Health and Engineering, Two Ways to Reach a New Social Space

Abstract

In the wake of technological developments, new and exciting capacities and applications are being introduced in medical practice. Examples of this contribution are the progress of Minimally Invasive procedures and the new diagnostic techniques. The work and research of non health professionals, such as engineers, physicists, etc., and their different approaches to solving biomedical challenges from their technical point of view, while respecting clinical constraints, has been key for this contribution. Moreover, nowadays information is increasingly accessible to all, so that patients access the internet and can learn about all medical advances with a click on their computer. Thus they more easily accept all new health techniques and are readier to assume responsibility for caring for their own health. Thanks, in part, to the above suggested reasons, life expectancy is growing in the western countries, where improved medical procedures are implemented along with better diet. This has placed us in an scenario where people now aged less than 18 years old will probably live beyond a 100 years. Consequently, it is necessary that our society revises its professional retirement model, in order to preserve our health system and its sustainability. The slot of time where people now aged less than 18 years old reach over a 100 years old is what we have termed the 4th space. In this space, it is of utmost importance to teach people to manage their own life, health, economy, etc. They will be Health Services users for a very long time, so that their retirement should also be replanned for the sustainability of these Health Services. These people need to change their activities during their lifetimes, not only in terms of physical activities, but also their habits regarding the use of Health Systems. They will have automatic aid devices at home, and not just at the hospital. In the present paper, we discuss our views based on these ideas and on our expertise in clinical practice, education and technology development for health.