Greg Laden is a blogger, writer and independent scholar who occassionally teaches. He has a PhD from Harvard in Archaeology and Biological Anthropology, as well as a Masters Degree in the same subjects. He is a biological anthropologist, but for many years before going to graduate school to study human evolution, he did archaeology in North America. He thinks of himself as a biologist who focuses on humans (past and present) and who uses archaeology as one of the tools of the trade. Greg blogs regularly on ScienceBlogs at http://www.scienceblogs.com/gregladen/.
Dr. Joseph J. Salvo attended Phillips Andover Academy, received his A.B. degree from Harvard University and his Master and Ph.D. degrees in Molecular Biophysics and Biochemistry from Yale University. Dr. Salvo joined the GE Global Research Center in 1988. His early work focused on the development of genetically modified bacteria and fungus, for the production of novel high performance polymers. In the mid 1990's he turned his group's efforts towards developing large-scale internet-based sensing arrays to manage and oversee
business systems. Most recently, he and his team have developed a number of complex decision engines that deliver customer value through system transparency and knowledge-based computational algorithms. Commercial business implementations of his work are currently active in Europe, and Asia as well as North and South America.
Dr. Peter Tu received his undergraduate degree in Systems Design Engineering from the University of Waterloo, Canada, and his doctorate from Oxford University England.
In 1997, he joined the Visualization and Computer Vision Group at the GE Global Research Center in Niskayuna, NY. He has developed algorithms for the FBI Automatic Fingerprint Identification System. He is the principle investigator for the ReFace program, which has the goal of automatically computing the appearance of a person’s face from skeletal remains. Dr. Tu has also developed a number of algorithms for the precise measurement of specular and high curvature objects. His current focus is the development of intelligent video algorithms for surveillance applications.
This is the sixth daily question on the Collective Imagination blog.
Every day, respond to the question (or another commenter's answer) and you will be eligible to win a custom ScienceBlogs USB drive. We'll announce the previous day's winner in each daily question post.
Over the weekend, we asked for your definitions of adequate health coverage. The answers ranged from the very technical—Mike defined it as "the cheapest medical treatment/prevention methodology that provided any improvement in health statistically different from a placebo"—to the more nuanced, like NewEnglandBob's specific cost outlines.
We randomly selected Jake to win a ScienceBlogs USB drive. Jake, please email [email protected] sometime within the next couple of days to claim your prize.
We'll be giving out USB drives daily through the end of March. To get your own, answer today's question in the comments below:
What kind of health information would you like to see in a mobile app?
For more information about health care and technology, check out GE's healthymagination.
Medicine & Health
Technology
Comments
History and Physical.
A mashup of personal lab results so that trends can be monitored by myself.
JPEG/Image access to x-rays, MRIs, etc.
Posted by: Rick Smith | March 8, 2010 11:42 AM | Reply
Instructions for the Heimlich manuever, instructions for CPR, basic first aid instructions such as for bloody nose, blow to the head, those thing that not-so-obviously need a Physicians attention. Even those who know this stuff sometimes need back up when it is 'close to home'.
Posted by: keliann | March 8, 2010 11:51 AM | Reply
I like the answers from the 2 previous commenters. If Rick's wishes are met then there would have to be either password protection or some kind of bio-verification.
Posted by: NewEnglandBob | March 8, 2010 12:43 PM | Reply
Keliann beat me to my first thought. I think there's more people with smartphones that could take instructions from their phone in an emergency than people that know CPR etc by heart.
Along the same lines, a mobile poison control app would also be helpful. Or a mobile MSDS app, for those working around potentially hazardous chemicals.
a personal family health history would also be an interesting app. Sometimes it's hard to keep track of such things.
Posted by: ABradford | March 8, 2010 2:54 PM | Reply
I'd love to have a mobile app with a database of what the most popular pharmacies charge for prescriptions. It's a hassle to leave the doctor's office with a prescription in hand and have to call around all over the place to find a good deal before getting it filled.
Posted by: Lisa Hoover | March 8, 2010 6:00 PM | Reply
Emergency health alert bracelet for the mobile; give an ID (or have an old fashioned bracelet) and the EMT/ER doc can pull up any relevant info.
Posted by: Mu | March 8, 2010 6:10 PM | Reply
I would like a reference showing normal limits for common measurements (bmi, cholesterol, bp, pulse, sugar, etc...). It would also be nice to have first aid information. Perhaps the most powerful would be an app that would allow you to enter types of medication and it would check and alert you to possible drug interactions.
Posted by: SouthernFriedSkeptic | March 8, 2010 6:20 PM | Reply
As someone who travels to other countries at least once a year:
An app that tracks medication names in different nations, what's illegal, etc. A short medical dictionary would also be a good thing, such as how to say, "I am allergic to morphine" in French.
Posted by: Lyle | March 8, 2010 10:42 PM | Reply