Health Care

In the age of ubiquitous computing, personalized medicine is a reality. Home and personal medical systems can perform sophisticated diagnoses, and many health problems can be treated without requiring a human doctor. Medical wearables, mobile apps and MedSensors – even your toilet and bathroom scale – can scan your body and “output” on a regular basis for symptoms and condition. Linked to the IoT, these systems can obtain additional data from your patient records, prior MedSensor readings and genome records, and report any significant findings to your healthcare provider.

A large percentage of preventative healthcare is performed by “at home” devices and automated systems, whose recommendations range from dietary restrictions and nutritional requirements to hygienic products and exercise programs. In addition, most nanomedical treatments and internal biostasis systems do their jobs without relying at all upon professional medical services. As a result, the number of patients who require medical visits is optimally low, limited in many cases to emergency care only.

Nanobots and medical systems can transparently screen fetal DNA for defects and auto-miscarry in the first few weeks. It might even happen without the woman's knowledge at all, but not everyone can afford such things. We can probably assume that even at the lower levels of the social structure, since the corporate state has no interest in raising seriously defective children, screening for the most egregious defects is probably population-wide. Except for Discons. But only the rich will be screening for more subtle, less incapacitating, handicaps. I think only the upper classes would screen or alter their children's DNA for reasons like beauty, talent or intellect.

In the Fractopian timeline there's a wave of pandemics in the first half of the 21st century, exacerbated by build-up of resistance to antibiotics, until the development of "super-antibiotics" and other nanomed approaches which are "smart" and capable of adapting dynamically to mutating pathogens. That tech development happens during the adulthood of "the prophetic generation" (the children of today's zoomers).

While the public healthcare system in UbiquiCity (circa 2120) does provide free immunizations against dangerously transmissible pathogens, the best medical care of course goes to the richest, who have access to nanotech that not only prevents all common diseases but even works to "correct" internal dysfunctions such as cancer, auto-immune disorders, and even neural chemistry. Members of the upper classes commonly live to well over 150 years – some up to 200 – but the lifespans of the poor rarely exceed 80-100.

But medical procedures vary greatly in cost, and despite being technically possible, the most advanced techniques and services are prohibitively expensive for the average worker. That’s why the following section divides medical practice into two classes: *Common* and *State-of-the-Art*.

### Common Medical Practice

* Custom 3D Printed Medical Implants, artificial bones and organs from your own DNA
* Artificial organs that are superior to your natural organs
* Genetically-created organisms and bacterial robots that operate in the body, controlled by NanoMeds (killing cancer cells, etc)
* Genome Sequencing for all babies, scanning for genetic defects and **predicting future** medical conditions
* Gene modification in zygote stage for those who can afford it
* Identification of individuals (or body parts or fluids) from DNA sequences
* Robot surgeons, dentists, orthodontists, physicians, home health bots, etc
* Medical implants and sensors to monitor and regulate body functions or supplant internal organs
* Nanobots swimming through the body, healing diseases and communicating with external systems
* Downloadable physical and mental health tracking software “apps” that communicate with your agents
* Medical and recreational alternations of the human body (see *Transhumanism*)
* Vaccines and antiviral therapies that can spread from host to host (modded viruses)
* Suspensine (Poul Anderson) "The gas didn't exactly induce suspended animation, but paralyzed efferent nerves and slowed overall metabolism to a point where a man could live for weeks on one lungful of air. It was useful in surgery, saving the life of more than one interplanetary explorer whose oxy system went awry."
* Biometric-tracking tattoos can monitor various health indicators in the body via color changes
* Nootropics: drugs that enhance mental capabilities, concentration, cognition, memory, etc.
* Networks of first responders

**COMMON MEDICAL PROCEDURES**

* Appendectomy
* Breast Augmentation
* C-Section
* In-Vitro Fertilization
* Liposuction
* Live Birth
* Prenatal Gestation (Artificial Womb)
* Tonsillectomy
* Tummy Tuck

Upon admittance to any city-connected medical service, your genome will be sequenced. Data from this procedure may be used to screen for genetic defects, and will be aggregated into the BigData assembled on a constant basis for medical analysis and research. Depending on the nature of your medical services contract, it may or may not be “scrubbed” to remove any personally-identifying data.

