Medical Innovation Directed at a Better First Line of Defense
In many areas of health care progression of painful debilitating diseases could be readily curtailed with a much better first line of defense.
Syndromes and diseases that are diagnosed early and treated proactively result in less down time, quicker and more complete recoveries and less invasive and less costly treatments.
There are so many examples of this in health care.
Carpal Tunnel Syndrome is a powerful case in point where patient satisfaction ranks as one of the lowest sectors in medicine.
CTS is often misdiagnosed and treated with conventional immobilizing wrist braces that result in muscle atrophy and compression of the injured tissue which usually complicates the treatment leading to invasive surgery with patient outcomes of less than 60% satisfaction due to long-term loss of grip strength and continuing pain and numbness.
What is actually needed at the early stages of Carpal Tunnel Syndrome is the application of decompression braces, active use and exercise to prevent muscle atrophy and enhance blood circulation. The failure of conventional healthcare approaches in treating CTS has been well documented, but, the system is slow to change.
Another example is the spread of Lyme Disease through tick vectors. Lyme Disease treatment is fairly straight forward with good patient outcomes when caught early and treated proactively with the appropriate antibiotics and immune system enhancement. However, it often goes undetected until the progression has proceeded into a debilitating disease that severely disables the infected patient from normal daily function.
A better first line of defense to systematically inform, treat and prevent the progression of these syndromes and diseases would reduce health care costs and result in better outcomes for patients.
Eureka Medical is looking for medical inventions that improve the first line of defense in diagnosing and treating disease to prevent the progression, reduce downtime and result in better patient outcomes. Often the best medical innovations are those that empower a patient to self treat at home after an accurate diagnosis from a qualified medical professional.