Although Google Glass may have been pulled as a product for the masses, Alphabet plans on continuing to develop the device for professional applications. And it’s certainly proving itself useful in medicine, as a new study in Journal of Medical Toxicology has shown that it’s useful and effective for tele-toxicology consults. The project involved emergency medicine residents who wore Glass during evaluations of poisoned patients while toxicology fellows and attendings in a remote location participated in the consults via a video connection. They essentially set back and reviewed the findings of the emergency docs, offering advice as necessary.
The study looked at how everyone involved accepted the use of the communication medium, as well as how it affected the care provided. Interestingly, the toxicologists changed their opinions of how to treat the patients in 56% of cases after using Glass. In six cases the antidote that was prescribed was accurately selected only after using Glass. In 11 of cases the connection was too poor for usability, but that can probably be attributed to the network used.
Study in Journal of Medical Toxicology: The Feasibility and Acceptability of Google Glass for Teletoxicology Consults…
Source: UMass Medical School…