It’s a decade from now, and you’re stable in the ICU after a recent heart attack.
Your doctor harvests some of your stem cells while a 3D printer outputs a drug-impregnated stent that has been designed specifically for the dimensions of your heart valves. Meanwhile, nurses prepare an injection of your cultivated stem cells and factors that trigger tissue regeneration.
As you go gently into light sedation, the surgeon dons augmented reality (AR) glasses that overlay your vitals and critical imaging data in her field of view. As the procedure unfolds, she guides a catheterization robot to your heart, deposits the stent to open a dangerously narrowed artery and continues on to inject the therapy in the damaged cardiac tissue.
Within days, your heart is almost repaired and your blood is flowing smoothly.
This minimally invasive surgery would have been unthinkable just a few years ago. But new technologies are already transforming modern surgery for physicians and patients. It’s the early stages of a revolution that will improve surgical training, procedure planning, health system efficiency and ultimately, patient health outcomes.