We in healthcare are always predicting the next big thing. We often latch on to research that promises it could “someday lead to” a cure for cancer, diabetes, or any number of other ailments. But too often, those discoveries never even make it out of the lab.

Here are four areas of healthcare we’ve been hearing hyperbolic promises about for some time. The difference is, these areas may have finally reached a critical mass. Technology and technique have advanced to the point where we expect these areas to finally start to bring about real change in the next five years. 

Hear more about what the future has in store for medtech at the MEDevice San Diego conference and exposition, September 1–2, 2015.