HEALTH TECHNOLOGIES

Critically Discuss the Effect that New Technologies and/or Practices in Your Subject Area are having on Society

Critically Discuss the Effect that New Technologies and/or Practices in Your Subject Area are having on Society

Introduction

In the recent years, cancer has taken a form of growing chronic disease. According to Soubry (2013, p. n.d.), 250, 000 people in the UK are diagnosed with cancer on a yearly basis with 130,000 dying, as a consequence of this chronic disease. With the advent of technological advancements in the field of biology, medical practices have found ways to treat various types of cancer prevailing in the human body.

The paper aims to explore recent technological interventions and medical practices that have made a positive contribution to the society in today's battle against cancer. The paper identifies and evaluates various aspects of the selected biological technology and the degree of their impact and severity on the society. Moreover, the paper collects empirical evidence from prior literature to support the positive impact of selected technology on society and to cure the chronic disease of cancer.

Finally, paper draws a conclusion based on the critical evaluation of empirical evidence, relevant literature and its practical implication in the coming years. The paper is centred on the notion that VERO machine has blessed health sciences with a technological weapon to minimize the cumbersome health effects of cancer.

Discussion

Radiotherapy is a medical practice to treat cancer; it operates through high dose of radiation to stop the growth of cancer cells in the human body. The radio therapy is carried through internal or external beam (National Institutes of Health, n.d., p. 1). In the recent years, radiation therapy has advanced at an exceptional rate due to rapid revolution in the field of radiation oncology has undergone significant progression through research and technological interventions. Advancement in the diagnostic imaging equipment and swift technological development has been substantially credited for these developments in the medical practices to cure cancer (Dyk, n.d., p. 2).

There has been a varied range of technological advancements on the surface of biological treatments ranging from 3-D CRT and tomotherapy to image segmentation and IMRT (SBRT, 2012, p. 1). Recent developments in the radiation oncology have devised a medical instrument to treat patients with diagnosis of metastatic cancer; it is a form of cancer in which cancer spreads from one part of the body to the other part (SBRT, 2012, p. 1).

Vero is the new technology that produces stereotactic body radiotherapy (SBRT) in a manner it can assist the physician to locate and study the tumor during the process of treatment. Use of Vero allows physicians to determine a precise amount of radiotherapy dose to be given to the patient to reduce cancer (SBRT, 2012, p. 1).

Vero - A New Technology to Cure Cancer

The Vero machine (figure 1) is a practical evidence of the fact that scientists have found improved and more reliable ways to cure the chronic disease of cancer. The system of Vero is integrated of enormous capabilities of high-tech radiation therapy into ...