Software Treatment - Trending billion dollar Health Care vertical

As technology advances, mobile applications and software programs are now being used to change the way mental health conditions are treated. With 1 in 5 people estimated to have some type of mental health disorder, doctors and researchers have their hand's full managing different mental health conditions. This is why software treatments are now being adopted as part of many mental health treatment plans.

Today, anyone with access to a computer or handheld device can get medical help online as some health practitioners have made online therapies available to their patients. Some of these online programs are also available offline and use a computer or mobile device's sensors to gather data on a user’s behavioral patterns to help mitigate a crisis, while others are programs that can treat speech, memory and even anxiety. Every software treatment uses its own set of technologies and targets certain types of medical disorders. But no matter what it was developed to treat, they are all great at one thing - helping people in need!

Overview of Healthcare & Mobile Applications

Health is a prime concern for many people, and they will go extra miles just to stay healthy. And now with the increase in smartphone users, mobile applications aimed towards the healthcare industry have received major attention in recent times. Since these apps also help healthcare providers improve their service efficiency, they are even more important to both patients and care providers.

End-to-end, health care technologies are now revolutionizing the healthcare industry as you read this. Mobile applications, computer programs, and interactive media are used to create groundbreaking healthcare products and services. These innovative applications are changing the world of business today, and as new sectors are formed, entrepreneurs that get in early will always stay ahead of the rest.

As billions of dollars flow into sectors like the virtual and augmented reality industries—which is expected to turn into a $162 billion sector by 2020—investors and software developers must focus their attention on creating software applications that will give them access to a piece of this pie.

Benefits of Software Treatment for Medical Conditions

Software therapies are convenient, accessible and signify a new frontier in health care treatment for businesses as well as health care providers. Like many new industries, it is untapped with massive potentials for investors, medical practitioners, and healthcare institutions. Apart from the financial benefits of adopting this type of treatment in your practice, there are also many benefits for your patients:

• Convenience: Anywhere and anytime is one of the main advantages of a software treatment. It is available to patients as a software package, which makes it accessible anytime.
• Anonymity: Patients can get treatment without involving anyone else.
• An introduction to care: For those who have avoided mental health care in the past, software therapy might be a viable way to give them the help they need.
• Lower cost: The cost of this type of treatment may be less than a full course treatment with a medical team.
• Service to more people: It can help mental health providers treat people in remote locations. Also, medical care can be provided to a large number of people when the need arises (for example, after a terror attack or natural disaster).
• Interest: Some patients may respond better to this type of treatment because it might be more appealing than traditional treatment methods. This interest means that patients will want to continue getting the help they need.
• 24-hour service: This form of therapy can offer 24-hour monitoring or support.
• Consistency: Because computer programming uses algorithms, patients will receive consistent treatment every time, and there will be fewer occurrences of a wrong diagnosis.
• Support: These treatments can also be built to provide support for traditional therapies, strengthening the efficacy of the treatment.

Emerging Technologies and Software Treatment Programs

Visual & Audio Software Treatment

Using visual and audio aids in therapy targets a patient's sensory processing by stimulating their brain. This can lead to a reduction in the severity of any brain defect and can completely cure the patient of motor speech disorders like apraxia of speech. An example is a software treatment called Intepsilonli. This is a bilingual computer software treatment for apraxia of speech, which uses melodic intonation therapy (MIT), visual and auditory cues and more to improve speech. Intepsilonli allows patients to see and hear the variations between their speech and the cues while receiving instant feedback as they practiced.

Apraxia of speech is a motor speech disorder — it is a type of brain damage — that is usually treated with therapy. Children with the condition have problems with sounds, syllables, and words. With a software treatment that targets their visual and auditory skills, sensory processing is stimulated, and this eventually leads to a reduction in the severity of the brain damage or completely curing the patient of their disorder.

Assistive Technology Treatment

Assistive technology software or brain training programs help train the brain and can affect a patient's ability to learn, change their behavior and manage their emotions. These types of software treatment are tools aimed at leveling the playing field for kids with cognitive deficits. The primary focus of a brain training program is to concentrate on the strengths of the child while working around their challenges.

