XPrize founder Peter Diamandis and futurist Ray Kurzweil recently challenged a pair of engineers and a Harvard Medical Student at Singularity University to develop something that would impact 1 billion people in 10 years. In response to that challenge, the team developed what they are calling the MedSensation Tricorder Glove, which is outfitted with sensors that can detect vibration, sound and temperature, and features a buzzer system which alerts the user when they have found a spot that requires immediate attention.
“If you apply too much pressure on the examined tissue, then the buzzer goes on,” explains MedSensation (@MedSensation) co-founder Elishai Ezra. Ultimately, this glove could be exactly what women need to do their own at-home breast cancer exams.
The founders explain.
“Soon everyone will have a glove that can be used to assess a sports injury or can be used to do self-clinical breast exams. In the future we will be able to augment a human’s ability to diagnosis illness, by adding sensors such as ultrasound probes that will be able to integrate the data and provide real-time assessment of heart valve abnormalities, abdominal pain, and much more without having to go to medical facility.”
Other potential applications for the glove include aiding in medical education by sending feedback to medical students as they conduct a patient exam. The third iteration of the device will include embedded ultrasound sensors that can be used to assess abdominal pain and heart abnormalities. “The idea is to quantify touch,” said Ezra.
Check out the video demo below and imagine the possibilities…
