I did a post recently about a research project looking for a way to use smartphones as medical devices. It’s actually a natural fit for interactive voice response (IVR) systems.
At Northeastern University, researchers are exploring how to use smartphones and nanotechnology to measure glucose and sodium in human blood. If successful, the technology could also measure a number of other things, according to SlashGear (modified smartphone).
The way it would work is, in the case of diabetics, patients inject (or have injected into them, more likely) nanoparticles just under the skin. The nanoparticles react to glucose—becoming fluorescent.
Instead of blood pricks, patients use their smartphones to read the fluorescence (kind of how people use smartphones to scan airline boarding passes or retail items—there’s actually an app where you can scan something in a store and find out if it’s cheaper somewhere else).
If researchers are able to make this technology happen, patients could integrate it with an IVR system. The phone could read blood sugar levels and notify patients if they need to eat or inject insulin or even see their doctor or go to the emergency room.
An IVR could provide detailed analyses of their blood sugar levels and educational information on treatment for any given level.
The IVR could also integrate with medical systems to notify emergency medical teams of a potentially serious condition. If a patient tested their blood, and their blood sugar levels were dangerously low, the IVR would automatically notify emergency medical personnel—imperative if a person loses consciousness.
As smartphones continue to evolve into far more than phones, they could become necessary life tools. And IVRs could be a big part of that.
