Imagine that every doctor’s office – perhaps even every pharmacy – had a low cost imaging device running on a smartphone. The scanner would be able to provide instant, real-time pictures inside damaged limbs and inside other parts of the body, significantly reducing the time taken for diagnosis.
No referrals, no hospital visits and faster treatments.
Several low-cost medical imaging devices driven by smartphones are now arriving. One of the most interesting approaches is from the Butterfly Network which proposes to make a small ultrasound scanner able to run on a variety of smartphones.
One issue with low-cost portable scanners is that family doctors and pharmacists will need training to interpret scan results. But scanner makers are also likely to offer a real-time on-line interpretation service to assist. And for a fee. Compliments of Ray Hammond — a true futrologist!