In the CHU of 2020 there is virtually no beds

Is electricity the medicine of tomorrow Medical technology specialists in doubt not one second. After all, the human body is a gigantic nervous network where flows an incalculable number of mainly electrical and chemical signals. Restore a failed circuit can breathe life into a muscle, stimulate tissue or soothe pain, and anguish.

Two complementary trends support the current craze for medical devices: miniaturization and the unrivaled cost-effectiveness of electronic components. For the moment, it's especially devices capable of measuring and correcting a lack of clearly identified. Term, it plans to continuously monitor the functioning of the body, with a battery of micro measuring a few critical physiological parameters and transmitting the information by radio to specialized centres. This "health monitoring" reassures the sick and the handicapped, who already dream of a "taking continuous support". By contrast, it concerned the property carrying conductors who see a drift of the technological society capturing intimate medical data ("Les Echos" from September 30, 2010).

Minipompe insulin

The disposable insulin pump, recently presented by the association between the Swiss industrial Debiotech and STMicroelectronics electronics specialist, summarizes the interest of medical technologies revisited by electronics. This component of 22 grams is based on a pump subminiature containing 4.5 ml insulin, corresponding to six days of treatment. Set on a patch, it provides the regulation of insulin by subcutaneous injections. Feeling come the vein of the "électronicothérapie", the Franco-Italian group has signed partnerships with Sensimed (detection of glaucoma), Mayo Clinic in the United States (cardiac monitoring) and laboratories Veredus (molecular diagnostics).

The industrial development on its micro machines manufactured in very large series and low-priced, as electronic components in Silicon.

A sensor on the heart

MEMS ("microelectromechanical systems") are real Labs on a chip ("labs on a chip"). They provide the biological analysis of a liquid or a fabric from microscopic samples, while consuming very little energy. Recently, American universities have announced the development of an electronic circuit flexible and biocompatible of the size of a coin. This flexible sensor can be set on a heart living as a movie or a patch. With hundreds of points of contact, it is able to map a body in vivo and continuous. U.S. researchers believe that the concept of the flexible sensor could be extended to other bodies. He was tried on the animal, and a later version might work wireless.

This predictable invasion of electronic devices poses many problems to health systems, ill-prepared to measure their effectiveness (the rendered medical service) and ensure their refund. In 2009, the amount of such payments has reached 5 billion euros in France, and this market progressing 7à 8 per year. "This is explained by the arrival on the market of increasingly sophisticated devices and the boom of the activities of hospital at home", note André Tanti, Vice-President of the Economic Committee of health products in charge of these applications to the Ministry of health. Unlike a medicine which, once developed, has a shelf life long (several decades with generic versions), the average life cycle of a medical device is of the order of 18 months.

Hospital Lapeyronnie de Montpellier, Professor Eric Fox is working on the "Holy Grail" of the care: the artificial pancreas. It is in fact an insulin pump "smart" automatically adapting to the needs of diabetics at any time of the day. "We are working on a pump that can automatically adjust the flow of insulin from a system of measurement of glucose in blood continuously." In addition to the system of administration of insulin (skin), the challenge is in the development of a predictive algorithm automatically and very finely modulating insulin infusion. The concept of the "closed loop" should allow diabetics to live almost normally.

For Eric Fox, there is no doubt that the rapid development of these medical technologies will profoundly transform the support of the sick and the functioning of the health care system. "In the CHU of 2020, there is virtually no beds." We'll follow our patients remotely on computer.