Biotech research holds great promise to correct many human flaws including vulnerability to disease and telltale signs of aging. Using stem cells and genetic engineering techniques, scientists are learning to regrow damaged organs, tissues, muscles, and bones to rejuvenate damaged and aging bodies.

New home monitoring systems, improved electronic recordkeeping, and ground-breaking innovative medical equipment also promise a bright outlook for healthcare as we wind our way through the 21st century's second decade. The following list describes advancements expected over the next nine years:

Home monitoring systems – New technologies designed to keep patients out of the hospital and get them more involved in managing their own health will revolutionize tomorrow's medical care.

As the decade unfolds, homes will be outfitted with 'smart' toilets that test urine and stool, and cameras peering through bathroom mirrors that analyze face-prints, identifying blood pressure, heart rate, and stress levels. The system will automatically forward this data via the Internet to healthcare providers daily.

By 2020 or before, most doctor visits will not require a personal appearance. Consultation will take place via smart phones, rarely requiring physical face-to-face visits to a physician's office. Doctors will text recommendations for diet, physical activities, and other healthcare advice directly to patients.

Internet-accessible electronic records – Led by Microsoft's free-to-patient "Health Vault", high-tech record keeping is expected to reach critical mass during this decade. With patient approval, doctors can access records encrypted securely with tomorrow's quantum technology, via smart-phones. This system will reduce medical errors, eliminate most office visits, and lower healthcare costs.

Innovative low cost medical equipment – General Electric recently committed $3 billion to create new products that improve healthcare efficiency while lowering costs. The first items include a $1,000 handheld electrocardiogram and a $15,000 portable ultrasound machine. These devices have improved emergency care at accident sites and are already saving lives.

Medication tailored to individual genes – Since sequencing the Human Genome, drugs custom-designed for each person has been the dream of caregivers everywhere. Lower personal genome costs expected by mid-decade or sooner, will allow physicians to vaccinate against dangerous diseases. Most genetic deficiencies will become treatable during this decade.

Stem cells that restore sight – Taken from a patient's body, these miracle cells can regrow human eyes, providing blind patients with a near normal lifestyle. By 2020, most blindness may be preventable.

Replacement organs and tissues – Each year, researchers are becoming more proficient in turning stem cells into hearts, brains, bones, and muscles using regenerative medicine techniques. By decades end, experts believe that nearly every part of the body could be rejuvenated with this forward technology.

Efforts to end human aging gains momentum – At a recent Singularity University conference, Aubrey de Grey, molecular biologist and author of End of Aging argued that aging is only a disease – and a curable one at that. He says that aging is simply a breakdown of cellular activities, preventable with tomorrow's biotech and nanotech advancements. A growing number of scientists now believe de Grey is correct and by 2020, positive futurists envision worldwide support for a massive space-race type effort to achieve indefinite lifespan for all humans.

There you have it. Medical advancements predicted for this decade. Although the list may seem speculative, technologies for most of these events are already in beginning stages of development. The next nine years in medicine promises to be a time of huge excitement for science and great hope for humanity. Will this "magical future" happen on such a rapid timescale? Most future-watchers believe it has a chance. Comments welcome.