C8 Sciences ACTIVATE was developed by neuroscientists at the Yale University and was created for computers and mobile devices. ACTIVATE combines games —for mental functioning— with exercise to enhance memory, improve attentiveness and boost cognitive skills.

Cognitive deficits are the most common disorders that benefit from software treatment. This is why there are several effective treatments available today for children with autism, attention deficit disorder (ADHD), and other cognitive deficits. There are many solutions available like Fit Brains, My Brains Solution, BrainBeat, Atentive, MindSparke and much more.

These software treatments function in different ways. Some use external peripherals to monitor brain signals and transmit it to the software program. While others use gaming technologies like augmented reality to target major brain areas. Whatever method is used, the fact is that brain training programs are effective, and studies show that these assistive technologies can improve skill deficits and increase self-reliance.

Software Treatment

The incredible potential of virtual reality (VR), augmented reality (AR) and artificial intelligence technologies (AI) in healthcare treatment is huge. Virtual reality therapies (VRT) is the most popular of and has been used for many years to treat phobias and other anxiety disorders. Some mental conditions are perfect candidates for VR software treatment such as autism, Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD), ADHD and even for people who have suffered a stroke or any other traumatic brain or spinal cord injury. Below are some of the software treatments developed with these technologies:

Virtual Iraq

Virtual Iraq was created at the University of Southern California Institute for Creative Technologies and is one of the earliest successful virtual reality treatments. Launched in 2007, it is an interactive VR software that helps veterans returning from the Middle East. Virtual Iraq transports veterans to the streets of Fallujah and uses physical elements like sounds, smells, and vibration to immerse the patient in the virtual reality. This treatment has helped many soldiers come to terms with their war experiences and helps to reduce episodes of anxiety and panic significantly.

Virtual Space Station

Treating stress and depression is not a one-size-fits-all because the triggers are different just as the people with these conditions differ. A treatment that works for an astronaut in space may not work for a New York banker experiencing depression. This is why traditional treatment for these conditions evolve based on the responses received during treatment.

Software treatment will also need to evolve and be interactive during sessions. Supported by NASA’s National Space Biomedical Research Institute (NSBRI), Virtual Space Station is an interactive software treatment process that is used to treat people suffering from depression, interpersonal conflict and also for managing chronic stress. The program functions as a therapy assistant that helps astronauts fight depression and manage interpersonal conflict while on space missions. This software treatment uses a set of multimedia tools including audio, video and software interactions to handle various types of psycho-social problems. NASA is hopeful that the program will be used for its pre-flight training as well as for on board assistance and that it will address other issues like interpersonal conflict, stress, and anxiety while on a mission.

Saagara

Saagara is an AR application used by people to increase athletic performance, reduce stress and blood pressure, and improve mental health. Studies show that chronic stress leads to anxiety, depression, bipolar disorder, and cognitive problems. The main purpose of Saagara is to relieve stress which in turn resolves all the disorders mentioned above. To achieve this, the application uses AR to superimpose images via the user's camera. These images are used for yoga, breathing, learning and meditation.

Sunrise Health

Many interactive apps are driven by AI and are successful at managing medical conditions. Providing real-time, support for mental disorders is the first step to treatment. Between therapy sessions, a patient with a mental illness can feel alone. Even though they can talk to their friends and family, many are shy and will prefer to be anonymous when talking about their conditions.

Sunrise was created to fight depression by combining group chats, anonymity, guidance by professional therapists and artificial intelligence. With the AI safeguards in place, the program will offer preventative care as well as counselling to help treat people suffering from depression. This iOS and Android application is a peer to peer community, with guidance from professional therapists.

There is no denying that the world is evolving as new technological advances are taking us to new heights. Virtual reality, artificial intelligence, and interactive media are some of the technological innovations that are changing the way care is provided. Health institutions, health care providers, and practitioners are now adopting software treatments in their practices. Technological innovations should not be feared, but instead, embraced, modified and adopted.

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/10533442

https://techcrunch.com/2016/01/06/virtual-reality-therapy-treating-the-global-mental-health-crisis/

http://www.virtuallybetter.com/virtual-iraq/

http://www.c8sciences.com/about/neuroscience/

http://www.businessinsider.com/virtual-and-augmented-reality-markets-will-reach-162-billion-by-2020-2016-8?IR=T