National Geographic has put out a Special Edition for January 2019 titled, “The Future of Medicine.”
When discussing remote (human) medical data collection, this sentence grabbed me…
“Flexible, electronic medical tattoos and stick-on sensors can take an electrocardiogram, measure respiratory rate, check blood sugar, and transmit results seamlessly via Bluetooth.”
Naturally, these types of sensors will appear for humans and be expensive, but IN THE FUTURE will decrease in cost until practical for veterinary use and I expect that remote sensor sales will be driven by Televeterinarians.
I am speaking at VMX 2019 later this month in Orlando, FL. If at VMX, come to my talk on Wed. Jan 23, in the Ethics Track; “Dilemmas of Televeterinary Practice.” I published an article of the same title this month (Jan, 2019 issue) of Veterinary Practice News. (Front Page!)
Below is my own list of potential components of a future televeterinary exam:
- A data-centric comprehensive history collected online and archived
- A detailed online medical record, ideally contributing outcomes to an informatics database
- Remote audio or high-definition smartphone video exam (preferably recorded)
- Body weight (measured by the pet owner)
- Body temperature (if indicated, collected by the owner with a bio-thermometer)
- Blood tests (remote testing kit involving nail-trim blood-drop collection)
- Saliva tests (if they become reliable)
- Genetic DNA Profile
- GPS (recognition of global disease patterns)
- Nail or hair samples (if they become reliable)
- Future remote kits for X-ray, ultrasound, EEG
- Collaboration with a specialist who speaks with the pet owner as needed
Rolan
