Invent the Medical Tricorder, Win $10,000,000

GeneralSecretary writes "If you've ever watched Star Trek and said, 'Hey, I could build that,' now's your chance. Qualcomm and the X PRIZE Foundation have teamed together to offer ten million US dollars to whomever can invent 'a mobile solution that can diagnose patients better than or equal to a panel of board certified physicians.' They call it the Tricorder X PRIZE. Hopefully the Tricorder will join the cell phone, MRI, and tablet computer in the list of Star Trek devices that are now part of our lives."

Comments

Difficult

[lymond01]

You'd need...

Broken bones: something that bounces off bone and can detect the time to travel which will determine fractures and breaks. If you're using a flat scanning device, everything needs to bounce off something inside the body, rather than pass through and imprint itself on x-ray paper, etc.

Diseases: Lasers can tell blood type now (I think)...might be you could fine tune it to detect anything from genes to bacteria.

Muscle and ligament tears: same deal as bone I suppose -- would need to reflect off of a certain type of material.

Internal bleeding: scan for pools of blood versus the normal trails of blood (veins, arteries, capillaries)

My only question is why we need 4 different devices (MRI, pad, phone, tricorder)...I'd fully expect this to have solar-rechargeable batteries and a form factor that can fit in my back pocket (which would require a wide-angle "lens" for the probes so it doesn't take you 20 minutes to scan someone). And I darn well better hear the "wee-ooo, wee-ooo" sound without having to put on headphones!

Re:Difficult

[ColdWetDog]

No, the trick is understanding that different imaging modalities give different, and incomplete, pictures. The current level of technology in imaging currently precludes any sort of device like this. Decent MRI scanners still fill an entire room, ultrasound scanners with good resolution still take a trolley that has to be wheeled, not carried. X-rays don't bounce, they penetrate or are absorbed, so would need a two-part system (and a lead apron for the user). No one of these modalities will cover every possible diagnosis (for instance, ultrasound is good for abdomens, but useless for brains except in babies). I'm not saying that a 'medical tricorder' will never be possible, but at the moment there is no way to miniaturise and combine all those different technologies into one device. Something like the GE Vscan is amazing, but that sort of device would be for crude imaging, like am I going to hit the artery with this introducer, is there fluid around the heart, is there a fetal heartbeat present. You'd be crazy to use a handheld scanner for detailed imaging and diagnosis.

That's correct - with the OTHER caveat is that interpreting the data is hard. Which is why we make radiologists sit in darkened rooms all day and night and it takes about 10 years to grow one.

There are limited areas where computer analysis has helped humans interpret radiological data (ie mammograms) but they aren't all good and typically just help out with the part of the analysis that humans are terrible at (looking at large quantities of boring data) rather than figuring out things on their own.

Re:Simplify

[Krater76]

Figure out how to create a device that can detect common STDs and determine if the person constantly sneezing, has allergies or ebola, and you will be immensely rich. I have no idea if sneezing is a symptom of Ebola, I was trying to make a point.

I think the bleeding from all of your orifices might rule out allergies.

Now's your chance?

[pushing-robot]

If you've ever watched Star Trek and said, 'Hey, I could build that,' then why the fuck haven't you?

Tricorder Misdiagnosed

[Lead Butthead]

I don't believe the tricorders as presented in varies incarnation of Star Trek TV shows/movies are actually capable of diagnosing any ailment; each device is merely a collection of high precision sensors. The physician holding the device is the one that is making the diagnoses base on the data presented by the device.