2. Busting brain clots

A tiny new tool to get rid of brain clots will be a "game changer for stroke treatment," Roizen says. Although clot-dissolving drugs are the first line of treatment for the most common type of stroke, when they don't do the trick, physicians can now use a stent retriever to remove the small mass. A wire with a mesh-like tip is guided through the artery into the brain to grab the clot. When the wire is removed, the clot goes with it. The American Heart Association has given the device its strongest recommendation, after studies found it improves the odds that certain patients will survive and function normally again.

3. Brain-limb connection

The goal of linking the brain to a robotic limb to help paralyzed people and amputees move naturally is closer than ever. Previously, brain implants to help move these artificial limbs have had limited success because the person had to think about each individual action (open hand, close hand) in order to move the limb. But now researchers are putting implants in the area of the brain that controls the intention to move, not just the physical movement itself. This allows patients to fluidly guide a robotic limb. "We think this will get FDA approval in the next year and will have a major clinical impact on paralyzed patients," Roizen says.

4. Fine-tuning genes

Next year could see major strides toward the goal of cutting harmful genetic mistakes from a person's DNA. A gene-editing tool is a powerful technology that allows scientists to easily correct or edit DNA. "It basically gives you a scissors to cut out pieces of genes," Roizen explains. The technology was recently used to eradicate leukemia in a British child by giving her gene-edited immune cells to fight off the disease. This could represent a huge step toward treating other diseases, including correcting gene mutations that cause inherited diseases, but ethicists and scientists worry the technology could also be used to alter traits for nonmedical reasons.

5. New cancer vaccines

Your body's immune system fights off germs that cause infections — could it be taught to fight off cancer cells? That's the idea behind new immunotherapy cancer vaccines, which train the immune system to use its antiviral fighting response to destroy cancer cells without harming healthy cells. The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) already has approved such vaccines for the treatment of advanced prostate cancer and melanoma. Current research is focused on pairing new and old vaccines, including the tetanus vaccine with a newer cancer vaccine to treat glioblastoma, a type of brain cancer. Those who received the dual vaccine lived three to seven more years after treatment than those who received an injection without the tetanus portion. Among the most eagerly anticipated vaccines in 2016, Misialek says, is a lung cancer vaccine. Work on such a vaccine, first developed in Cuba, is already underway here.

6. Faster public health vaccines

In the wake of the Ebola outbreak last year, the process for producing vaccines to protect the public against a possible epidemic has gone into warp drive — a feat that makes it the Cleveland Clinic's top medical innovation for 2016. The fear that, with international travel, a single person could potentially infect huge numbers of people "has led to a system to be able to immunize a large number of people really fast," Roizen explains. Where previously it took decades to develop a vaccine, the Ebola vaccine was ready in six months. A similarly accelerated process was behind the approval of a meningitis B vaccine following outbreaks at two universities.