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First Prototype of a Working Tricorder Unveiled At SXSW

Posted by samzenpus on from the scan-me dept.

the_newsbeagle writes The $10 million Tricorder X-prize is getting to the "put up or shut up" stage: The 10 finalists must turn in their working devices on June 1st for consumer testing. At SXSW last week, the finalist team Cloud DX showed off its prototype, which includes a wearable collar, a base station, a blood-testing stick, and a scanning wand. From the article: "The XPrize is partnering with the medical center at the University of California, San Diego on that consumer testing, since it requires recruiting more than 400 people with a variety of medical conditions. Grant Campany, director of the Tricorder XPrize, said he’s looking forward to getting those devices into real patients hands. 'This will be a practical demonstration of what the future of medicine will be like,' said Campany at that same SXSW talk, 'so we can scale it up after competition.'"

61 comments

  1. Well there was another tricorder by bobstreo · · Score: 3, Insightful

    But CBS ordered it removed from the app store:

    http://www.geek.com/mobile/cbs...

    1. Re:Well there was another tricorder by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      There were many many tricorders for the HP48...

  2. Consent? by gstoddart · · Score: 1

    The XPrize is partnering with the medical center at the University of California, San Diego on that consumer testing, since it requires recruiting more than 400 people with a variety of medical conditions.

    Yeah, and are these patients consenting to this? And what does the TOS say about who owns the data?

    Sorry, but I interpret this as "we're going to give your private medical information to a corporation to test their technology, once they have it there's no going back".

    Sounds incredibly stupid from a privacy standpoint.

    --
    Lost at C:>. Found at C.
    1. Re:Consent? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      HIPAA is actually pretty solid on those grounds.

    2. Re:Consent? by rossdee · · Score: 2

      "Yeah, and are these patients consenting to this?"

      I'd guess they'd have to sign a waiver..

      "And what does the TOS say about who owns the data?"

      Is that Terms Of Service, or The Original Series (since we are talking Star Trek)

      Anyway there already exist those wheeled 'nurse on a stick' machines that measure vitals, I am not sure how much this tricorder adds to the diagnostics.
      What is needed is connectivity between those machines and the software that does the charting.

    3. Re:Consent? by ceoyoyo · · Score: 3

      You know that's how virtually all large clinical trials are done, right? There are lots of regulations, including international conventions, governing medical research. Subjects have to provide informed consent, and part of the "informed" part involves specifying what the data is going to be used for. If it weren't being done through a university's clinical research program, a la Facebook, you'd have a point.

    4. Re: Consent? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Um go drink some herbal tea and chill. No one wants your vitals to make a clone army of you. Just wear your tinfoil hat and settle down.

    5. Re:Consent? by wonkey_monkey · · Score: 1

      Yeah, and are these patients consenting to this?

      Why are you assuming they aren't? The summary says "recruiting," not "press-ganging."

      --
      systemd is Roko's Basilisk.
    6. Re:Consent? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      What is needed is connectivity between those machines and the software that does the charting.

      And, of course, to connect both of those to the machine that goes "Ping!".

  3. Let's just pretend... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    that you dont have to strap a bunch of shit to your head and shoulders to make this thing work, call it a tricorder for virtually no reason whatsoever, and pretend it's the future! fuck you sxsw.

  4. easy by frovingslosh · · Score: 4, Insightful

    Anyone can build a working Tricorder as long as they get to define what a Tricorder is. In this case it sounds like people are taking any medical technology and slapping the Tricorder name on it. I don't remember the Trek Tricorder including a wearable collar (I assume as opposed to the other type of collar). I might as well call an app that interacts with a Bluetooth wrist strap a Tricorder.

    --
    I'm an American. I love this country and the freedoms that we used to have.
    1. Re:easy by Em+Adespoton · · Score: 2

      Of course, I don't think any of us would want to be exposed to a working Tricorder -- they worked by bombarding the subject with EM radiation, including a bunch in the "radioactive" spectrum. In real life, the thing was likely to diagnose you as being in the early stages of cancer due to the tricorder itself.

      So a few extra pieces to replace some of the EM stuff are welcome in my book, even if it's not quite as simple to use.

    2. Re:easy by Verdatum · · Score: 4, Informative

      The X-Prize competition decides what a Tricorder is. Their guidelines are here: http://tricorder.xprize.org/si...

    3. Re:easy by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      It certainly doesn't match the Trek Tricorder, but the contest terms are more forgiving:

      Given that each team will take its own approach to design and functionality, the device's physical appearance and functionality may vary immensely from team to team. Indeed, the only stated limit on form is that the mass of its components together must be no greater than five pounds.

