This article is one of the 112 cases of the blue economy.

This article is part of a list of 112 innovations that shape the blue economy. It is part of a vast effort to Gunter Pauli to stimulate business spirit, competitiveness and employment in free software. For more information on the origin of Zeri.

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Case 57: Health as a system

Mar 7, 2013 | 100 innovations , health

The market

The global market for medical devices and diagnostic services was estimated at $ 2,860 billion in 2010. This diversified market covers both the equipment and services provided, including in vitro tests, imagery, endoscopy and energy therapies. The diagnosis, which is part of the services, has been estimated at +200 billion dollars. It is estimated that around 10 % of the health care sector is devoted to diagnoses. The market is characterized by strong growth, especially in developing countries. The Indian market, for example, fueled by the arrival of a wide range of diseases related to modern lifestyle, including diabetes and cardiovascular disease, sees its internal market grow at a rate of 20 % per year. This allows India to become the world center for both the development of equipment and services. Laboratory clinical trials are expected to reach the $ 100 billion mark by 2017. These diagnoses include blood sugar tests, infectious diseases, clinical chemistry, heart markers, coagulation, cancer and fertility tests. Imaging equipment represents a major segment and supplied by technological breakthroughs provides a large portfolio of diagnostic imaging systems, scanners, radiology, radiology and breast imaging. This sector should go from $ 22.4 billion in 2000 to 56.3 billion dollars worldwide by 2012. Diagnosis at the point of service (PDC), which differs from clinical diagnosis by tests of tests External laboratory, experienced annual growth of almost 10 % by 2016, going from a market of $ 13.7 billion in 2010 to 24.8 billion in 2016. The United States represents the largest market in the world . Employment in industry even increases in the industrialized world, despite the introduction of automated analyzes. The number of jobs in the United States is expected from 318,000 in 2006 to 362,000 ten years later.

Innovation

Although an aging population requires more diagnostics, the health care system wishes to reduce costs. At the same time, the industry is looking for innovations that offer faster and easier analyzes. The quick test kits, with digital reading, are not only supported by the demand for the clinical sector, but also by sports and public order agencies which require immediate confirmation of the use of substances improving performance, or of stimuli for the central nervous system. Fine needle suction biopsy is a rare invention that is based on design, almost all innovations are based on complex chemistry. Considering that the execution of tests itself improves with the use of sophisticated chemicals, the quantity of waste to manage has given birth to its own industry: the incineration of hospital and laboratory waste flows . Thomas Rau graduated from the Bern School of Medicine, Switzerland, and specializes in rheumatic diseases. In addition to being a graduate of the medical school with also a license in the United States, he studied homeopathy and natural therapies. It has come to the conclusion that the body can only operate when the patient strengthens his immune system by first reducing the stress caused by bacterial infections and heavy metals. Surprisingly, his first diagnosis is based on a 3D rendering of the mouth. The presence of obturation amalgams, a sign of a leachate of heavy metals, and the appearance on the screen of radicular channel treatments highlight the presence of very acidic bacteria in the deep cavities of the jaw. This test is completed by a dark field microscopy, an effective technique that improves the contrast of organic samples such as blood. This technique makes it possible to shed light on a sample which will not be reflected inside the lens, thus creating a dark background while objects appear clear. It is an intelligent use of physics to improve the diagnosis. This analysis offers the highly qualified observer POC Diagnostic which links dental analysis with the activity of white blood cells, the quality of red blood cells, the presence of bacteria or even half digested proteins. The power of the analytical system that Dr. Thomas Rau and his colleagues from the Paracelsus Center for Biological Medicine and Dentistry have developed is the ability to obtain a holistic image of the person.

The first cash flow

Thomas Rau has been directing the development of the Paracelsus clinic since 1992 in Lustmühle, near Saint-Gall in Switzerland. His approach to holistic medicine establishes new standards since he acquires not only a detailed knowledge of the patient's state, but he identifies the deep causes which make it possible to evolve from the treatment of symptoms to the resolution of problems putting the patient on a recovery route. The POC diagnostic portfolio which is displayed and understood by patients, then supplemented by laboratory tests, gives power to the patient. This approach not only makes it possible to visualize the challenges that we are confronted with, but also to understand the deep cause and its relationship with symptomatic effects. The visualization of large infections in the radicular channels, mapped on the meridians of the body can explain the cramps in the back, the presence of acidic bacteria in the blood can indicate the disastrous state of a root even causing local fevers exceeding 39 degrees Celsius which cannot be captured by the average measurement of traditional body temperatures. After immediate corrective actions, including minor topical surgeries such as the extraction of channel treated teeth, and amalgam shutter, patients have access to a logic that allows behavior change. The Paracelsus team will offer food directives that will modify the diet. And although there are many regimes prescribed to lose weight, this diet can be adapted to specific conditions, taking its health (and its happiness) in its own hands. The Paracelse clinic has become a reference in the health world and its interconnected and systemic approach makes it a reference in terms of health care in a blue economy.

The opportunity

The availability of diagnostics at the PS has changed the lives of diabetic patients who have immediate control over their condition. The latest breakthroughs of this integrated approach are that it makes it possible to evolve from curative medicine to preventive medicine. While it will take years to have the knowledge and experience of Dr. Thomas Rau, we must also realize that the vast majority of the population simply do not know how their body works. The POC diagnosis allows us to map our behavior, from food to sleep, and to acquire a pragmatic understanding of the real impact of the decisions that we make every day on our quality of life.

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