I found a really interesting new technology being developed by Georgia Tech and Emory University that could make every parents life easier. I’m sure most parents know how fun it is to take your child to the doctor when they have an ear infection. It’s not fun at all.
According to this article by Medical Xpress, Wilbur Lam, MD, PhD has created the Remotoscope which is a clip-on attachement and software app that turns your iPhone into an otoscope. The remotoscope lets a parent take a picture of a child’s eardrum and then send the image digitally to a physician for their review.
The device is still going through a clinical trial to see if the Remotoscope produces the same results as the otoscope.
I’m sure that many that read this will be concerned about enabling parents this way. Although, I don’t see how this is that much different than a parent using a thermometer at home. Like most things in life, they can be abused, but I expect that if used properly this good help a lot of children and save a lot of doctors visits. I hope the clinical trial is successful.
How do you feel about having a remotoscope at home where you could take a picture of your child’s eardrum at home?
I think this is awesome. Doctor’s offices are so not fun, especially when you think your child has an ear infection, and they don’t. It would be nice to be able to figure it out from home!
[…] Remotoscope – Diagnose Ear Infections at Home Using Your iPhone […]
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[…] another gadget to add to my ever-growing, paranoid (or more, perhaps, cautious) parent list. I’ve read about this at three separate sources […]