Just in case there is someone on this site who isn’t a Trekkie somehow: In Star Trek the all purpose device they use for scanning and other similar things is a Tricorder. One of the applications is medical. You scan someone with this and can get most of the info you might need to diagnose and treat conditions.

I recently had to get some rather invasive tests and it just got me wondering if such a thing is hypothetically possible in the future. What are the barriers that stop us from doing something like that for now/ever? We already have some tests that use waves to image parts of the body like X-rays or MRIs. Is it just complete fantasy to imagine such tests for other parts or functions of the body?

Edited to fix a typo and to clarify that I’m mostly talking about the part where they can remotely scan someone instead of having to stick something in or take something out. The miniaturization is cool, but kind of secondary. I’d take having to go to a doctor and sitting in the equivalent of an MRI machine if it meant not having to get poked and prodded.

  • just_another_person@lemmy.world
    11·
    2 hours ago

    Tricorder was able to tell if someone was pregnant…c’mon now.

    If you’re asking how feasible is a handheld device with a shitton of sensors? Fairly doable. Providing sustainable energy to something like that with current tech…not so much.

    • darthelmet@lemmy.worldOP
      2·
      2 hours ago

      I guess the portable part is less what I was interested in than the possibility of being able to diagnose more things just by waving some sensors over the body instead of needing to cut someone open or stick a camera in them or take some blood, etc.

      • just_another_person@lemmy.world
        1·
        14 minutes ago

        In that realm, there’s not a whole lot we can without actual touch with current tech.

        We have handheld Portable X-Rays that are about the size of an old digital camera, but you’d probably want something with the resolution of an MR, and the smallest of those at current is about the size of a large trashcan (which is still pretty cool).

        If you include basic contact with the device, we can detect Blood Oxygen, Glucose, 12-lead equivalent EKG, some hormones, some infections (rapid detection for cutaneous), and some level of internal imaging with handheld Ultrasound (low-res but live).

        • SGforce@lemmy.ca
          1·
          53 minutes ago

          Now assume we have the ability to both transmit and easily detect quantum particles and their attributes.