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What we can perhaps expect before the end of the decade would be additional
varieties of implantable devices. One new medical device already being re-
searched would be an ocular implant to restore at least partial sight to the blind.
The same or a similar technology might also be effective in repairing spinal
damage and perhaps restoring mobility for patients paralyzed because of spinal in-
juries.
As it happens, hearing aids are expensive devices and, due to successful lobby-
ing, are not covered under normal health insurance programs or under Medicare.
As a result, hearing aids, which cost perhaps $20 each to manufacture, sell for
about $2,000 to $4,000 each.
The hearing aid manufacturers don't want insurance coverage because they fear
prices would be driven down. The insurance companies don't want to cover the
high costs of hearing aids because they know manufacturers want to keep prices
high. (The government, which oversees Medicare, seems to be powerless and inept
when it comes to balancing patient benefits against political contributions and per-
suasive lobbying.)
An interesting alternative solution is technically possible and, indeed, proto-
types already exist. This new model of a hearing aid would put the main software
for adjusting volume, pitch, and background noises into a smartphone. The device
that goes into the patient's ear would need to be only a relatively simple receiver,
amplifier, and speaker, probably constructed from standard components for a very
low cost. In fact, such devices can be purchased today for entertainment purposes
for $15 or less.
One of the potential side benefits of using a smartphone for a hearing aid
might be to direct other kinds of signals such as music, emergency broadcasts, and
possibly TV sound directly to the hearing aid via Bluetooth or some other form
of short-range wireless transmission. Whether or not a similar technology would
work with cochlear implants needs more research.
Another possible medical advance, although probably not seen during this dec-
ade, would be the development of submicron nano devices that would be inserted
into patients. These could be remotely controlled or perhaps at some point made
autonomous. Their purpose would be to act as phages and seek out troublesome
conditions such as Lyme disease bacteria, antibiotic-resistant infectious agents
and, possibly at some point, cancer cells.
These nano devices would probably be single-purpose devices that would op-
erate until their targets were eradicated, and then the devices would be removed.
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