    4. Re:easy by Mr.+Freeman · · Score: 0

      I also don't remember a blood testing stick either. And what the hell does the stick or collar actually test for? The Tricorder could measure a crapload of medical conditions, but something tells me that this device won't even be capable of measuring someone's blood pressure.

      --
      -1 disagree is not a modifier for a reason. -1 troll, flaimbait, redundant, overrated are NOT acceptable substitutes.
    5. Re:easy by mrbester · · Score: 1

      I would hope that the wand at least makes a sound when activated...

      --
      "Wait. Something's happening. It's opening up! My God, it's full of apricots!"
    6. Re:easy by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      I don't think that's a fair assesment. The Tricorder XPrize competition defined the device as being able to diagnose something like at least 5 out of 20 conditions in a single use form factor, but it absolutely does not define the product package. It doesn't need to be a magic wand/box like Star Trek had, it's the function that matters.

      Personally I find the Tricorder rules too limited, the conditions are all easy to detect conditions so this is really an engineeing project; the question is how do you package at least 5 diagnostic tests into one device, but not can it diagnose any disease.

    7. Re:easy by jez9999 · · Score: 1

      Depends how much radiation is being emitted. Virtually everything is radioactive to some degree. A small amount of radiation is OK.

      --
      == Jez ==
      Do you miss Firefox? Try Pale Moon.
    8. Re:easy by ceoyoyo · · Score: 2

      Like a flashlight! Oh, you say it was supposed to emit x-rays as well? So like a CRT then.

    9. Re:easy by Wraithlyn · · Score: 4, Informative

      The contest requirements are very specific on the device's testing capabilities, here they are:

      The Core Set (Qualifying requires 5/13, Final Round requires all 13):
      1. Anemia
      2. Urinary tract infection, lower
      3. Diabetes
      4. Atrial fibrillation
      5. Stroke
      6. Sleep apnea, obstructive
      7. Tuberculosis
      8. Chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD)
      9. Pneumonia
      10. Otitis ("ear infection")
      11. Leukocytosis
      12. Hepatitis A
      13. Absence of Core Conditions

      The Elective Set (Qualifying requires 1, Final Round requires 3):
      1. Pertussis (Whooping Cough)
      2. Hypertension
      3. Mononucleosis
      4. Allergens (airborne)
      5. Hypothyroidism/hyperthyroidism
      6. Food-borne illness
      7. Shingles
      8. Melanoma
      9. Strep throat
      10. Cholesterol Screen
      11. HIV Screen
      12. Osteoporosis

      The Vital Signs Set (Qualifying requires 3, Final Round requires all 5):
      1. Blood pressure
      2. Electrocardiography (heart rate/variability)
      3. Body temperature
      4. Respiratory rate
      5. Oxygen Saturation

      --
      "Mind, as manifested by the capacity to make choices, is to some extent present in every electron." -Freeman Dyson
    10. Re:easy by RabidReindeer · · Score: 3, Informative

      Of course, I don't think any of us would want to be exposed to a working Tricorder -- they worked by bombarding the subject with EM radiation, including a bunch in the "radioactive" spectrum. In real life, the thing was likely to diagnose you as being in the early stages of cancer due to the tricorder itself..

      Did they? I missed that episode.

      I always thought that the ideal tricorder could accept a broad spectrum of natural radiations in 3 dimensions and use that to construct a bio-chemical-mechanical model of the subject. Thus the name "tricorder" being equally used for both medical purposes (medical tricorder) and general exploration (for example, Spock's tricorder).

      Think about it. Every nanosecond we are being constantly bombarded by radio waves from Jupiter, the Sun, and the stars, cosmic rays, neutrinos, natural radioactivity from the ground we stand on and the air we breathe, light at various frequencies, including UV and IR, sound waves of all frequencies and that's not even factoring in man-made stuff like WKRP AM/FM, the local police/fire/rescue/transportation/etc and business channels or cell phones. Some of that stuff goes straight through, some reflects and/or refracts, some is absorbed selectively by various tissues, some is blocked. All you need is sensors, a computer powerful enough to correlate it, and software that can reduce it to usable data.

    11. Re:easy by rossdee · · Score: 1

      And this device will be able to test for these conditions in a few seconds? That would be really cool, since current tests for some of these take a day or more.
      or multiple tests over time.

      EG the TB test (yes I know its not called a manteau any more) has to be read between 48 - 72 hours. Other items on those lists need a culture to be examined after 24 hours.

