Groundbreaking New Medical Treatments Coming in 2022

What It Can Do: Make MRIs More Portable
Discovered By: Hyperfine Inc. (With Input From Yale Medicine)
Est. Cost: $100,000*

There are many reasons why a patient might need to have an MRI performed on them, including, but not limited to, assessing the severity of a stroke. As a result of the immobile nature of these magnetic imaging machines, there has been little choice but to move patients, who are experiencing serious health issues, from room to room, wasting time and, possibly, agitating their condition further. 

Hyperfine’s Portable MRI System @Hyperfine/Businesswire/Twitter.com

The Swoop MRI is a portable MRI machine, created by Hyperfine Inc., that has already gained FDA and Health Canada’s approval for use. With a modest price of $100,000, the cost of a Swoop MRI machine is only about 10% of its larger, non-portable predecessors – which, one would hope, should show an equal decrease in the medical fees incurred by patients.

What It Can Do: Cure A.I.D.S.
Discovered By: Dr. Gero Hütter
Est. Cost: $193,000*

Since its discovery in 1981, being diagnosed with A.I.D.S has, essentially, been an extended death sentence. Due to the virus’s ability to mutate, seemingly, at will doctors had been unable to find a way of curing those afflicted. Recently, however, a cure has been found in an unlikely place.

A Cure For HIV ©mikeforemniakowski / Shutterstock.com

After undergoing a bone marrow transplant, that was intended to help fight his leukemia, a man, who had previously contracted A.I.D.S., has successfully been cured of HIV. The CCR5 gene, in the marrow that was received by the patients, contained a mutation that prevents the binding of HIV to the cells in one’s body, and has opened the door to a possible solution for one of the world’s most frightening medical issues.

What It Can Do: Early Detection Of Cancer
Discovered By: Galleri
Est. Cost: $949*

The “C” word is something that, when spoken by their doctor, is enough to make even the strongest person crumble. That word, of course, is cancer, and, until recently, the ways of detecting it early were few and far between. Now, thanks to Galleri, there’s a blood test that is capable of detecting DNA fragments for over 50 types of cancer and informing the doctor as to which organ is compromised.

Blood Tests For Cancer ©Connect world / Shutterstock.com

The Galleri test is still yet to be covered by insurance providers in America, however, the $949 bill is a small price to pay for a blood test that will, accurately, discover whether or not an individual has cancer – and it will do so early enough to be able to treat and eradicate most types.

What It Can Do: Creates Antibodies For Multiple Flu Variants
Discovered By: National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID)
Est. Cost: Unknown*

Over the past year and a half, good or bad, we have learned quite a bit about vaccines that have been developed to fight life-threatening viruses. The problem is that viruses mutate, and not all variants are defeated, as easily, by the formulas that have been designed to fight them. Claiming between a quarter and a half of a million lives every year, influenza is a prime example of this. 

Universal Influenza Vaccines ©hedgehog94 / Shutterstock.com

NIAID’s FluMos-v1 is a quadrivalent vaccine that uses mosaic nanoparticle immunogenicity to create antibodies for a wide range of Flu strains. In other words, once FDA approved, one shot of FluMos-v1 will protect against 4 different Flu strains each year – now, that’s protection.

What It Can Do: Eliminate Invasive Surgery
Discovered By: Novartis
Est. Cost: Unknown*

Over the course of their lives, close to 15% of all men, or about 1 in 6, will develop prostate cancer, and every year, approximately, 300,000 men (35,000 in the U.S.) lose their battles. When treated in the early stages the 5-year survival rate of patients is about 100%, however, once it has metastasized, that drops to about 1 in 3.

Zapping Prostate Cancer ©Image Point Fr / Shutterstock.com

Dr. Oliver Sartor and his team have come up with a treatment called lutetium-11-PSMA-617 that, when administered intravenously into patients whose cancer has metastasized, more than doubles their survival time. It does this by finding the proteins that are predominantly found in the cells of prostate cancer, and zapping them with a radioactive particle.

What It Can Do: Better Prepare Surgeons
Discovered By: Materialise
Est. Cost: $350,000*

Due to the sensitivity of the procedures, every time that an organ transplant is being performed, time is of the essence. The longer an organ is separated from a healthy blood supply the less likely the transplant is to be a success. For these reasons and more, face transplants have, historically, been rare and not very successful.

More Widely Available Face Transplants ©David Tadevosian / Shutterstock.com

The 3D tech company, Materialise, has come up with a method that uses computer modeling for planning and 3D cutting guides to assist with the actual procedure – thus better preparing the surgeons for the operations while also shortening the time that the organs are left without the, ever important, blood supply.

What It Can Do: Print Medication
Discovered By: Aprecia Pharmaceuticals
Est. Cost: $590*/60 Tablets

From the first tiny cup, that was printed in the ‘80s, to the foods that will, hopefully, lead to a sustainable future, 3D printing has taken the world by storm. In the medical field, 3D printing has been used to create prosthetics and even human organs for transplant purposes. Now, Aprecia Pharmaceuticals has found a way to cut back on the cost of medical drugs as well.

3D Drug Printing ©Audio und werbung / Shutterstock.ocm

The anti-epileptic drug, Spritam, by Aprecia Pharmaceuticals, was the first and, as of 2021, still the only 3D printable drug on the market. The drug might belong to Aprecia, but without FabRx, the UK-based biotech company, there would not have been the personalized drug manufacturing 3D printer to print it. 

