The panel will explore how the development and use of AI has given manufacturing a new way forward. (Credit: Gerd Altmann/Pixabay)

Predictive medicine has its roots in early warning systems and diagnostic early detection. Prognostic devices are a new genre of diagnostic devices that not only detect and diagnose diseases but predict and, in many ways, prevent the onset of diseases. At MD&M West’s keynote on April 12, Ray Parel, director of Advanced Technology at mFluiDx, will examine the newest generation of predictive methods and prognostic medical devices and how medical plastics are driving these advances.

In the session, “The Science of Predictive Healthcare and the Role of Nanopolymers & Medical Plastics,” Patel explores everything from ctDNA liquid biopsy techniques (that detect cancer at the very early stages and can pinpoint the location of the tumor) and metabolomics biosensors (that prevent stroke through a combination of bioelectronics, data science, and AI) to tumor-hunting nanobots and CRISPR-based scissors (that cut out defective genes before the onset of the disease), noting how these methodologies are making expert-level preventive care accessible to the millions of people at-risk.

Even in the COVID-19 pandemic, medical-grade plastics have made a significant impact — the most exciting development is the use of medical nanopolymers formed into carriers that protect the mRNA-based vaccine from being destroyed by the body’s own defenses, before they can do their job. The engine that is driving all of this, he says, is medical plastics.

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