Medical Technology Essay

One of the most recently trending topics is how efficient the use of technology is. Many people suggest that today’s technology can potentially bring downfalls to this generation’s youth by addicting them into depending on it. What these people are forgetting to ask themselves is, â€Å"What benefits could today’s technology potentially bring? † Multiple correct answers to this question in a view that affects my life are well-explained in â€Å"Google Glass’s Efficient Applications in the ER† from Technology News on kgw. com. The article examines the effectiveness of Google’s newest invention, Google Glass, from a medical point of view. Since Google Glass has proven to be helpful in the emergency room, this concept affects my life due to my set-in-stone plan to pursue a career in the medical field. Google Glass’s â€Å"apps† help provide better patient care, which also explains to technology oppositionists just how efficient the use of technology is. The apps that Google Glass is suited with are composed of hands-free features. These features include taking pictures and recording video. In addition, you are able to share these pictures and videos via message or even live-stream. To send a message to a recipient, all the user needs to do is speak to Glass. Glass even allows you to search the internet for whatever is on your mind. The new technology even allows its user to translate foreign words and phrases into your own language. Lastly, and least importantly, another key feature of this new technology is its GPS navigational system. All of these hands-free features that Google Glass provides can be used in more than just a practical way (â€Å"Google†). When doctors give care to their patients, their care could possibly be relying on technology that assists the doctor. In some cases, this technology could be something as little as a stethoscope. Other times, the technology that doctors rely on could be something huge and complex, such as a computer. Either way, it is clear that a doctor’s use of technology is for better and more efficient patient care. With that in mind, Google Glass’s hands-free features show potential to implement Glass as a new, global, medical technology. Each feature that Glass is equipped with (beside the handy GPS navigational system) can be proven to assist doctors, allowing them to care for patients more freely (â€Å"Google†). Google Glass’s ability to take pictures and record videos, along with being able to share these pictures and videos, serves a purpose to medical workers by making their job more informational. For example, a first-responder in an emergency situation can capture what is happening during the scene. The first-responder’s visual description comes with its own visual display. When relayed to further patient care such as doctors or surgeons, this kind of information can be crucial to the patient’s survival. This information helps doctors prepare for treatment and know what to expect. The first-responder’s use of Google Glass informs the further patient care, educating them in a way (â€Å"Google†). Speaking of education, Glass’s ability to share and live-stream its pictures and videos can be used in an educational aspect. Descriptive pictures of medical content can be sent to an instructional doctor’s class, allowing his or her students to maximize the information received. Medical teachings, such as surgery, basic life support, extractions, extrications, etc. can be recorded and shared between pupils to be reviewed, re-watched, studied, etc (â€Å"Google†). This use of Glass can be applied to get a better understanding of how to master medical treatments. Mastering these techniques entitles you as a credible physician with credible experience. Most questions today are no longer answered by taking the time to find a credible source with a credible answer. The people who have these questions resort to searching the internet for a quick answer instead. In order to comply with these people, Google Glass has implemented its search engine into its features. To a doctor, this implement is useful by being able to find quick answers to simple questions while caring for a patient. For example, the doctor may ask Glass, â€Å"What allergic reactions can occur by latex? † in order to answer a patient’s question regarding his or her allergies. A hands-free search engine can also be used to bring up nearby hospitals, pharmacies, fire stations, etc. Glass’s ability to do this saves valuable time that could be used to save lives (â€Å"Google†). Glass’s last notable feature that applies in the emergency room is the ability to translate foreign words or phrases into the user’s own language. This can prove to be helpful in situations where the patient has a heavy accent, does not speak your language very well, or does not speak your language at all. In addition to translating foreign language into your own desired language, you can do the inverse. In order to make the patient feel more at home, more relaxed, and more cared for, doctors could now translate what they have to say into the foreign language the patient uses. Doing this would increase the number of doctors globally, since finding doctors who speak specific languages would be a thing of the past (â€Å"Google†). As a student who sees his future in the medical field, this article is of great importance to me. Seeing what applications are used in the emergency room increases my knowledge on the topic and gives me a better idea of what to expect in the future. I believe that technology plays a major role in the medical field, but I also believe that technology plays a major role in life in general. Google Glass’s features that are not meant for any specific area of use are practical. The use of these features and the outcomes they bring depend on how efficient you believe technology really is. So rather than bashing this new-coming technology as a curse on our youth, we should start to see it as a prosperous opportunity to serve a greater purpose in life.