Dr. Mobile?
I woke up this morning and the news on talk radio was buzz about OTC DNA tests. This may not be such a big deal, and maybe I've seen too many movies, but one word kept flashing in my mind: GATTACA GATTACA GATTACA.
And there's more on the same note this morning, this time from Japan. DoCoMo, one of the largest Japanese carriers, is developing a biometric scanner that can be integrated into a mobile device. Essentially, the scanner would be able to accept bio-samples (sweat, tear, blood, saliva), analyze them, and communicate this information wirelessly to the relevant network -- be it a doctor's office, a police station, or a government agency. The official story is that the system will be used for remote health checks or preventive medicine.
What do you think of this? Useful? Scary?
Personally, I'll admit to being a little unnerved by it despite my general embrace of the brave new mobile world we are all entering.
Thanks to Wireless Watch Japan for this story.
And there's more on the same note this morning, this time from Japan. DoCoMo, one of the largest Japanese carriers, is developing a biometric scanner that can be integrated into a mobile device. Essentially, the scanner would be able to accept bio-samples (sweat, tear, blood, saliva), analyze them, and communicate this information wirelessly to the relevant network -- be it a doctor's office, a police station, or a government agency. The official story is that the system will be used for remote health checks or preventive medicine.
What do you think of this? Useful? Scary?
Personally, I'll admit to being a little unnerved by it despite my general embrace of the brave new mobile world we are all entering.
Thanks to Wireless Watch Japan for this story.
posted by crgt at
6:57 AM
3 Comments:
No. If a patient cannot receive certain types of information without going to the doctor even though theoretically they could do it at home with the assistance of technology (home AIDS tests come to mind, for example), we can't be giving doctors and HMOs and the government and every one else information about ourselves without sitting in the presence of a professional.
Sometimes we need people there.
Are you sure we're not handing out this medical data anyway, even if we're in the presence of a professional?
My daughter's doctor office is transitionning to e-records right now. My dentist wants me to have x-rays sent electonically from my previous dentist. Our medical records are going to be portable and shareable. We may have some say in how that works -- but the trend is not going away.
The idea of Dr. Mobile doesn't change that -- it just allows us to get real time information about the status of our health. Independent of the security of our data (which really is a separate issue), is it not a good thing to have access to medical insight when you can't get direct access to care?
What if you live in a rural area? What if it's two hours to a hospital? What if you're out hiking?
It seems to me that there are lots of instances where something like this might be useful.
To your point -- sometimes we need people -- but sometimes there aren't any nearby that can help.
Mobile changes that. To me, that seems like a good thing.
Remote health checks and preventative medicine?
You've seen this, right?
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RNJl9EEcsoE
We're steps away.
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