Today, I finally finished reading Accel World volume one, a tale taking place in the 2030s. When one character gets fatally injured, the book describes her stay in the hospital. What struck me was its thoughts on how medical technology would change hospitals in the future. There is still a physical building, yes with nurses and doctors, but they have use of nanomachine technology.
"Explained that they had succeeded in stopping the bleeding, but as there was extensive damage to her organs, she could drop into a state of shock at any time. That the synthetic protein nanomachines were doing everything they could to repair and assimilate the tissues, but in the end, depended on the strength of the patient herself" (146).
Though nanomedicine has been steadily evolving, it is not quite to an appropriate level for clinical application. Here, it seems that the "synthetic protein nanomachines" are performing the expected functions, which is fascinating to me. This novel essentially hypothesizes an advance in medical technology that aligns with the current goals of the field. But the author stops short of insisting that medical advances will provide a cure-all. There is still an extensive healing process required, just that it is guided and expedited by nanomedicine.
However, the hospital must use a specialized nanomachine operating room with an air seal. The author writes, "It was like a capsule with only the top half open. The inside was filled with a semitransparent fluid, and he could make out the white body immersed in it to somewhere just below the shoulders. The tubes connected to both arms and her mouth were painful to look at. Her closed eyes didn't even twitch." This setup provides some interesting specifics about the incorporation of nanomedicine. Not being familiar with this field, analyzing "feasibility" would be beyond me. Certainly, a strategy such as this may be necessary to appropriately deliver nanotechnology. Per my understanding, this technology acts as a drug would inside the body, requiring a delivery vehicle, presumably the tubes she is connected to, and the fluid she is bathed in. Perhaps this fluid is required to assure proper function of the nanotechnology.
Kawahara emphasizes, "Right now inside that slender body, countless nanites [nanomachines] were allying with her own will to live to battle her severe injuries" (148). This phrasing asserts that though the technology has evolved to encourage healing, it still requires human willpower. Such an observation provides the implicit argument that this recovery process remains dominated by the human existence, no matter how advanced technology becomes.
In line with this thinking, the character steadily improves in condition, and is released from the ICU after three weeks, despite the nasty injury suffered. (Apparently ICUs are still a thing in the 2030s.) This storyline suggests a potential use of nanomedicine, while overall pinpointing the true success to the individual person. If fancy tech could solve everything, then there would be no need to retain a human existence, so I find this conclusion fascinating.
Accel World. Kawahara, Reki. 2008. Print.
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