Dr. McCoy's Scanner Gets Closer to Reality

[Tuckerfan]

At the moment it can only detect gum disease and heart disease.

Someday in the not-too-distant future patients may visit a doctor’s office, provide a sample of saliva or blood, and know in minutes if they are prone to heart disease, gum disease, or cancer. There would be no sending samples to off-site labs for analysis and waiting days to obtain the vital information.

A five-pound, hand-held medical diagnostic device being developed at the National Nuclear Security Administration’s Sandia National Laboratories promises to be this ticket to better health for millions of Americans.

I have a feeling that one day soon, we’ll be seeing ATM like machines where you stick your credit card in and for a small fee, they’ll tell you what’s wrong with you.

[Ephemera]

Yeah, but can it dispense salt?

[Kyla]

@Aesiron

Yeah, but can it dispense salt?

What do you want, a freaking Sampo?

[Helen_s_Eidolon]

@Kyla

What do you want, a freaking Sampo?

hee hee hee.

AHAHAHAHA.

[Polycarp]

@Aesiron

Yeah, but can it dispense salt?

ROFL!! When I had dinner at Nefertiti’s house, back in '69, she had a set of them!

[Nunavut_Boy]

Meh. We got something at work that’s pretty nifty, too. It’s called an Abbott iStat. It has to be good, astronauts used it!

It’s a portable chemistry analyzer, about the size of the first cellphones. It can do electrolytes, blood gas measurements, renal function tests and hemoglobin/hematocrit. . All this from maybe a 100uL of whole blood.

[GrizzRich]

Dammit Jim, I’m a DOCTOR not an inventor!

[Doctor_Jackson]

we’ll be seeing ATM like machines where you stick your credit card in and for a small fee, they’ll tell you what’s wrong with you.

Shoot, I could do that now with a diagnosis accuracy of 99%. Put in your card, I debit your account $2 and spit out a receipt that says “You’re a jerk”.

[World_Eater]

@Doctor Jackson

Shoot, I could do that now with a diagnosis accuracy of 99%. Put in your card, I debit your account $2 and spit out a receipt that says “You’re a jerk”.

Bwahaha.

[whiterabbit]

@Aesiron

Yeah, but can it dispense salt?

Ye gads, I am a geek – I get the joke. I think I might need some help.

[matt_mcl]

dr_mom_mcl is waiting for this one. It was her favourite gadget from Star Trek.

(Her favourite scene from Star Trek is where Worf is delivering Keiko’s baby: “You may now give birth.” … “This is not what happened in the simulations! That was an orderly delivery.”)

[Monstre]

@Tuckerfan

I have a feeling that one day soon, we’ll be seeing ATM like machines where you stick your credit card in and for a small fee, they’ll tell you what’s wrong with you.

“So what’s wrong with me?”

Machine: “You have your head stuck in an ATM machine.”