Microsoft Kinect for Medical use

In class last week we spoke about Wall-e and how technology could change essentially everything and in some cases not in a good way. We also discussed how the new technologies will take over what people currently do. Wall-e is a great representation of not only how people become immersed in their hip new machines, but how too much can cause a misbalance in the regular everyday activities of humans. In the movie the humans become large and obese because they do not do anything themselves anymore. The robot chairs they lay in all day have a screen directly in front of them and the chairs move. They no longer have to walk or even think for themselves. That is not a fate I wish to experience. It also does not seem too farfetched. When you walk around people basically have their phones, ipads, tablets glued to their faces.  At least we still think for ourselves, sometimes? The internet just gives unlimited amount of resources that you do not need your own opinion when you have everyone else’s right in front of you. Just something to think about, where the future is going is going to be very interesting to watch. This class really has encouraged me to look and learn new things outside my box. I have learned to reflect on current events and what is out there. I am sadly so stuck in the way of just doing my school work, extracurricular, that I rarely got to see what is new for today. In my own way I have been able to branch out this semester and make reflections on my own opinions, and what I think about things, which has been pretty enlightening.

I recently came across an article whose title was “Elderly Spaniards Can Get Medical Checkups via Kinect.” It made me immediately thing of our conversations in class, and how everyday activities are being taken over by technology. In this article it explains how Spain’s Basque Country is piloting a system aimed at reducing healthcare costs with remote sensors. The motion sensors originally developed for Microsoft’s Xbox are used to monitor elderly patients remotely. The TEKI system is a remote monitoring system that allows for the recording of heart rate monitor and a spirometer for checking their respiration. The doctors are able to receive their data in real time and write prescriptions over TEKI.

The system includes apps that allow patients access to their health records, a call center for medical advice, and online appointment-making service. The way this system reduces costs is to reduce the face time patients and doctors have. In the first year in use the region saved $55 million dollars over 2 million people. This monitoring system is almost a scary beginning of what is to come. I must say this is amazing though from a medical standpoint. Mostly elderly patients have nagging chronic illnesses that do not necessarily require a face to face doctor connection. This system allows for the elderly patients not to have to travel which sometimes causes danger for other people (since they are not the best drivers). It is extraordinary because real time data collection can be used in so many ways. Now it is a scary beginning of the world of “robot” control.  This is just the start of what can be implemented into almost every different field. This system is monitored by a doctor but it can simply be put into a program. Just given the patient information of age and weight, an algorithm can be produced to make an output to where the patient is in danger and needs care. At that point is where the doctor steps in, only at urgent care.