Medical tricorder

Source: Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.
Main article: Tricorder
pulse oximeters
.

A medical tricorder is a

noninvasive way.[5] It would diagnose a person's state of health after analyzing the data,[1]
either as a standalone device or as a connection to medical databases via an Internet connection.

Dr. McCoy who used a device called a tricorder
to examine patients in an instant. The fictional device has spawned a search for its real-life equivalent.

The idea of a medical tricorder comes from an imaginary device on the

Dr. Leonard McCoy using it to instantly diagnose medical conditions.[1][3][6]
One description of the fictional device was as follows:

The medical tricorder has a detachable, high-resolution, hand-held scanner that sends life-sign information to the tricorder itself. It can check all vital organ functions, detect the presence of dangerous organisms, and human physiology. Its data banks also contain information on non-human races known to the Federation, thereby making it possible to treat other life-forms.

— report in the BBC[7]

Several reports suggest that there may be opposition to the development of such a device by national medical regulating authorities such as the Food and Drug Administration in the United States, as well as possible opposition by doctors unwilling to permit consumers to do extensive self-diagnosis which might result in inappropriate self-medication.[3][8] There is agreement that such a device could bring huge increases in productivity and cost-savings,[3] and spur a billion dollar market. There are signs that over a hundred venture-capital firms have invested $1.1 billion in digital health technology in 2012.[3]

X Prize Competition

Main article:
Qualcomm Tricorder X Prize

An inducement prize from

colon cancer.[8] The prize will be awarded partially on the basis of which invention has the most consumer friendly interface.[8] To win the prize, a successful medical tricorder will have to diagnose these conditions across "30 people in 3 days".[8]

Functions of a medical tricorder

There is agreement that a device should be able to do the following:

  • Diagnose disease.[4][10]
  • Show ongoing personal health metrics such as heart rate.[4][10]
  • Monitor ongoing health.[4]
  • Summarize a person's state of health.[4]
  • Confirm quickly if a person is healthy or not. This function would be similar to the
    check engine light on a car.[4][10]

How it might work

The conception of a medical tricorder will be a general purpose scanner with many functions, including that of measuring temperatures like these digital thermometers.

In 2012, there are devices built for medical professionals to analyze specific diseases or take specific health measurements, but there is not one all-purpose consumer device to diagnose a variety of conditions.[8] Numerous accounts speculate that the advent of high-power computer chips, cell-phone technology, and improved scanners means that such a device will likely be invented in the next few years.[8] There are devices now which can perform a single function analysis, such as a thermometer measuring bodily temperature, but the idea of a medical tricorder is that it should be able to perform a variety of basic yet important tasks.[3] For example, it may be possible to combine a high-power microscope with a cellphone and use it to analyze swab samples electronically.[3] Two electrodes on a device may measure heart action and serve as a portable electrocardiogram.[3] Glucose levels can be measured by sampling tiny blood samples.[3] It may analyze polarized light coming from a person's skin to reveal information about cancer or the healing of a wound.[2] Sensors may pick up on abnormalities with DNA as well as the presence of antibodies.[11] An ultrasonic probe can plug into a smartphone, allowing it to be used to create ultrasound images.[3] Medical tricorders may work by sensing "volatile organic compounds our bodies secrete" by some means of smell.[5] A second report confirms that sensitive electronic "noses" may detect infections such as pneumonia from a person's exhaled breaths.[11]

Similar devices

A handheld single-function electronic device to measure glucose levels of diabetics. Performing this and other tests would be one of the many functions of a medical tricorder.

There are reports that medical tricorders may emerge from "diagnostic medical apps" via Tablet Computers and

Department of Homeland Security has announced a "standoff patient triage tool" which is laser-based which helps medics evaluate a patients' vital signs wirelessly from 40 feet (12 m) away.[15]

In the marketplace

There are reports of products in development and in the marketplace.

  • Scanadu. A device made by the firm Scanadu is a small hand-held sensor which is put next to a patient's forehead which detects vital signs such as heart rate, breathing rate, blood oxygenation, pulse transmit time and temperature, and has electrodes to measure heart signals, and works in conjunction with a mobile app.[3] There was a report that it was being used by aquatic oceanographer and filmmaker Fabien Cousteau to monitor the health of underwater divers.[16] The firm reportedly raised $1,664,574 from 8,500 backers through crowdfunding.[17] Reporters described the Scanadu Scout:

A hockey puck-shaped object that can apparently measure your temperature, heart rate, oximetry (blood oxygenation), run an electrocardiogram, gauge heart rate variability, clock pulse wave transit time (related to blood pressure), perform a urine analysis and calculate a metric Scanadu refers to (vaguely) as "stress." All you have to do to get these readings, urine analysis notwithstanding, is hold the Scout against your forehead for a few seconds.

— Matt Peckham in Time Tech, May 2013[18]

The Scanadu Scout Medical Tricorder is a device straight out of the Star Trek. This device is packed with sensors ... bring the Tricorder in direct contact with your left temple for 10 seconds and it will analyse your vitals, including the temperature, heart rate, oximetry, ECG, respiratory rate, blood pressure, urine analysis and emotional stress level. The results of this analysis will be recorded and shown to you via a smartphone app.

