Speaking of Kinect and health... am I the only one worried about the potential health impact of having bright pinpoints of infrared light beamed directly into our eyes for long periods of time? Just because we can't perceive the light doesn't mean it can't damage our eyes, right? Or am I wrong?
Maybe 3D glasses will take off as a fashion accessory when these little boxes start popping up all over the place and we experience mass vision impairment
Security cameras use IR illuminating LEDs. At the lab where I work we have video eye-tracking hardware that uses a 4x6 array of IR LEDs to illuminate the subject's eyes.
I don't think it's a problem unless you get into significant intensities, as per a >1 mW laser.
Years ago, I worked on a project that involve capturing images filmed with an ophthalmoscope and mosaicing them into a complete image of the back of the eye. Part of that involved finding out how bright a light we could get away with beaming into peoples eyeballs. I don't remember specifics, other than being surprised at how much you could get away with.
A think a key success factor to health IT really becoming a part of our every day lives is the ability for healthcare platforms to aggregate data from hundreds of input sources to create real intelligence around healthcare.
The Kinect would surely add an interesting twist on augmenting all of that data.
Couldn't agree more. I'd like to see more devices capture/sync (rather than merely display) data.
I've been hacking on a project like that -- WiiScale is a Mac app that sends your weight (captured from a Wii BalanceBoard) to Google Health. Since it knows your height, it gives a realtime visualization of your BMI while you're on the scale.
The next step for HealthIT (after widespread adoption of robust EHR/PHR systems) is capturing data from a variety of devices in order to monitor health in real time. This includes everything from BMI to blood sugar levels to heart rate and even more complex data from implanted monitoring devices. It's really invigorating to finally see this ultra-connected future approaching over the horizon.
I think this is a situation where when you get a shiny new hammer everything looks like a nail. The article has some interesting ideas but are they the most economically viable?
The patient routing functions described in the article could more easily and cheaply be done using RFID tag technology. Basic data collection could be done by the patient walking across a scale in a doorway, and placing a hand in a (new) device that could take temperature, and blood pressure, as well as blood and sweat samples. This all needs to be connected to a network but it doesn't require more expensive visual recognition technology.
As for recognizing what a doctor is doing by watching I find that more wishful thinking than practical. Sure it would be cool but I don't see it being the most economically feasible given the complexities involved
This is exactly the kind of discussion that needs to be taking place in this industry, which has lagged far behind most in terms of adopting modern IT solutions. Of course, the post is talking about the (very) long term, but these ideas have to start brewing somewhere. No doubt that in the distant future, all of this technology will be widespread and more importantly, cheap. And yes, it would be cool!
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[ 19.8 ms ] story [ 220 ms ] threadAre there other commercially available cameras that already do this out 'in the wild' (ie am I already hit with these daily, I just don't know it)?
What are the health implications of it (if any)?
I don't think it's a problem unless you get into significant intensities, as per a >1 mW laser.
A quick search showed that there are standards that cover this and include infrared light (see http://www.fda.gov/MedicalDevices/DeviceRegulationandGuidanc... for more information).
The Kinect would surely add an interesting twist on augmenting all of that data.
I've been hacking on a project like that -- WiiScale is a Mac app that sends your weight (captured from a Wii BalanceBoard) to Google Health. Since it knows your height, it gives a realtime visualization of your BMI while you're on the scale.
Video/Download here: http://snosrap.com/wiiscale/ Source: http://code.google.com/p/wiiscale/
The patient routing functions described in the article could more easily and cheaply be done using RFID tag technology. Basic data collection could be done by the patient walking across a scale in a doorway, and placing a hand in a (new) device that could take temperature, and blood pressure, as well as blood and sweat samples. This all needs to be connected to a network but it doesn't require more expensive visual recognition technology.
As for recognizing what a doctor is doing by watching I find that more wishful thinking than practical. Sure it would be cool but I don't see it being the most economically feasible given the complexities involved