allegedly going to be the one in which smartwatch sales explode – driven, of course, by the upcoming Apple Watch. Healthcare is undoubtedly an increasingly hot topic within the technology sector, but this development isn’t just a one-way street!

Pharma companies themselves have in turn started partnering with tech giants to create smarter tools and more efficient treatments for patients. One example of such a symbiosis we saw last year was Novartis’ partnership with Google to develop smart contact lenses that monitor blood sugar levels through your eyes – a device that could completely revolutionise the way people with diabetes regulate their insulin intake.
Look to the future

It’s astonishing what we can already do with the technology we have to hand today, but what else does the future have in store for the global healthcare industry?

We asked this question at our 30:30 Vision event last year, in which startups and well-established companies, all working in the healthcare sector, joined us to cast an eye 30 years into the future and come up with their vision for what their industry will look like in 2044. They were joined by someone who knows how to seize opportunities from converging sectors – Sir Richard Branson – and collectively agreed that there are major developments ahead, from home support to mobile healthcare.

Read more @ TechRadar