Scan Yourself With Your Digital Doctor

There seems to be a high demand for the ability to self-diagnose. Consider Scanadu, a company developing a medical device for self-diagnosis, has become the highest funded project in the history of Indiegogo, the crowd funding website similar to Kickstarter. The desire of the average consumer to have more control when diagnosing and checking their health, as well as removing the doctor as an intermediary, has lead to the company amassing more than $1,378,545 for its Indiegogo campaign, aimed at developing the Scanadu scanner.

Inspired by a fictional device from the Star Trek serial, The Scanadu Scout is a compact, oblong scanner that measures and records  the users vital signs and then sends the information to his smartphone. In only five seconds being pressed to the users temple, the device can monitor data such as heart rating, body temperature and oxygenation; with other values such as blood pressure, stress levels and many more to be added. The company is in the process of gathering intelligence, using iterative means like forums to communicate with its potential customers, about what kinds of information would the users like for the device to include in its scanning capability. Scanadu creator Walter De Brouwer mentions that these vary from region to region, and adds that the educational factor, ie. advice on what the user can do with the knowledge, is next in the company's goals for development prior to the product entering the market.

If successful, the Scanadu can revolutionize the way people treat health, digitize the diagnosis process and change the entire structure of healthcare. With its massive funding it seems poised for success; whether or not it will live up to its potential remains to be seen.

Read more about this invention via TechCrunch Photo via DigitalTrends