Star Trek Medical Tricorder Is About To Become A Reality

CommanderFrank

CommanderFrank

Cat Can't Scratch It
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The medical tricorder is about to make the leap from science fiction to science fact. While not quite as sophisticated as the Star Trek version, the Scanadu Scout measures your vital statistics by just placing the unit on your forehead and then transfers the data to your smartphone. Pending FDA approval, the Scanadu Scout will be available next March. Gene Roddenberry would approve. :cool:

The small device is similar to the medical tricorder scanners featured in Star Trek, and is used by simply placing it against your forehead.
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Why does it need FDA approval? It's not a food nor a drug. If the supplement industry doesn't need approval, then there's no reason for this to need it.
 
Spidey329 said:
Why does it need FDA approval? It's not a food nor a drug. If the supplement industry doesn't need approval, then there's no reason for this to need it.
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From wikipedia:

The FDA is responsible for protecting and promoting public health through the regulation and supervision of food safety, tobacco products, dietary supplements, prescription and over-the-counter pharmaceutical drugs (medications), vaccines, biopharmaceuticals, blood transfusions, medical devices, electromagnetic radiation emitting devices (ERED), and veterinary products.
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Spidey329 said:
Why does it need FDA approval? It's not a food nor a drug. If the supplement industry doesn't need approval, then there's no reason for this to need it.
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it could still be inaccurate (respiratory rate accuracy sucks) or superficially dangerous (the infrared diode used occasionally spits out em interference to pacemakers) or have a really weird interaction with something else (the plastic case might react with clearasil?)

these are all unlikely, but that is what fda testing is for, to attempt to find the unexpected things.
 
I'd love to see where this thing has advanced in a few short years. Hopefully they'll be able to throw more into it, and lower the already low price!
 
King Icewind said:
From wikipedia:
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My post was more highlighting the fact the FDA's directive is asinine. :)

I know they have to approve med devices. Something that should be left to the health organization, but meanwhile, the FDA doesn't have to regulate the supplement industry. It's a complete clusterfu## of "huh?" Political organization skills.
 
Spidey329 said:
Why does it need FDA approval? It's not a food nor a drug. If the supplement industry doesn't need approval, then there's no reason for this to need it.
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They ensure the proper congressional leaders have been bribed.
 
I'm not sure how that even comes close to being a tricorder, but it's still neat.
 
Not even remotely close to a tricorder. Knowing someone's Sp02, BP, and HR isn't going to let you diagnose anything.
 
Is it just me, but everything we see in movies really does come true at some point, from this stuff, to government conspiracies to all sorts of things...
 
And the $3 thermometer just became a $1000 scanner. Cool.
 
Spidey329 said:
My post was more highlighting the fact the FDA's directive is asinine. :)

I know they have to approve med devices. Something that should be left to the health organization, but meanwhile, the FDA doesn't have to regulate the supplement industry. It's a complete clusterfu## of "huh?" Political organization skills.
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More along the line of the supplement company pretty plainly states "any benefit could depend upon the user" so it's a legal out, and they're not claiming to be a drug Kind of like how they say eating fruits with antioxidants can help fight cancer, they didn't need FDA approval to say that.

That said, this is an awesome first step... next up holodeck and I'm going to be having crazy wild sex with every hot chick in the world :D
 
MrGuvernment said:
Is it just me, but everything we see in movies really does come true at some point, from this stuff, to government conspiracies to all sorts of things...
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Fiction does work much faster than reality. It's because once it's thought up, there's R&D involved in making that fiction reality ;)
 
MrGuvernment said:
Is it just me, but everything we see in movies really does come true at some point, from this stuff, to government conspiracies to all sorts of things...
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Not everything, only the thing that has a bit of sense behind them.

I sure hope those replicators become real though. The one thing that's really needed to pretty much have world peace, and all the jazz the Star Trek Universe has got.
 
Serpent said:
Not everything, only the thing that has a bit of sense behind them.

I sure hope those replicators become real though. The one thing that's really needed to pretty much have world peace, and all the jazz the Star Trek Universe has got.
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Power is the real hangup, not replicators. You have to have cheap, abundant energy for anything major to happen. The industrial revolution was powered by fossil fuels, the next revolution could have been fission (but the idiots were in charge so that didn't happen). So now it'd down to fusion power, and god knows when that'll be feasible.
 
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