Slashdot Mirror


Swiping Out Cancer

mhackarbie writes "Just read this article over on Wired about a cheap hand scanner which might be able to spot cancer tumors. It took only few seconds of reflection before I decided this could be the killer biotech app which is needed for the dot-bio boom everyone keeps predicting someday." We've mentioned this gizmo before.

11 of 128 comments (clear)

  1. I'm sure it will do wonders for.. by 3.5+stripes · · Score: 4, Interesting

    Insurance companies as well.

    Go to your job interview, pee in this cup, swipe this in your mouth.

    In one simple step eliminate drug users, and possible insurance deadweights... Joy!

    --


    He tried to kill me with a forklift!
    1. Re:I'm sure it will do wonders for.. by Pastis · · Score: 2, Interesting

      [OffTopic]
      You should read the latest Eric Schlosser book, "Refeer Madness: Sex Drugs and Cheap Labour". He mentions differences between Canada drug strategies and USA ones, at least regarding marijunana.
      [/OffTopic]

  2. Discovery Channel by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Interesting

    Discovery Channel had a show not too long ago about trained dogs being able to -smell- cancer on test subjects.
    Not only would it not require development or be at the hands of some biotech CEO, but dogs have been shown to lower blood pressure in people.

    Think of it: Handheld Schnauzer.

    You could probably train basset hounds too, just so that PVP would have more material.

    1. Re:Discovery Channel by SkewlD00d · · Score: 3, Interesting

      Yeah, I remember that... it was very impressive. I believe that a dog has superior computational power and discrimination abilities that could easily be more accurate and reliable than some piece of technology. How much/hard would it cost to train a dog to do this? Imagine... if we have specialized dogs for certain functions... eventually will have purpose-bred species of animals/plants for very specific tasks (*cough* babel-fish :). Also, I remember something about a UV camera system for dermatologists. Btw, have you ever looked at your skin in a mirror w/ a black-light (CCUV flourescent), you can see differences in tissues in you skin not visible in white light.

      --
      The biggest trick the devil pulled was letting lawyers become politicians so they can write the laws.
  3. How about cancer-sniffing dogs? by blakespot · · Score: 4, Interesting
    It seems you don't need electronics to detect cancer, just man's best friend. Interesting stuff.


    blakespot

    --
    -- Heisenberg may have slept here.
    iPod Hacks.com
  4. Good, but not the killer app by AlecC · · Score: 2, Interesting

    It took only few seconds of reflection before I decided this could be the killer biotech app which is needed for the dot-bio boom everyone keeps predicting someday

    Sorry, I don't see it. It doesn't lead anywhere - it isn't the first of a class of devices. Obviously, if it works (lots of qualifiers in the article) it is an extremely good gadget. Many patients will benefit, and the inventors may well become justifiably rich. But apart from a sequence of improving models, all doing the same thing but steadily better, where does it lead to? It detects cancers - full stop. It detects them by detecting the nature of cncerous growth. So it won't do anything about anything else.

    I don't want to knock it. $30,000 is cheap enough for every doctors surgery, and therefore for routine use any time there is a worry. If it is simple enough and safe enough, I could see them going into gyms etc, so you have a cancer check along with your fitness check. Even an optional sevice in airport departure loinges to while away those boring hours. (Hey - integrate it with the bomb scanners - get a free cancer check as the price of being scanned for explosives. Paranoia in a worthwhile cause).

    --
    Consciousness is an illusion caused by an excess of self consciousness.
    1. Re:Good, but not the killer app by mhackarbie · · Score: 3, Interesting
      There are several reasons why I believe that it has potential as a killer application in biotech. Because it is an external hardware device, it bypasses a lot of testing and regulatory issues that are such a problem for drug development. Also, to improve the diagnostic problem, I think devices like this will ultimately be used in the home, and will generate lots of data over long periods of time. This will provide a lot of opportunity for software developers to create applications which can analyze the data, present it to the user in a useful way, and integrate it with other medical data. I believe that statistical analysis of tissue scan data of millions of people over a period of years or decades might enable a much more effective diagnosis.

      Getting a personal computer into the home was a critical step in the evolution of computer technology, because it brought millions of people into the development cycle. I think the same thing will be true for the evolution of medical technology.

      mhack

      --
      Building a better ribosome since 1997
  5. Sad by pubjames · · Score: 3, Interesting

    Sorry, people are rather interested in themselves, not in charity.

    Speak for yourself.

    In the USA over the last few decades a rather sad mindset has developed amongst certain people. That is that selfishness is normal, natural even. People use this to justify their selfish behavour, or that of the organisations they work for. It is very sad.

    Cancer can act as a metaphor for this type of thinking. Our human bodies are made up of millions of individual cells co-operating and working together. A cancer occurs when a cell becomes defective and no longer lives in harmony with the others.

  6. Re:Not convinced by TheDredd · · Score: 2, Interesting

    A lot of people get cancer, in fact everybody, but you're body normaly prevents it from growing and destroying your body, that's why younger people are less likely to get cancer then older people, they have a much higher resistance.

    So I think this scanner will find all the cancers in your body, but it's up to the doctor to determine the evil/growing cancer, and of course make the appropriate decision

  7. But what we really need... by Snafoo · · Score: 3, Interesting

    Is something like this for STD's. Oh come on, admit it --- condoms suck, and not in that fun way. Wouldn't you rather just tricoder her nether-regions?

    --
    - undoware.ca
  8. Re:Article smells of hype by CompCons · · Score: 3, Interesting

    Check out this company....they have a way of detecting breast cancer that no one is using...works better than Mammogramms or Sonograms and it's cheaper than all of them. I think it's time we started paying attention to the new technology instead of just assuming that the old stuff works fine. Alot of people are dying of cancer and the numbers are only rising.