Aranz Medical Silhouette Mobile
If you ever had wound of any sort, then you know what it is like to constantly check its progress to make certain it is healing properly.
A New Zealand company has developed a scanner that allows you to do just exactly that. The Aranz Medical Scanner, also known as the Silhouette Mobile, is a hand-held computer that attaches to a PDA. A high resolution digital camera photographs the wound and can somehow provide a certain amount of quantitative data. Somehow the software embedded in the program can analyze the wound and prescribe treatment, and this can be apparently done from a distance.
I think you can imagine the practical implications of this. EMTs can now get a second opinion from someone above them if they have questions on treating a wound. This also will come in handy for soldiers on the battlefield, treating gunshot wounds and various other war injuries.
The Silhouette Mobile can even produce a “wound measurement report” for constant updates. Apparently, new tissue covers a wound, and as it develops, it has to be tracked. The end result is a page of pictures that are not for the feint of heart. You can look at it below, if you really want to, or you might want to wait until after lunch.
Of course, how can you guarantee an accurate picture of a wound’s width and depth from a handheld camera? Well, the camera has an embedded laser insuring the same position with every click. Then the photographs get stored in a central database can be accessed from all over the world and studied on a desktop system.
The weirdest thing about this device is it is inspired by the Lord of the Rings. Actually, I’m certain that the inspiration is probably related to Dr. Leonard McCoy’s medical tricorder on Star Trek. However, my sources say that this device was originally developed because Peter Jackson wanted a better Gollum. Apparently, his friends at WETA workshop found a way to use motion capture as well as lasers to scan a digital image of not only Andy Serkis’ movements, but his body density as well. So that is the reason why Gollum really looks realistic as the computers rendered him down to every last detail.
Who would have ever thought that something that was originally used for a special effect would eventually benefit the medical community? The next thing you’re going to tell me is that Jar Jar Bink’s costume could be used to cure cancer. Oh, if only. Well, if this really is beneficial, it might be the first time in recorded history that special effects companies receive more awards than just the Oscars.
