I wonder if one could use ibm Watson servers over a android phone, with a few sensors ( Near infared, sonar and a spot to stick test strips in)
This could be used to create an “instant ER doctor” on the spot where help is needed for triage.
(watson what is this mark on my nipple)
Watson, do I has el cancer?
Watson, should this part be all wonky like that. Etc.
Are you really thinking that a smartphone with a Watson app. will replace doctors in most cases!?
Sometimes, you might need an examination that is more involved than what can be seen and heard by cameras and microphones (just to know what the correct diagnosis would be).
Certain things like detecting skin cancers might be possible, but it wouldn’t work for things like finding fatty tissue buildup in arteries or pinpointing blood leakages in the brain (unless you can find a way to cram a CRI machine, an Xray machine, and an entire laboratory’s worth of sampling tools into the phone as well).
Also, watson is better at it than a normal doctor (diagnosis) by a huge margin*
You would still want a confirmation by a doctor (or better yet it’s the doctor who uses the Watson service). You really want to get it right for more serious conditions (especially when noting the massive list of side effects of some of the medications and treatments which even includes the risk of death).
I can’t see this type of this in a regular consumer smartphone (where would you find the space for starters when it is at a premium), but I can see a specialized device like the Tricorder come into use (and some companies are already developing them).
The idea was to use the phone as a network to watson, and a phone case full of sensors to turn a phone into a tricorder. (like a near Infrared spectroscopy and Infrared spectroscopy as well as sonar and test strips and a microscope)
The phone is basically the modem and display.
“Sorry for your loss. Medical error.”
Watson does not have to be perfect, just better than a human,
And he is, a typical doctor only gets a correct diagnosis the first time 14% of the time.
Watson is over 90% I believe,
I will dig it up.