At the end of the presentation on, “A Sixth Sense”, the young man who was one of the brains behind this new technology stood up and was applauded by the audience. When I saw him I thought -- this man is not only extremely smart, but must have endurance. When the presenter said she hoped we would see this technology more advanced in ten years, I thought who has the endurance to see this through?
The part of the presentation that caught my attention was the finger-picture taking. There have been countless moments when I have wished I had my camera handy to capture a moment in time. Then I thought, if you can capture memories, why not medical information?
I have had a few RN friends who talk about documenting the size, color, and depth of wounds. Now that more hospitals are doing away with paper charting, why not add pictures to electronic charts as well? There is also power in comparing any physical aspects of a sick patient. You can easily visually see the progression of their illness and document the speed in which healing or disease progression is happening.
In one post on delicious.com this week, I found a video that shows new innovative design for a lab the size of a postage stamp. The whole idea was to provide a way to test for certain diseases through materials that were cheap and widely available. Paper!
Another video was about a portable warming device to help premature babies, an incubator for the back country where those are not available. It used a wax-like substance that could be melted in water and then placed in a sleeping bag like blanket -- which was designed to be easily cleaned for use on multiple babies.
I have posted the link to both of these on my delicious.com account. I am not medically minded and have been amazed at these findings.
Yes it is true - a picture is worth a thousand words! How does a nurse convey the patient's color, skin tone & texture in written notes? Not as easy as with a photo, easily obtained.
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