Google Glass | SCI-FI View on Healthcare

Digital healthcare is revolutionizing the way health care used to be viewed by people. With the intersection of biology and technology, impossible has been made possible in the world of health and science.

Digital healthcare is a relatively new market which involves the use of information technology to address the health problems and challenges faced by patients. Right from apps that enable patients to book appointments or order prescriptions to devices that track and monitor patients remotely, the use of digital technology can be seen in almost each and every sphere of health care now.

One such powerful innovation of digital health care is the – ‘Google Glass’

Google Glass – A Sci-Fi View

Google glass was invented by Google and is a type of wearable technology that displays information in a smart phone like hands-free format. Wearers can communicate with the internet via natural language voice commands. In Google Glass, data on the “screen” appears in the wearer’s peripheral vision. It’s like looking in the rearview mirror of your car. That rear view is always there when you need it, but it’s not there when you don’t.

The healthcare applications of Google glass are wide-ranging. From enabling hands-free real-time access to patient and clinical information, to the transmission of point of view video and voice for surgical research and educational purposes, Google glass marks the beginning of a truly remarkable journey for technical innovation within healthcare.

How Google Glass is going to modernize the healthcare industry?

Several proofs of concept for Google Glass have been proposed in healthcare. The future of Google glass seems much brighter than it was predicted. Let’s have a look at how Google glass is going to change the way doctors and medical practitioner view things.

• As a wearable device that is always on and ready, Google glass can remarkably streamline clinical workflows that involve information gathering.

Poor decision-making is the main culprit for poor outcomes among patients. So that’s one way the Google Glass can truly help, by providing data when its actually needed in real time.

• Having a wearable technology can help break down geographic barriers by providing surgeons in remote parts of the world access to modern surgical techniques and live feed during surgery and providing them resources to observe and learn how surgeries are performed in more advanced and developed countries.
• With Google glass and its growing role in telemedicine, patients can expect to receive world-class care from the comforts of their homes.
• Google glass can also enable clinicians to review emergency triage and operative procedures for training and self-assessment.
• For nurses, patient alarms and communications via Google glass would allow a more natural workflow compared with traditional wireless phones and pagers.
• In case of accidents and emergencies, where required medical help is not available at that moment, Google Glass can be leveraged to treat and provide first aid to patients by the ER teams in the hospitals.
• Google Glass can insure that the proper processes are followed and that communications are conducted in accordance with hospital policies and government regulations.

These use cases of Google glass adoption paint an amazing picture of how this technology is going to revolutionize health care. Glass provides an open canvas for application developers to shape the future healthcare landscape and Google Glass is but one of the emerging wearable transforming health care.