Researchers at the University of California, Los Angeles developed a Google Glass application that they claim helps save lives.
The application will enable the Google Glass users to use the device's hands-free camera to capture pictures of rapid diagnostic tests (RTDs). The test involves placing blood or fluid samples on small strips that changes color to indicate the presence of HIV, malaria, prostate cancer or other conditions, the researchers explained in a university press release.
The researchers stated that the application would be helpful in tracking the diseases and improve public health monitoring and rapid responses in disaster-relief areas or quarantine zones where usual medical tools are not available or feasible.
"This breakthrough technology takes advantage of gains in both immunochromatographic rapid diagnostic tests and wearable computers," said principal investigator Aydogan Ozcan, the Chancellor's Professor of Electrical Engineering and Bioengineering at UCLA and associate director of UCLA's California NanoSystems Institute.
"This smart app allows for real-time tracking of health conditions and could be quite valuable in epidemiology, mobile health and telemedicine."
"With our app for Google Glass and our remote computing and data analysis power, we can deliver a one-two punch - provide quantified biomedical test results for individual patients, plus analyze all those data to determine whether an outbreak is imminent," said Ozcan.
Many people have been developing various software or applications for Google Glass. In North Carolina, a fireman developed an app that directs incoming 911 calls and the locations of fire hydrants to his Google Glass, reports the USA Today. Furthermore, a Texas health-care entrepreneur has teamed up with anesthesiologists to make their rounds safer and more efficient.
The research is published online in the peer-reviewed journal ACS Nano.