What It Can Do: Confirms When A Woman Is Fertile
Discovered By: OOVA
Est. Cost: $159.99*

After it took a year and a half for her to conceive her son, Amy Divaraniya, Ph.D., used her extensive knowledge of genetics to help develop a way that would assist women, whose menstrual cycles are abnormal, to more accurately determine when they’re ovulating.

New Fertility Tests By OOVA ©George Rudy / Shutterstock.com

Instead of scanning for a single hormone, like most fertility tests, OOVA, the New York-based company that Divaraniya founded, has created the OOVA kit, that scans for twice as many – one that follows ovulation and one that precedes an egg’s release. Scanning for both hormones has proven to give a similar accuracy rate as that of a blood test.

What It Can Do: Detect Alzheimer’s Earlier
Discovered By: C₂N Diagnostics
Est. Cost: $1,250*

In 2017, Dr. Randall Bateman, co-founder of C₂N Diagnostics and neurologist at the Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis (WUSTL), presented the scientific world with a discovery that, he believed, would be able to help diagnose Alzheimer’s disease in patients without the hassles of a PET scan or the discomfort of a spinal tap.

Blood Tests For Alzheimer's ©Barabasa / Shutterstock.com

As it turns out, Bateman and his team were on to something. C₂N Diagnostics’ PrecivityAD is a simple blood test that detects amyloid plaques, the blood marker that’s prevalent in those with the disease, just as well as the previous methods at a fraction of the cost, and has been available to the public (for a small fee) since October of 2020.

What It Can Do: Heals The ACL Without Graft Surgery
Discovered By: Martha Murray
Est. Cost: $20,000-$50,000*

Every year, more than 100,000 people in America tear one of their anterior cruciate ligaments, the stabilizing band that’s located in the front of their knee, that’s more commonly known as the ACL. Repairing the ligament has, historically, involved a grafting procedure and an extended recovery period that will, usually, take, at least, a year. 

New ACL Repair Methods ©November27 / Shutterstock.com

Martha Murray, MD, Boston Children’s Hospital’s orthopedic surgeon-in-chief, has developed a way to, hopefully, eliminate the need for ACL graft surgeries, that was approved in December of 2020 – Bridge-Enhanced ACL Restoration (BEAR). This is done by placing a protein-based sponge, that’s been infused with the patient’s blood, between the damaged ends of an ACL, and using it as a bridge that will reconnect the torn ends.

What It Can Do: Prevents Malaria
Discovered By: University of Oxford
Est. Cost: Unknown*

Malaria has been wreaking havoc on humankind for thousands of years. There is even reference to what is believed to have been Malaria in a Chinese document that dates back to around 2700 BC. All these years later, and the disease is still running rampant, infecting almost 600 million every year, and claiming upwards of 400,000.

More Effective Malaria Vaccines ©nechaevkon / Shutterstock.com

While there have been a few different Malaria medications over the years, an effective vaccine has, thus far, been elusive. Finally, in April 2021, the University of Oxford made a breakthrough, and their vaccine, called R21, which was designed to combat Malaria, surpassed the WHO’s efficacy standard with an effectiveness of 77%.

What It Can Do: Aid In Weight Loss
Discovered By: Novo Nordisk
Est. Cost: $1,300/Month*

Over the years, there have been countless methods that people have tried to help combat their chronic weight issues, but, as of yet, few have been as effective as Novo Nordisk’s, FDA approved, Wegovy, or Semaglutide, as it’s known to pharmacists. Interestingly enough, in smaller doses, Wegovy was originally intended (and still used), to help adults who have been diagnosed with Type 2 diabetes.

New Hope To End Obesity ©Africa Studio / Shutterstock.com

By no means is this new medication by Novo Nordisk a cure-all for obese individuals, however, when used alongside a balanced diet and light exercise, has been shown to reduce a patient’s body-weight by an average of 14.9% over a 15+ month trial – which was more than 12% more weight lost than those in the placebo group.

What It Can Do: Blocks The Huntingtin (HTT) Gene From Creating Toxic Proteins
Discovered By: Ionis Pharmaceuticals
Est. Cost: Unknown*

Huntington’s disease is a congenital degenerative disease that affects the brain cells of 1 out of every 10,000 people (about 750,000 people worldwide). Recently, a treatment has been trialed that is focused on aiding those in the early signs of the disease by using antisense oligonucleotide to block the huntingtin gene from creating the toxic depilating proteins. 

A New Treatment For Huntington's Disease ©Kateryna Kon / Shutterstock.com

In the spring of 2021, after not showing results that were indicative of keeping the program running, the trial concluded earlier than expected. Many lessons were, however, taken away from this trial that will be used to, hopefully, better direct future studies. 

What It Can Do: Limits In-Person Medical Appointments
Discovered By: N/A
Est. Cost: Free

Telemedicine was once a service that very few medical organizations offered to patients, but, now, due to the events of the past few years, have been forced to update their methods to a less in-person way of assisting patients, they have almost all gotten with the times, and it’s hard to imagine that we ever lived in a world without it.

More Telemedicine Than Ever ©M_Agency / Shutterstock.com

The future of medicine is beginning to take shape, and the evolution of Telehealth is leading the way. By using a mashup of the data collected from patients, doctors will be able to more easily collaborate with other clinics and facilities in order to provide a more in-depth prognosis.