Comment by elric
2 days ago
> Screening for this disorder is simple: use a thermal camera and compare testicular temperature sitting up (or standing) versus lying down, in each case waiting five minutes or so for temperatures to equilibrate, and taping the penis up so that it does not affect the measurement.
Interesting. I wonder how many how many other issues we could screen for using such simple, low cost tools. Some scales can already detect reduced blood flow in the feet (which can be a sign of all sorts of nastiness).
Stethoscopes are pretty cheap and versatile. Human doctors in general have lots of senses which they (in some medical systems) use for diagnosis before reaching for lab tests and MRTs.
If they bother. The vast majority of appointments I’ve had, in recent memory, are the provider typing a bit on their laptop, then sending me to someone else.
I've noticed the last few times I've went, they've just copy and pasted things like my weight and height from previous appointments. My dog gets better treatment at the vet.
If you don't like your doctor, go to someone else
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Really? They just tell me it's stress, the prescribe me chinese medicine just in case and send me away.
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My primary care doctor doesn’t even have an otoscope!
Have no idea how they have such good reviews.
Stethoscopes are an example where tech can help and is helping. Some sounds (a slightly leaky heart valve, say) are subtle and easily missed, especially if there is traffic outside the doctor's surgery or other noise. Even with good earpieces.
A stethoscope with microphone, analog-to-digital conversion, and digital signal processing can separate out heart sounds from lung sounds and amplify each separately, and AI analysis can learn to identify early stage problems that doctors can't yet hear.
Of course the downside of that may be a loss of skill, as we see happening with ECGs. The ECG analysis algorithms are so good now that lots of doctors don't even bother with anything more than a glance at the waveform, they just look at the text the algo provides. Understandable, when you're near the end of a 12-hour shift.
But potentially, AI based home diagnostic kits with these sorts of devices could save doctors' time.
Women menstrual cycle tracking works off the same concept.