Google Glass Tests Surgeons

Google Glass has the potential to enable real-time video to reveal to Surgeons information such as detecting tumours and more. Google Glass has an eye-level screen, that releases information to the wearer's retina. A surgeon can then reveal a patient’s lab result or chart. The doctor would never have to leave surgical instruments or the patient on the operating table. There were also technical and privacy issues identified with Google Glass in healthcare.

Google / The Online

The Glass Development Kit ( GDK) for developers is a new tool box launched last month for creating applications using Google Glass. The official Google Glass GDK release is set for 2014. The preview was available for developers to test and identify any potential bugs. The Glass Development Kit is an add-on to the Android SDK that lets Android users build Glassware that runs directly on Glass.

Google Glass was launched last year 2012, Google Glass is being used by a limited group of Google employees, developers, and about 10,000 early adopters (known as "Explorers") who were chosen by Google. It costs $1,500 for the device. Google is reported to be outsourcing Google Glass production to Taiwan-based Foxconn Technology.

We can expect Android wearable technology improvements in the development of faster and smaller sized devices. There are also health technologies which can embed inside the human body. Modern devices such as sensors will be improved. Next generation of wearable technology may even include offline communications or glasses that could even replace smartphone devices.  

IHS iSuppli ( IHS ) forecasts that the smart Glass market will hit the $6 billion mark by 2016, with up to 9.4 million units sold by then. Challenges in this area in having to resolve security and privacy. Healthcare organizations tend to invest less budget for security. If this type of problem can be solved it would make sense to make more resources available and be proactive.

There certainly is a lot of potential here where medical collaboration delivers interactive sessions including, integration, staff participation, and advanced collaboration tools as healthcare goes digital. How both it impacts quality on both measures (the human life and the technology) It just shows how far we have come today with Google and its technologies. This real time communication takes only minutes whereas in the past something like this would have taken hours.