      Disclaimer: IAOACNA (I am only a CNA)

    12. Re:easy by SuperKendall · · Score: 2

      And this device will be able to test for these conditions in a few seconds? That would be really cool, since current tests for some of these take a day or more.

      How did you think Spock learned to stand so still?

      --
      "There is more worth loving than we have strength to love." - Brian Jay Stanley
    13. Re:easy by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      You forgot about the Klingons.

    14. Re:easy by oodaloop · · Score: 1

      All you need is sensors, a computer powerful enough to correlate it, and software that can reduce it to usable data.

      You make it sound so easy!

      --
      Tic-Tac-Toe, Global Thermonuclear War, and relationships all have the same winning move.
    15. Re:easy by RabidReindeer · · Score: 1

      Well, All You Have To Do Is...

    16. Re:easy by operagost · · Score: 1

      Barclay: Computer, begin new program. Create as follows: workstation chair. Now, create a standard alphanumeric console, positioned for the left hand. Now an iconic display console, positioned for the right hand. Tie both consoles into the Enterprise main computer core, utilizing neural-scan interface.
      Enterprise Computer: There is no such device on file.
      Barclay: No problem. Here's how you build it.

      --

      Gamingmuseum.com: Give your 3D accelerator a rest.
  5. I once glued three woodwind instruments together by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Funny

    I called it a tricorder

  6. tricorder by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    This sounds like a medical scanner, not a generic tricorder. Marketing tools playing fast and loose with our cultural heritage

    1. Re: tricorder by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1, Informative

      Tricorder? Medical Tricorder!

      Please state the nature of the medical emergency...

    2. Re: tricorder by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Tricorder? Medical Tricorder!

      Please state the nature of the medical emergency...

      My sonic screwdriver does more than this thing does.

    3. Re: tricorder by RabidReindeer · · Score: 1

      Music is medicine for the soul.

  7. GTFO by PopeRatzo · · Score: 1

    The top two stories on Slashdot right now are a working Tricorder at SXSW and Boeing patenting "Star Wars Style Force Field Technology".

    I get that it's "News for Nerds" but can we please try to appeal to a readership that doesn't think the holocaust is the name of the new VR headset from Samsung?

    --
    You are welcome on my lawn.
    1. Re:GTFO by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      This kind of whining is worse for Slashdot, and more indicative of pandering to a sub-literate demographic, than either of the stories you complain about.

      APK's copypasta stalking contributes more intelligent discourse to this site than you are capable of.

    2. Re:GTFO by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      But they are accurate. And playful. That is what Slashdot is about.

      You think the tricorder in the Star Trek universe suddenly just was and that was that?
      It would have went through similar iterations that these devices are right now.
      Obviously we don't yet have the ability to scan at the resolutions devices like that were able to on a portable scale, and may very well never have such an ability due to what we know about physics. (but what we don't know is still up in the air, there may very well be a whole universe of things we don't know yet, or we might be a few large theories away from knowing everything about existence)
      Admittedly it being referred to a tricorder would probably have come at a point where technology was widely different enough, at the ability to be able to remotely scan a persons bio-signs, whereas these are fairly close to the body at present time.
      Don't forget, even in the Star Treks, in most of them (ignore the original, it is a completely different series to the rest), all staff had remote-sensing tech on them that reported basic bio-signs: their little badge.
      In some cases, deeper scanning usually needed something strapped to them, or entering a chamber to be scanned. Tricorders could only really perceive basic chemical-related imbalances, biological and such. If more resolution was required, in the machine they go.
      Sooner or later, we will have CCDs of some level, and hardware, that will literally be able to see the flow of blood through your skin cells just by being a couple inches from it. Spectral analysis of said flow will reveal average blood counts, drugs in blood and so on.
      It might be a bit, actually it will be larger than the little inch-or-so long device that was normally held out to scan, but it is close enough. Maybe your average ear-temperature sensor large.

      Likewise, the Force Field is very similar in design, it is merely a deflector-type shield.
      These have been talked about for a while, but now more and more people are seriously looking in to such hardware at a profitable level, which will mean we will almost certainly see such hardware within the next 5-10 years in use on some levels since we know how the tech works, we know the theories, it will mostly be trial and error to get the right values plugged in to equations, then figuring out how to mass produce it.

    3. Re:GTFO by The+Grim+Reefer · · Score: 1
      I thought last sentence was pretty funny.

      holocaust is the name of the new VR headset from Samsung?

    4. Re:GTFO by PopeRatzo · · Score: 1

      Of course it was. The entire comment was a way to get that joke in. I've been saving it for just such an occasion.

