Medical tricorder explained

See main article: Tricorder.

A medical tricorder is a handheld[1] portable[2] scanning device to be used by consumers to self-diagnose medical conditions[3] within seconds[4] and take basic vital measurements. While the device is not yet on the mass market, there are numerous reports of other scientists and inventors also working to create such a device as well as improve it. A common view is that it will be a general-purpose tool similar in functionality to a Swiss Army Knife to take health measurements such as blood pressure and temperature, and blood flow in a noninvasive way. 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.

The idea of a medical tricorder comes from an imaginary device on the science fiction TV show Star Trek from the 1960s which featured fictional character Dr. Leonard McCoy using it to instantly diagnose medical conditions.[1] [4] [5] One description of the fictional device was as follows:

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.[4] There is agreement that such a device could bring huge increases in productivity and cost-savings,[4] 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.[4]

X Prize Competition

See main article: Qualcomm Tricorder X Prize. An inducement prize from Qualcomm of, the Qualcomm Tricorder X Prize that was announced in 2012, has spurred the scientific and medical communities in a global competition.[6] featuring 230 teams from 30 countries[4] to create such a device.[1] The X Prize Foundation launched the Tricorder X PRIZE at the 2012 Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas and promised to award $10 million to the first team to build a medical tricorder.[7] According to the prize guidelines, the device should diagnose 15 different medical conditions, including a sore throat to sleep apnea to 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:

How it might work

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.[4] For example, it may be possible to combine a high-power microscope with a cellphone and use it to analyze swab samples electronically.[4] Two electrodes on a device may measure heart action and serve as a portable electrocardiogram.[4] Glucose levels can be measured by sampling tiny blood samples.[4] 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. An ultrasonic probe can plug into a smartphone, allowing it to be used to create ultrasound images.[4] Medical tricorders may work by sensing "volatile organic compounds our bodies secrete" by some means of smell.[9] A second report confirms that sensitive electronic "noses" may detect infections such as pneumonia from a person's exhaled breaths.[10]

Similar devices

There are reports that medical tricorders may emerge from "diagnostic medical apps" via Tablet Computers and smartphones.[11] Some existing smartphones have been used as medical devices in the sense that text reminders have been sent to a patient about prescription renewals, and downloadable apps allow cameras in cell phones to act as sensors to track heart and breathing rates.[4] One neurologist uses iPhone smartphone apps entitled Liftpulse and iSeismograph to diagnose and measure tremors in patients with Parkinson's disease.[12] Some apps take advantage of sensors built into the smartphone hardware, such as a microphone, camera, GPS, accelerometer, gyroscope, magnetometer, proximity sensor, luxmeter, and sensors for temperature and humidity.[12] Physicians use a device called an otoscope to look inside the ear, and such a device could be made which clips onto an iPhone, according to one report.[4] There was a report that a tricorder to detect atmospheric analysis has been built.[9] There are reports of fitness scanners available which are worn on a person's wrist, which relay information such as heart rate.[13] The United States 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 40feet away.[14]

In the marketplace

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

Notes and References

  1. News: Frank Simons . Scientist beams up a real "Star Trek" tricorder . Chicago Tribune . April 13, 2012 . 2012-12-01.
  2. News: Michael Pollitt . 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 . 5 September 2007 . 2012-12-01.
  3. News: Torie Bosch . Inspired by Star Trek, $10 Million X-Prize Searches for Real-Life Tricorder . Slate Magazine . Jan 10, 2012 . 2012-12-01.
  4. News: 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 . 2012-12-01.
  5. News: Sonia Zjawsinki . Look What's on Display at Gizmodo's Gallery: Gadgetwise . The New York Times . September 23, 2009 . 2012-12-01.
  6. News: Five Star Trek Captains Mind Meld About the Tricorder Becoming a Reality . Wall Street Journal . October 22, 2012 . 2012-12-01.
  7. News: Star Trek tricorder inspires new X Prize contest . CBC News . Jan 12, 2012 . 2012-12-01.
  8. News: Charles Arthur . 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 . 12 January 2012 . 2012-12-01.
  9. News: Corrinne Burns . 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 . 19 October 2012 . 2012-12-01.
  10. News: Charles Petit . Brave New Medicine: Wondrous technology could bring back the house call . US News . November 23, 1997 . 2012-12-01.
  11. News: Dominic Basulto . The Supreme Court's health-care innovation moment . Washington Post . June 14, 2012 . 2012-12-01.
  12. Web site: Daniel Dern. May 16, 2014. Beta Boston. Who needs a Tricorder? Apps and add-ons put a doctor in your pocket. https://web.archive.org/web/20140531235057/http://betaboston.com/gallery/2014/05/16/who-needs-a-tricorder-apps-and-add-ons-put-a-doctor-in-your-pocket/ . 2014-05-31. dead. May 31, 2014.
  13. News: Mark Baard . Tokyoflash's Kisai RPM Acetate shines . Boston Globe . June 6, 2011 . 2012-12-01.
  14. News: Jennifer Ouellette . Hollywood Science Fiction Can't Keep Up With Science . Washington Post . July 19, 2009 . 2012-12-01.
  15. Web site: 8 July 2014. Oliver Franklin. Wired. Fabien Cousteau follows in this grandfather's flippers. July 28, 2014. ...equipment will include a Scanadu Scout medical tricorder....
  16. Web site: Matt Brian. The Verge. July 23, 2013. Scanadu Scout 'medical tricorder' for smartphones breaks crowdfunding record. July 28, 2014.
  17. Web site: Chris Tighe. Andrew Bounds. Financial Times. May 18, 2014. Biomedical start-ups benefit from dose of northern exposure. May 31, 2014. ... QuantuMDx, a biotechnology company developing a “handheld laboratory” that can give malaria test results in 15 minutes....
  18. Web site: Allison Proffitt. February 12, 2014. Bio-IT World. QuantuMDx Launches MolDx Indiegogo Campaign. March 12, 2014.
  19. Web site: Marie Ellis. 15 May 2014. Medical News Today. WHO: two confirmed US MERS cases, but still 'no public health emergency. May 31, 2014. ...a company called QuantuMDx Group has sought to tackle the issue of outbreaks with their new device, called the Q-POC....
  20. Web site: Christine Gorman. June 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. May 31, 2014.
  21. News: 'Silicon Valley arrogance'? Google misfires as it strives to turn Star Trek technology into reality. 6 June 2016.
  22. Web site: www.Home. www.clarbrunovedruccio.it.
  23. Web site: TRIMPROB - Dizionario medico. www.corriere.it.
  24. Taking a Quick Swipe at Cancer . Wired . July 5, 2003.
  25. Book: https://www.researchgate.net/publication/224585413 . 10.1109/BSN.2009.58. The Berkeley Tricorder: Ambulatory Health Monitoring . 2009 Sixth International Workshop on Wearable and Implantable Body Sensor Networks . 2009 . Naima . Reza . Canny . John . 53–58 . 978-0-7695-3644-6 . 15735002 .
  26. Web site: The Berkeley Tricorder is Now Open Source!. 5 January 2014. Hackaday.

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