Google Glass is likely to find itself living in some pretty niche situations rather than being something we all wear while walking down the street, and one of the places we’d expect to see Glass take the driving seat is in the medical world. Surgeons in operating theaters are particularly keen on leveraging the power and features of Google’s wearable technology so that they can improve the level of care they give to their patients.
Glass in the operating theater is already a reality after Dr. Szotek and Dr. Jeff Browne of the Indiana University Health Methodist Hospital used it to aid their work during a four-hour long operating to remove a patient’s abdominal tumor. Being able to instantly see X-rays and MRI data by simply looking to the side of their field of vision is something that can revolutionize the way doctors work, and the ability to control the entire thing using nothing but the sound of their voice means that doctors and surgeons don’t need to worry about contaminating the sterile environment in which the work, something that simply wasn’t feasible previously.
The doctors say that they hope Glass can go on to offer even more advanced features, such as being able to differentiate between cancerous and healthy tissue during an operation, theoretically improving the success rate of such ops while also ensuring a higher level of care due to improved removal of that cancerous tissue. The doctors involved rightly believe that Glass can revolutionize patient care.
Even before patients reach the hospital though, Glass can have a real role to play if hospitals equip their paramedics with Google’s creation. On-the-spot health information as well as a direct link back to base could help save lives as well as give doctors an idea of what will be waiting for them even before an ambulance arrives with them. This all helps to save lives in the long run, and while Glass is often seen as something of a toy it’s worth remembering just how powerful wearable technology could be in the future.
It won’t be long before the technology of the Star Trek universe seems much more attainable than it did yesterday.
(Source: Paul Szotek [Google+])
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