Your DNA will also be matched against CivSec records to determine if you are a “person of interest” to any ongoing investigations.

The DNA of any viruses you are carrying will likewise be sequenced and checked against medical databases, both to identify potential new threats to public health and to produce vaccines any any new pathogens found.

#### At-Home Medical Services

* Smart Toilets (medical scanners/sensors analyze your waste)
* Bathroom scanners (analyze a wide variety of physical conditions)
* Intelligent walkers, wheelchairs, and exoskeletons
* RoboNurses for the elderly

#### First Aid

* DermaSeal is a temporary exterior layer of hypoallergenic “pseudo-skin” similar to latex; it wears off within a day (flaking off much like real skin), or can be removed with special soaps and sprays
* SkinGuns spray a layer of living stemcells, merging with the affected skin in roughly 60 minutes
* Medi-Printers can reproduce damaged muscles and skin, correcting cellular harm by stitching together torn tissue. Painful without anesthetics but very effective.
* Civic & Personal Emergency Response Services

#### MedSensors

Medical/Health monitors, usually wearable, sometimes implanted, also commonly found in health service facilities and private bathrooms. These devices scan various vital signs and health indicators, transmitting them to a software service or AI which responds with up-to-the-minute biological analyses and optimal health recommendations.

#### NanoMeds

A “NanoMedicine” is a carefully-balanced set of nano-engineered chemical delivery controllers and computer-bred bacterial ”robots” which perform health-related functions in the body. A network of heterogenous NanoMeds in the bloodstream can operate as a time-released biochemical or micronutrient delivery system, a cellular damage control system, or even an autonomous secondary immune system.

More advanced NanoMed systems can include “transensors” for realtime wireless input and output. A transensor is a tiny sensor that is also a two-way transceiver. It connects with the IoT in order to consult your medical data, communicate your status to your healthcare provider, and update your dosage and scheduling information.

#### Preventative Measures

Ever since the great superbacteria pandemics of several decades ago, public awareness of new bacterial vectors has been a major concern. While currently held at bay by responsive nanomeds and recombinant DNA repair systems, the influx of a new disease into a crowded public sector is always a possibility. This is especially true in the more derelict sprawls and squatter towns, where medical technology is rare and the human churn rate is pretty high.

For those who can afford them, AI-driven internal medical systems can protect against nearly any pathology. Those of lesser means rely on more pedestrian methods: antibacterial sheens and ingestants, tailored multivitamins, air filtration systems, breather-recyclers and simple facemasks.

### State-of-the-Art Medical Practice

For those who can afford them, AI-driven internal medical systems can protect against nearly any pathology by using a combination of MedSensors and NanoMed systems, dynamic DNA repair and other advanced technologies.

* Brain implants for reading and writing memories to a digital medium
* Remote-Presence Surgeries
* aborted fetus neuroplasticity supergenius pills!
* Pre-grown body replacement parts (bone, skin, organs, muscle)
* Transgenic grown skin replacement
* Skeletal-muscular enhancements
* Superlongevity
* Designer DNA

#### Anti-Aging Treatments

Anti-aging drugs, which slow the aging process significantly, were invented around 2050. It took at least a decade for them to become refined and broadly available for those who could afford them, and over the intervening generations they have become gradually more effective, though no less expensive. Today they are administered using NanoMeds, and have become 75% effective at reversing oxidative cell and mitochondrial damage and recombining lost telomeres, repairing much of the normal cellular damage undergone by an aging body shortly after it occurs.

## DIY Doctors & Choppers

With modern equipment and AI assistance, many unlicensed medical practitioners run surgical or cyber-implantation labs out of their homes or offices. Some of these semi-professionals are quite good at what they do; a few of them are geniuses. Others, not so much. You get what you pay for.

More organized operators known as “Choppers” perform illegal acquisitions and implantations in operating rooms located off-grid, in back-alley shops equipped with automated and armed security systems.