Strategic Technology Impacts on an Industry

Answer

Impacts of Biochips in Healthcare Industry

Abstract

Biochip, the most sensational future technology, is a result of the fields of electronics, computer science and biology. A biochip refers to a group of miniaturized test sites, also known as microarrays, structured on a solid substrate that enables numerous tests to be conducted concurrently to attain increased speed and throughput. Similar to a computer chip that performs myriad of mathematical operations within a short time, a biochip can carry out millions of biological reactions including decoding genes in a second. Biochips assist to significantly expedite the identification of the estimated 80, 000 genes in a person’s DNA, a continuing research across the world referred to as human genome project. Intuitively, developing a biochip platform integrates electronics for reading out, addressing, sensing and controlling temperatures besides a handheld analyzer that can perform multi-parameter identification. Biochip technology has emanated from the combination of biotechnology and nanofabrication technology. It is anticipated that the implementation of this innovative technologies will facilitate effective early diagnosis and disease prevention not only in accordance to diagnosis, but also early treatment. With this technology, the healthcare industry will experience significant changes in terms of diagnosis time and cost. The implication of this is that the overall medication costs that patients will incur will reduce significantly. Further, healthcare practitioners, especially laboratory technologists and doctors will have their works reduced since the technology will expedite diagnosis and test results, saving them from the struggling to test numerous samples within a short time.

Keywords: Biochip, adoption, implementation, healthcare, industry.

             Impacts of Biochips in Healthcare Industry

Background Information

Technological developments have influenced various aspects of contemporary life and continue to provide numerous benefits that were previously considered unrealistic (Steinhoff & Palmatier, 2020). Healthcare is one of the industries that are likely to reap huge benefits due to this innovative technology. A biochip is a combination of miniaturized test sites put together on a solid substrate that allows numerous tests to be conducted simultaneously in a bid to attain higher speed and throughput (Oyebola, 2017). Reportedly, biochip was established in the year 1983 for checking fisheries, the quick technological growths of the semiconductor and biochemistry fields in the early 19^th century resulted in the large scale development of biochips in early 1990s (EurekAlert, 2019). Founded by Walter Gilbert and Fred Sanger, biochip was invented in 4G generation and its growth continues to happen.

How Biochips Might be used in Healthcare Industry

            Biochips might act as the blood pressure sensors. Caballero et al. (2017) posited that a blood pressure of a healthy person is 120/80mm of Hg and that any pressure ratio below this is considered low blood pressure condition while one that surpasses this is considered high blood pressure condition. During these conditions, humans will reflect various detrimental effects including death. In most healthcare facilities, blood pressure is checked using BP apparatus and the procedure is performed when the patient is abnormal (Oyebola, 2017). Nonetheless, regular monitoring of blood pressure is needed in the early and patients admitted in various hospitals. Currently, numerous sensors are available in the electronic to detect the flow of the fluid and that most consumers are resistant to the new digital innovations that are taking the world by storm (Talwar, Talwar, Kaur, & Dhir, 2020). As such, biochips are likely to be embedded on these sensors. Carrara et al., (2012) posited that incorporation of blood flow detecting sensors with the biochip can make the chip to constantly monitor the rate at which the blood flows. Moreover, using the chip can instantly inform physicians when the blood pressure is either high or low through the informed reader so that remedial measures can be taken instantly.

            In the healthcare sector, biochip might also be incorporated with a glucose detector to enable diabetic patients easily check the level of glucose in their blood. Currently, diabetic patients employ a skin prick, as well as, a hand held blood test and then inject themselves using insulin based on the result. Although the system is relatively simple and works perfectly well, the need to draw blood samples implies that most of these patients do not frequently test themselves the way they are supposed to. Ichiishi (2013) mentioned that although these patients may temporarily manage this, in their old ages, those who checked their blood irregularly are likely to experience numerous health conditions including blindness, loss of blood circulation, as well as, complications. As such, the solution encompasses numerous but regular testing using less aggressive techniques. For this reason, the biochip will be placed underneath the skin, detect the level of glucose and transmit results back through radio frequently communication.

