Google Glass as a diagnostic tool for doctors?

Two sisters, Noor and Gina Siddiqui, believe this innovation is so important they established a start-up named Remedy to do just that with Google Glass.

Remedy anticipates that doctors will find Google's smart glasses useful in rapidly gathering and combining case diagnostic information about patients.

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Noor Siddiqui and her medical student sister from the University of Pennsylvania, Gina, tried the Google Glass diagnostic concept at three Harvard-associated hospitals in Boston.

Noor is a recipient of the Thiel Fellowship created by Paypal founder Peter Thiel, which offers US$100,000 to anyone that solves real world concerns,

The sisters paired Google Glass with desktop software that allows medical assistants to rapidly collect and share images of patients to on call surgeons. In the past, physician assistants needed to verbally describe the status of the patient over the phone to surgeons.

With Google Glass, however, assistants were able to efficiently send pictures and videos to surgeons that show the patients' gait or pallor. Google Glass records data about a patient using the built-in voice control commands.

The sisters found out doctors just wanted to look at pictures, videos and case data about their patients. They weren't interested in the "Minority Report"-style heads-up display that offered the vital signs of an individual.

Remedy's method relies on syncing data to software that manages the cases. This interface allows physicians to skim through a full portfolio of pictures, videos and information on a patient to quickly make a decision.

In one specific case, a patient was rushed into surgery as the doctor using Google Glass bypassed the diagnosis of the medical assistant. The surgeon was able to recognize the patient required more urgent care using Remedy.

Although Remedy's had only 25 cases, six medical assistants and eight surgeons, or 91 percent of the surgeons, said they found the program useful in managing patient treatments.

Tagstechnology, medicine, Google Glass, Surgery, Hospital, doctors