— February 2014 in The New Indian Express[19]

References

  1. ^ a b c d Frank Simons of Reuters (April 13, 2012). "Scientist beams up a real "Star Trek" tricorder". Chicago Tribune. Retrieved 2012-12-01. {{cite news}}: |author= has generic name (help)
  2. ^ a b Michael Pollitt (5 September 2007). "Boldly going where no mass spectrometer has gone before: Scientists are building a sensing device that comes close to Spock's tricorder and which could speed up the analysis of materials". The Guardian. Retrieved 2012-12-01.
  3. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o "The dream of the medical tricorder: Medical technology: The hand-held diagnostic devices seen on "Star Trek" are inspiring a host of medical add-ons for smartphones". The Economist. December 1, 2012. Retrieved 2012-12-01.
  4. ^ a b c d e f Torie Bosch (Jan 10, 2012). "Inspired by Star Trek, $10 Million X-Prize Searches for Real-Life Tricorder". Slate Magazine. Retrieved 2012-12-01.
  5. ^ a b c Corrinne Burns (19 October 2012). "Star Trek technology: how 21st century scientists are making it so: Many have been inspired by Star Trek to become scientists, and some are starting to make its gadgetry a reality". The Guardian. Retrieved 2012-12-01.
  6. ^ SONIA ZJAWINSKI (September 23, 2009). "Look What's on Display at Gizmodo's Gallery: Gadgetwise". The New York Times. Retrieved 2012-12-01.
  7. ^ "'Star Trek' - The Tricorder". BBC. Retrieved 2012-12-01.
  8. ^ a b c d e f Charles Arthur (12 January 2012). "CES 2012: heal me up, Scotty: The X Prize Foundation is hoping to bring devices out of the realm of science fiction that can instantly diagnose illnesses". The Guardian. Retrieved 2012-12-01.
  9. ^ Marketwire (October 22, 2012). "Five Star Trek Captains Mind Meld About the Tricorder Becoming a Reality". Wall Street Journal. Retrieved 2012-12-01.
  10. ^ a b c d "Star Trek tricorder inspires new X Prize contest". CBC News. Jan 12, 2012. Retrieved 2012-12-01.
  11. ^ a b Charles Petit (November 23, 1997). "Brave New Medicine: Wondrous technology could bring back the house call". US News. Retrieved 2012-12-01.
  12. ^ Dominic Basulto (June 14, 2012). "The Supreme Court's health-care innovation moment". Washington Post. Retrieved 2012-12-01.
  13. ^ a b Daniel Dern, May 16, 2014, Beta Boston, Who needs a Tricorder? Apps and add-ons put a doctor in your pocket Archived 2014-05-31 at the Wayback Machine, Accessed May 31, 2014
  14. ^ Mark Baard (June 6, 2011). "Tokyoflash's Kisai RPM Acetate shines". Boston Globe. Retrieved 2012-12-01.
  15. ^ Jennifer Ouellette (July 19, 2009). "Hollywood Science Fiction Can't Keep Up With Science". Washington Post. Retrieved 2012-12-01.
  16. ^ 8 July 2014, Oliver Franklin, Wired magazine, Fabien Cousteau follows in this grandfather's flippers, Accessed July 28, 2014, "...equipment will include a Scanadu Scout medical tricorder..."
  17. ^ Matt Brian, The Verge, July 23, 2013, Scanadu Scout 'medical tricorder' for smartphones breaks crowdfunding record, Accessed July 28, 2014
  18. ^ Matt Peckham, Time Tech, May 24, 2013, A Star Trek Tricorder? ‘Scanadu Scout’ Health Monitor Surges Past Indiegogo Funding Goal: Remember Star Trek's tricorder? Someone's making the early 21st century version of one, Accessed June 26, 2013
  19. ^ Express News Service, 25th May 2014, The New Indian Express, Hot Gadgets to Beat the Heat this Summer, Accessed May 31, 2014
  20. ^ Chris Tighe and Andrew Bounds, Financial Times, May 18, 2014, Biomedical start-ups benefit from dose of northern exposure, Accessed May 31, 2014, "... QuantuMDx, a biotechnology company developing a “handheld laboratory” that can give malaria test results in 15 minutes..."
  21. ^ Allison Proffitt, February 12, 2014, Bio-IT World, QuantuMDx Launches MolDx Indiegogo Campaign, Accessed March 12, 2014
  22. ^ Marie Ellis, 15 May 2014, Medical News Today, WHO: two confirmed US MERS cases, but still 'no public health emergency', Accessed May 31, 2014, "...a company called QuantuMDx Group has sought to tackle the issue of outbreaks with their new device, called the Q-POC..."
  23. ^ Christine Gorman, Jun 1, 2014, Scientific American, A Surveillance Network We Could Learn to Love: Universal biosensors could save lives by spotting disease outbreaks earlier than ever before, Accessed May 31, 2014
  24. ^ "'Silicon Valley arrogance'? Google misfires as it strives to turn Star Trek technology into reality". 6 June 2016.
  25. ^ "www.clarbrunovedruccio.it". www.clarbrunovedruccio.it.
  26. ^ "TRIMPROB - Dizionario medico - Corriere.it". www.corriere.it.
  27. ^ "Taking a Quick Swipe at Cancer". Wired. July 5, 2003.
  28. ^ TRIMProb
  29. ^ Triage technology with a Star Trek twist
  30. S2CID 15735002
    .
  31. ^ "The Berkeley Tricorder is Now Open Source!". 5 January 2014.
  32. ^ Tricorder.Zero™ by O/D Vision, Inc.
Retrieved from "https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Medical_tricorder&oldid=1208333618"