      --
      You are welcome on my lawn.
    5. Re:GTFO by PopeRatzo · · Score: 0

      Oh, I get that. But don't you think it's a little bit insulting that the only way they could make it interesting to Slashdot readers is to make references to bad 1970s sci-fi?

      My problem is not with the new technology. My problem is that someone thinks we can only be interested via dumb fictional references.

      --
      You are welcome on my lawn.
    6. Re:GTFO by Cederic · · Score: 1

      What's the immediate response to "We've invented deflector shields!" on Slashdot? "Cool, about time, we saw those in the 70s"

      I'm not even going to be sarcastic with you about this article. The name of the fucking prize has 'tricorder' in it: http://tricorder.xprize.org/

      Do you really expect someone to post to Slashdot and not mention that word? Really?

  8. Nice by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    so not anything at all like the fictional tricorder. Wonderful. Was it perhaps 3D printed in space, as well?

    1. Re: Nice by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Tut tut, in here we call a 3D printer a replicator, because we need to appeal to all the nerds or something by referencing unrelated tech.

  9. Yeah But... by RevSpaminator · · Score: 1

    Can it generate a sub-sonic wave tuned to harmonize with a rock wall and cause it to crumble?

    1. Re:Yeah But... by mrbester · · Score: 2

      They're doctors, dammit, not geologists...

      --
      "Wait. Something's happening. It's opening up! My God, it's full of apricots!"
    2. Re:Yeah But... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Damn. I missed that episode.

  10. Bone knives and bear skins by bobbied · · Score: 2

    ... you're asking me to work with equipment which is hardly very far ahead of stone knives and bearskins.

    I am endeavoring, ma'am, to construct a mnemonic memory circuit using stone knives and bear skins....

    --
    "File to fit, pound to insert, paint to match" - Aircraft Maintenance 101
    1. Re:Bone knives and bear skins by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      ... you're asking me to work with equipment which is hardly very far ahead of stone knives and bearskins.

      I am endeavoring, ma'am, to construct a mnemonic memory circuit using stone knives and bear skins....

      The doctor could have done it with primordial ooze and left over food-stuffs.. :)

      and of course a sonic screwdriver

      of course the doctor wouldn't have been stuck in the 1930s in the city on the edge of forever (seeing as he walks in eternity anyway) unless weeping angels were involved.

  11. There was a wand by SuperKendall · · Score: 1

    See the image on this page.

    I can't remember if there was a wand in every version of the tricorder, but I could have sworn I saw McCoy using the wand also.

    Not that we want to get TOO bound up in limiting a really useful medical device to the exact form factor of a TV show prop...

    --
    "There is more worth loving than we have strength to love." - Brian Jay Stanley
    1. Re:There was a wand by gohmifune · · Score: 1

      You're probably correct about the wand, but I don't believe McCoy ever used a tricorder. If memory serves, he placed patients under a device with the Gian monitor.

      I believe the tricorder is a TNG thing, especially since it seemed to composed of three parts.

    2. Re:There was a wand by SuperKendall · · Score: 1

      I don't think he used it often, but I did manage to find a shot of McCoy with a tricorder.

      --
      "There is more worth loving than we have strength to love." - Brian Jay Stanley
  12. Stay true by WinstonWolfIT · · Score: 1

    The medical scanner needs to be fashioned from an old salt shaker.

  13. Always room for one more by Hognoxious · · Score: 1

    Does Bennet Haselton think gold-pressed latinum is currently overvalued with respect to bitcoins?

    --
    Confucius say, "Find worm in apple - bad. Find half a worm - worse."
  14. uhhh far from it.... by SuperDre · · Score: 1

    How is this prototype a tricoder? last time I checked a tricoder was a standalone device which didn't require other devices attached to people's bodies...

    1. Re:uhhh far from it.... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      That was just a fictional device from a TV show dude!

      .

  15. Too late, already happened by zippthorne · · Score: 1

    Smartphones already are capable of measuring three different things, and with a bluetooth measuring device for any other measurements you might want to make, are pretty much what a tricorder appears to be, except they fit in your pocket.

    --
    Can you be Even More Awesome?!
  16. Needle by MrL0G1C · · Score: 1

    No gadget that contains a needle (syringe type) should be called a tricorder in my book.

    --
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    1. Re:Needle by gohmifune · · Score: 1

      We should really have a Hypospray Xprize. A cheap small jet injector would be amazing.

  17. Re:I once glued three woodwind instruments togethe by operagost · · Score: 1

    Now you can cry in three-part harmony on television.

    --

    Gamingmuseum.com: Give your 3D accelerator a rest.