There are tons of reasons for remote medical diagnostics, and they’re not limited the difficulties of providing care in developing countries. While the need for care in developing areas is often acute, in other parts of the world remote diagnostics can be a great convenience and an effective cost-saver. We’ve written before about the physicians being less enthused than patients about telemedicine and many home use Health Tech devices, but the case may be different when the healthcare provider is the source of the technology.
Cupris Health focuses on developing smartphone-connected Health Tech devices and software that physicians and other healthcare providers can access remotely to attain and share diagnostic information. The first two devices in their planned lineup are an otoscope and an ophthalmoscope. Each device attaches to a custom smartphone case — currently iPhone only — though shipping product is not yet available.
The otoscope is used with the smartphone to examine the ear and ear drum via images and video. The ophthalmoscope captures retinal imaging. In each case, the data can be sent directly to a physician and, if needed, shared with other healthcare professionals for consultation. Questionnaires, audio recordings, text input fields, and other tools are built into the smartphone apps to provide or collect additional information.
The greatest advantage of the Cupris devices is that patients don’t need to be in the physical presence of their doctor to provide the clinical grade data needed for accurate diagnosis. Whether the patients are young children, infirm elderly people for whom going to a doctor’s office is a painful ordeal, someone who lives far from a doctor’s office or hospital, or residents in developing countries, the advances in remote data collection can enable more timely and wide-reaching care.
