Of
course, Vision is one of the finest senses gifted to us that form real impressions
about the world in our mind. Over the passage of generations, eye impairment
has only increased due to varied reasons from dietary intake to lifestyle choices
and prolific usage of digital screens. According to WHO estimate, 285 million people are visually
impaired globally. Nevertheless, science has advanced to address any form of impairment. Technology advancements in terms of smart contact lenses, laser treatments, robots,
nano bots, smartphone apps and remote medicine is going to transform the vision
care tremendously in the future. Now, the technology has advanced to such an
extent that you can overlay virtual environment on real-time vision with inventions
such as Google Glasses that allows for augmented reality. Healthcare has been
slowest to adapt to these digital transformation but once the certain scale has
been achieved, we could see profound impact on care delivery.
The
proliferation of smart devices enables novel ways of communication and
connecting with patients by doctors. It
is estimated that by end of 2013, 6% of the global population will own a
tablet, 20% will own PCs, and 22% will own smartphones[i].
According to the latest Nielsen estimate, two-thirds of all phones owned by
people in US will be smartphones[ii]. With
the current developments seen across smartphone apps, it is possible for a
patient to carry out virtualized services such as fixing up appointments, use virtual
optical assistants to choose glasses, provide remote consultation and take self-vision
screening tests before visiting a clinic. Consider this new virtual assistant
named Otto, developed by VSP Optics group which is one of the largest providers
of eye care plans in United States. This app has remarkable functions such as
insurance information and eligibility check, doctor’s directory, web
appointments, alerts and notifications, online eye-wear gallery store, vision
screening and social media connect with friends and communities[iii].
Smartphone
app can provide vision care access to the people in remote locations that
are inaccessible to primary medical attention. Nearly 90% of global visually impaired population lives in developing countries. Peek, an acronym for Portable
Eye Examination Kit, is a smartphone app that allows for an eye examiner to use
camera of the smartphone to conduct basic vision screening. This app uses
camera’s flashlight to illuminate the back of the eye, the retina and check for
diseases[iv]. Also,
all these details on the examined patients are recorded on phone and shared it
with doctors over mail. This app has really been useful by assisting people in
very remote places to conduct eye examination and
get consultation over phone.
Smart
contact lenses are developed that provides augmented reality on the lenses and also
enable continuous monitoring of eye pressure that causes eye disorders. Innovega
is one such company that has developed contact lens called the iOptik lens manufactured
using nanotechnology to perceive both reality and information provided by the
Internet or another source about the objects in focus[v].
Sensimed is another company that has developed a device that can measure the
eye pressure responsible for disorders on a continuous basis which can be used
to analyse and intervene immediately[vi]. Measuring
the eye pressure regularly and providing early medical intervention can go a
long way in preventing the loss of vision. Smart contact lens enables the real-time
monitoring without paying regular visit to the clinic for eye check-up.
With
these pervasive scientific advancements, let us reimagine our eye examination
routine in the digitally transformed world. Jack feels some terrible pain in
his left eye and decides to take self-guided vision screening test using his
smartphone application. Jack screens his eye using the camera and attends to
different levels of self-test the app recommends him to do. After analyzing the
picture and test results, the app diagnosed Alan with certain possibility of
low vision. Jack then looks up at the doctor’s directory within the app that
shows the nearest doctors with star ratings and the ones recommended by
friends and insurance companies. Jack carefully chooses a doctor from the
listed recommendation and fixes an appointment online with that doctor. As soon
as the appointment is completed, a reminder is set in Jack’s smartphone and a
message is sent to his doctor on the appointment and the doctor’s calendar is
adjusted automatically for attending to Jack.
On
the scheduled date, app examines the GPS location of Jack and calculates the
distance and duration required based on different driving options to reach the
doctor’s office. After the analysis, app automatically adjusts the reminder so
that Jack reaches on time. On the appropriate time, Jack is alerted on his
visit to eye doctor and the GPS system directs him to the doctor’s office
choosing the best route alternative. On entering the clinic, Jack is facially recognized
and greeted by a robot based on his profile and directs him to his seat. Then another
robot with more advanced examining capability visits Jack wading through the
hospital pathways and crossing lot of people on the way. On reaching Jack, the
robot asks questions and records the input from Jack in writing. Jack informs about the self-test and the test results are shared by his smartphone app
to the robot. The robot then records all these information in the Jack’s health
profile. Robot then conducts advanced eye test to examine further just like the
preliminary tests conducted by attendants in our current times. All these
information are simultaneously stored in the Jack’s profile.
Jack
is then called on meet Dr.Alan over the digital notice board. Alan wearing advanced
glasses something like Google glasses runs through the Jack’s profile on his
glass screen. Alan re-examines Jack for diagnosis as he scans his eyes through
his glasses and after assessing the condition, glasses shows a list of
recommended treatment options on his screen. Alan then utters medicine names with dosage as
the speech-to-text engine on his smart glasses converts the prescription in text
format along with recommendation to wear glasses with prescribed power. The
printer which is connected to the smart glasses prints out the prescription for
Alan while all these information are simultaneously recorded on ubiquitous Jack’s
health profile that can be accessed anytime and anywhere. All these
interactions are transmitted live from Alan’s smart glasses to the screen in
the next room as part of teaching classes for his interns.
Doctor’s
prescriptions are stored on Jack’s smartphone app which alerts Jack for taking
medication when it is due. App then sends this medicine list to the pharmacy
along with doctor's prescription as Jack makes payment through his digital wallet.
Pharmacy then delivers medicine at Jack’s doorsteps at the agreed time.
Meanwhile, Jack uses virtual optical assistant on his app to try on different
frames at the online lens store. Jack then chooses the frame that fits him well
with specified dimensions and provides required input on Lens options. Once the
order is completed, the online store delivers the glasses on the scheduled
date. Jack then recommends this online store for his friends and community
circle on the social media.
Mobile
Apps are transforming into effective consulting, marketing and communication
channel from ubiquitous information search. Patients feel comfortable that the doctors are
just at their hands reach on the smartphones. With IBM’s powerful analytical
machine Watson being open for public from next year, we could only see its
tremendous impact with numerous applications wrapped around this analytical
engine. These apps could help patients and doctors to understand the eye
disorders and access relevant medical literature and viable treatment options under
their nose. The technology could also streamline the eye clinic operations to a
greater extent by automating processes, optimizing and utilizing resources
effectively, reducing the time spent on waiting and improving quality of consultation
for its patients.
No comments:
Post a Comment