01/02/2015

An App A Day Keeps The Doctor Away?

22:17 minutes

Ear infections are one common reason kids end up at the doctor’s office. But now parents might be able to avoid that doctor’s visit by popping a small device on their smartphones—the CellScope Oto. The device turns the smartphone camera into an otoscope, allowing parents to transmit video of their child’s ear to CellScope’s on-call docs, who then dispense a prescription if needed. That’s just one of the medical innovations cardiologist Eric Topol surveys in his new book, The Patient Will See You Now. He argues that technology will save patients time and money—and put healthcare back in their hands. (Read an excerpt from Topol’s book here.)

Segment Guests

Eric Topol

Eric Topol is the author of several books, including Deep Medicine: How Artificial Intelligence Can Make Healthcare Human Again (Basic Books, 2019) The Patient Will See You Now: The Future of Medicine is in Your Hands (Basic Books, 2015), practicing cardiologist at the Scripps Clinic, and a genomics professor at the Scripps Research Institute in La Jolla, California.

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About Christopher Intagliata

Christopher Intagliata was Science Friday’s senior producer. He once served as a prop in an optical illusion and speaks passable Ira Flatowese.

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A New Era of Medicine, Centered on Smartphones

An excerpt from "The Patient Will See You Now."

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