At the closing session of the Non-Surgical Symposium, broadcast journalist and master of ceremonies Kim Skubris asked a panel of leading doctors the following question: Where do you see the industry headed?
Dr Tim Papadopoulos
Our industry will become more personalised, with more action on sustainability, and an uptake in 3D printing and artificial intelligence.
Of these three things, I believe personalisation will be the biggest game changer. The area of regenerative medicine is one to watch; in the future, we could be throwing away our scalpels in favour of regenerative medicine.
Dr Tahl Humes
Knowledge of anatomy is at the core of customisation. I believe we will see “weekend courses” on “how to be an expert in X, Y, Z” fall by the wayside as a deep understanding of anatomy before treatment will replace this. Only then will we have true experts who are able to mix and match modalities to create and meet the demand for personalised results.
Dr Niamh Corduff
I disagree. I would love for the above comments to be the truth but I don’t see this as reality. The sad reality is that we are seeing industry domination and commercialisation. If the regulators can’t stop this now, it will get worse.
Dr Gabrielle Caswell
A biochemist friend recently told me there are two things in the future that humans are going to be doing: biochemical programming and computer programming. We will still maintain the tools we have but we will start younger on the biochemical programming, and that’s actually what we are already doing in a way with our management of skin, the microbiome, etc. I feel we are never going to replace the ageing process and therefore we are always going to have a place for surgical options, but we are going to be in better condition when we are 40 than 40-year-olds of the past. That’s where new biotechnologies will come in. In terms of computer programming, we already have diagnostic imaging available but artificial intelligence will further help us see how the face is ageing and enable us to customise treatment, for example, printing of personalised facial implants.
Dr Richard Chaffoo
Biotechnology and AI is the quiet revolution and will become much more common. What I find fascinating is that the public is unaware of how many miraculous changes are coming in healthcare; the media isn’t really getting the word out. I recently had a conversation with a CEO of a biotech company and his company developed a solution for a devastating neurological disorder. Sufferers have a debilitating tremor which means they can’t walk, drive a car, have a job, and other things we take for granted. They were house bound. The biotech company was able to dissect the genome of this particular disease, find where the protein was on the genome and create a delivery vehicle to the genome to turn that protein on and completely eliminate the tremor. These people are now like you and me, able to drive a car, go to work, walk. These medical miracles are happening – not by physicians but by billions of dollars of research. All we can do as physicians is be an advocate for patients and a driver of safe, innovative solutions.
Prof Greg Goodman
It’s difficult to predict the future and it’s impossible to know where we will be in 10 years’ time. Who would have thought we would be where we are now a decade ago, with the plethora of indications and technologies we have? With that being said, I feel like we are giving ourselves a pat on the back when in reality we are stagnant. With toxins, fillers, lasers, we have seen iterations of the same products and technologies. I feel we are seeing lots of evolutions, but there haven’t been many revolutions. If we look at lasers and light-based technologies, as an example, the real game- changer is that they have become safer, but they haven’t necessarily become “smarter” in terms of their mode of action.
Dr Simone Doreian
[When asked whether corporate medicine is good or bad] This is a difficult question and there is both good and bad. Corporate medicine can bring processes, strategic direction, ensure high safety standards and reproducible models that can be used right across the board. I do however think the future of aesthetic medicine will be dictated by the consumer and become very stratified over the next 10 years with patients choosing the type of approach and cosmetic procedure venue they wish to attend. This next generation of patients, the same ones who will do the interviewing for their own job interviews, aren’t going to be told by us what they can and cannot have. As physicians, we need to change the way we communicate and understand this generation’s demand for autonomy and aversion to paternalistic medicine. AMP
