Overview

There have been many advances in medical technology in recent years. Imaging technology has significantly improved with new devices and procedures giving medical professionals better information about their patients and the diseases that they try to cure or control. Although cancer and heart disease are still major causes of death, new technology has resulted in dramatic improvements in the field of oncology and in cardiac devices and procedures.

Advances in technology have resulted in new fields of work that might have seemed very hard to comprehend only 20 or 30 years ago. This incudes fields such as genetic testing, regenerative medicine, and robotic surgery. The widespread use of internet technology began during the 1990s and has resulted in major changes in managing medical records, including information storage, sharing, and processing. The many developments in telemedicine have gone beyond communications over phone lines and now include internet access, webcasts, video conferencing, and live streaming.