Phillips developing uses for Google Glass in Health Care

I know we are all waiting for the day that there really is something useful that Google Glass can do for you. Well here is one being developed by Phillips Healthcare and Accenture to help surgeons interact with patient data to become more efficient and effective. If you are unaware of what Google Glass is then here is a brief explanation.

Google Glass is wearable technology that looks like eyeglasses, but without the lenses. Instead, a small prism on the right side displays information via a Wi-Fi or Bluetooth connection to the MyGlass app on Android or iOS devices.

Google Glass was rolled out to early adopter this past year and Google is encouraging users to share their ideas and innovations to help develop the base of applications that this new user interface device can take advantage of. Researchers from the Philips Digital Accelerator Lab has collaborated with Accenture Technology Labs to come up with potential uses of Google Glass in Clinical settings.

Anthony (Tony) Jones, M.D., is the vice president and chief marketing officer for patient care and clinical informatics at Philips Healthcare. He explains, “The most exciting potential application of Google Glass in healthcare is the ability to allow providers to ‘virtually’ be in two places at once, which will have a significant impact on workflow and patient care.”

The idea is for the surgeon or other medical professional to be able to verbally request information on patient status or show images like X-Rays, MRI or other digital images to be able to quickly and simply access information as a reference while working on the patient. Patient vitals or other information would also be at their fingertips to be able to react quickly as necessary to best take care of the patient all while keeping their eyes on the patient.

“It sounds simple, but small workflow improvements like this can reduce errors and have a significant impact on patient care,” Jones says.

Surgery is not the only place where this technology can make an impact. Think about first responders, either medical, fire or police that could be looking forward at the scene and have information being presented that will make their response more informed, safer and of course help with providing a positive outcome.

Currently there are some real issues with this technology that will need to be overcome before it becomes widely accepted. Battery life is the first one that comes to mine. some method of extending the battery life needs to be adapted before this becomes a valuable tool. Also, the display is still a little small so the detail will need to get better so that more information can be displayed at a time. This is a good step and I am looking forward to seeing where this goes into the future.