            Biochips might also be combined with oxygen sensors. The oxygen will be critical in not only checking breathing in intensive care units and ensuring that food packages or containers of semiconductors kept under nitrogen gas continues to remain airtight. The oxygen detecting chip will transmit light pulses to the body. The transmitted light will then be absorbed by different extents, based on the amount of oxygen being transported through the blood and the chip senses the light left (Oyebola, 2017). Similarly, the blood rushes pumped by the heart is equally detected and thus the same chip act as pulse monitor.

            Adding sound to light is a critical way through way through which biochips might be used in the healthcare sector. Studies have indicated that the most determined bioengineers are presently attempting to add back the functions of the brain, restoring sound and sight in areas where there were silence and darkness (Lee, Lee, Lee, & Kwon, 2019). This achievement has been made by the biochips through cochlear implant that transmit electrical pulses straight to the nerve cells within the cochlea. Essentially, the implant imitates the functions of hair cells by separating the incoming noises into various channels and then stimulating the necessary component of the cochlea. Findings of a study by Ichiishi (2013) have revealed that many implantable biochips that imitate the action of photoreceptors might be used in various healthcare facilities. The setup such biochips include a fancy camera fixed on a pair of glasses and it detects and records the scene, and later transmits to the eye as a laser pulse with the laser equally offering the energy required to make the biochip functions.

Strategic Implications of Biochips for Healthcare Industry

            Biochip innovative technology will ultimately be adopted and used in the healthcare industry across the world particularly in fields such as clinical chemistry, immunology, and DNA profiling. In the future, various biochip systems will be adopted with drugs of abuse test device that senses myriad of analytes in a single chip, and this according to Caballero et al., (2017) would reduce minimize analysis duration for drugs of abuse panel. The implication of this is that the patients are likely to get their diagnostic results faster. Moreover, saving on the time of the operator, as well as, overall cost is tremendous and is likely to enable the laboratory throughput to grow significantly.

            When different diagnostic biochips are established, measured marker values of different items are likely to be conveyed to a medical school through a communication line. This will make it possible for people to conduct a home based interview with a doctor through a broadband network and high resolution display. EurekAlert (2019) noted that detection markers are likely to increase with massive adoption of biochips, and the information on disease and health markers of millions of persons are likely to accrue, from which databanks may be built and relationships between the diseases and markers will be explained. Similarly, the implication of biochip technology on healthcare is that remote diagnosis of patients within isolated islands and villages with no doctors and nurses is likely to be realized, improving customer engagement and thereby improving the overall burden to the healthcare sector (Ng, Sweeney, & Plewa, 2020).

            To enhance the processing capacity, the growth of biochip is advancing to the development of an integrated device where fundamental processes for genomic analysis including RNA, DNA and protein extraction from cells are incorporated on a few centimeter squared microchips. As technology continue to advance to the future, wearable and mobile disease diagnosis devices will be developed and connection to a global network may expedite diagnoses at home. Essentially, biochips are anticipated to show marked power for the selection of drugs, as well as diagnostics resulting in safe and effective personalized medicine.

The Implications of Biochip on My Future Career

 My future career is clinician and therefore the emergence of biochip is likely to shape my clinical career to a positive trajectory. Muldowney (2020) argued that technology plays a critical role in healthcare and within that context, the new technology will help detect the presence of digestive organ cancers through blood testing. Current reports have indicated that the ability of clinicians to manipulate genes is possible through biochips (Oyebola, 2017). Therefore, biochip will enable me to diagnose and treat hundreds of diseases that were initially considered death sentence. As my understanding of genes deepens with the emergence of biochips, am sure that less invasive methods will equally emerge beginning with native gene control with the help of body’s own biology to treat disorders instead of inserting genes and hoping the for best. To adapt to numerous consequences of biochip, I will undergo extensive training on various aspects of this technology. The training will not only equip me with the skills and knowledge of using technology to treat myriad of diseases that people continue to grapple with.

            In conclusion, the biochip is a technological innovation that shapes and will continue to bring significant changes to the healthcare industry. When insert in people’s bodies, the device is likely to act as passport, credit card, personal diary and driver’s license among others. Similarly, people will no longer be worried about their diagnostic results while visiting hospitals. Moreover, a chip implanted in human bodies might equally offer additional mental power. Similarly, healthcare costs and diagnostic time will be reduced, thus improving quality of time. To embrace the new normal as suggested by Hawkes (2020), businesses and professionals in the healthcare industry should organize training and undergo training respectively to gain the knowledge and skills of using this technology.