Gli smartphone potrebbero diventare degli utili strumenti per rivoluzionare i metodi di diagnosi delle malattie croniche grazie a speciali sensori e ad apposite applicazioni in campo medico. La nuova frontiera dei moderni cellulari è stata illustrata in una conferenza scientifica svoltasi nei giorni scorsi a Boston e organizzata dall’American association for the advancement of science.
"La camera, il flash, il microfono, il localizzatore GPS diventano sempre più performanti e in grado di rivaleggiare con strumenti decisamente più sofisticati e costosi", ha affermato il Shwetak Patel, professore di scienze informatiche e di ingegneria all’Università di Washington a Seattle.
Già oggi gli smartphone sono in grado di contare i passi, misurare il consumo calorico, il ritmo cardiaco e altro ancora. I loro sensori che consentono il funzionamento di questi programmi, potranno ulteriormente essere sviluppati e utilizzati a beneficio di altre nuove applicazioni, soprattutto, come accennato, in campo medico. Per esempio è possibile usufruire del microfono per misurare le capacità polmonari o depistare una crisi di asma. Il flash può essere impiegato per misurare, su un dito, il tasso di emoglobina del sangue. Tutte queste nuove possibili applicazioni sono in corso di valutazione ed eventualmente di omologazione, da parte della Food and Drug Aministration statunitense.
Impatto importante
Amplificando le possibilità dei sensori e delle componenti degli smartphone in senso medico, sarà possibile diagnosticare determinate patologie anche nei paesi in via di sviluppi laddove sinora le costose apparecchiature mediche di diagnosi erano appannaggio esclusivo degli studi medici specializzati. Negli Stati industrializzati le nuove applicazioni potrebbero cambiare radicalmente il rapporto medico-paziente e l’approccio alle diagnosi con un numero importante di dati raccolti nel tempo a fronte dei pochi racimolati negli studio medico di regola una o due volte all’anno.
ATS/AFP/Swing
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