I know that the use of technology in the medical world has advanced cures and early detection of many diseases, but is making some of these tools available to the general public going to hurt or help.
Today I read an article in which a new app, that has been developed in conjunction with apple can help detect autism. It is an interesting concept and could potentially help in diagnosis if used correctly. The article advises that the plan to make this app available to the general public to aid parents and doctors to assess whether or not a child may have autistic tendencies.
As a mum I look at this an think, hmm I would rather have a professional diagnose something like this rather than self diagnose. As a technology user, I can say I am quite prone to putting symptoms into Dr Google and see what the results are. Sometimes the results are quite helpful, but on the other hand if I look at a diagnosis presented online am I likely to instantly think I am suffering from some rare form of cancer or just a sprained ankle.
I can see how integrating certain diagnosis tools into apps would be helpful, like perhaps a stroke indicator type test, or a sugar glucose test. These could help when out and about.
I guess it all comes down to how the apps and information is used. Ideally the result would be good and being able to help parents and doctors in diagnosing any issue with a child can help bring help sooner. In the back of my head though there is that voice that pops up that says are we relying more and more on technology rather than actual knowledge. Doctors go to school for years, have huge debts and we trust them on first meeting. Yes they can get the wrong answer, but with technology there is also the security issue. Should we put all of our trust into Dr Google, over a real Dr.
Random thought.
Autism App Article. Via MSN.co.nz
RES 701 