An ambulance-like mobile unit equipped with a broadband link enabling neurologists to remotely diagnose for stroke, a fast and needleless method for blood collection, and an AAA battery-size wireless pacemaker are among advances in medicine that will have the most impact on patient care in 2015, according to a panel of Cleveland Clinic physicians. The Clinic’s annual list of highly promising innovations, announced at the annual Medical Innovation Summit in Cleveland, are often guesses as to what treatments will work out best. But many of the predictions of big breakthroughs, formulated by a panel of Clinic physicians, have often borne out, according to Dr . Michael Roizen, chief medical officer of the Clinic’s Wellness Institute. What else to look for? Among the top ten advances on the list: The first vaccine against Dengue fever being developed by Sanofi is close to commercial availability; PCSK9 inhibitors, a new class of injectable cholesterol drugs that promise advantages over satins, and are being worked on by rivals Sanofi, Amgen, and Regeneron; and antibody-drug conjugates that target cancers like smart bombs. With Kadcyla approved in 2013, more than two dozen others are in clinical trials.
