Triage like a Trekkie
June 3, 2009 by Liz Lewis
Filed under Announcements, Exposed!, Technology
Star Trek fans will remember Dr McCoy’s cool medical tricorder that could name medical ailments without even laying a hand on the patient.
But that was television and in reality, we all knew that the tricorder didn’t exist.
But now it’s starting to look as though it does.
Meet the Standoff Patient Triage Tool (SPTT), a 15-by-8-by-6-inch (or about 38-by-20-by-15-centimeter) machine that according to the Department of Homeland Security’s (DHS) Science and Technology Directorate can gauge a person’s pulse, body temperature and muscle movement from up to 40 feet away.
Using the same type of laser technology already in use on airplanes and in acoustic speakers and landmine detectors, the SPTT quickly measures vibrations in the human head and chest and use the data to calculate vital signs.
Imagine the possibilities of such a machine. According to the DHS, this machine could potentially take only 30 seconds to do what it normally takes a medic three to five minutes per person.
Gimme! I want one