This is very exciting news! Partners HealthCare is investigating the efficacy of using cell phones with cameras to diagnose leg wounds. From what I can surmise from this article, nurses, who travel to areas that expert physicians cannot visit, take pictures of patients' wounds. They then upload the pictures to the internet, and physicians determine the most immediate treatments. Critics have questioned whether or not camera phones can produce a good enough quality photograph for physicians to make diagnostic decisions. However, Andrew Needleman, who developed the cell phone technology being used in the pilot, is confident about use of camera cell phones. He predicts their common use within five years.
1. Camera phones are becoming more and more ubiquitous. Of the current Top 10 best selling cell phones, 7 of them are camera phones. We'll start seeing more and more ingenious everyday uses as penetration increases and people start thinking of their cameras as an extension of their arms (the way they already consider cell phones to be a part of them)
Top selling phones with cameras:
http://www.wirefly.net/articles/1105/1105-top-ten-cellphones.htm
Some ways people are using their phones:
http://www.point.com/articles/2005/01/camera_phone_po.php
Posted at 2:51PM on Nov 16th 2005 by Wendy