Background and Current Use
Walter de Brouwer conceived of the Scanadu in 2003 after his five-year-old son plummeted forty feet to the ground and into a coma that lasted eleven weeks. De Brouwer learned that none of his son’s various health data was being consolidated for collective analysis (Hardy, 2013). Scanadu is a health services app that employs a purchased scanner called Scanadu Scout Investigational device. It is non-invasive. It measures temperature, heart rate, blood pressure, and pulse oximetry. (Jankowski, 2013) It boasts a 32 bit RTOS Micrium platform. According to their crowdfunding page, this is the same technology employed to collect sample data on Mars by the Rover Curiosity. A user holds a light-weight, thirty-six gram, disc-shaped sensor to the forehead for ten seconds, and the data listed above is transmitted to the app (Peppet, 2014). The building material is not currently defined in the material sheet or by any other credible source. The latest edition relies exclusively on optical sensors as opposed to the electroencephalographic technology of the older models. In other words, it uses modified lasers to take its measurements. This feature allows the Scanadu to take measurements from anyone in the room, not just the person holding it. Other systems such as the electrocardiogram, or the electroencephalogram, rely on electrodes placed on the body to record the electrical impulses of the relevant organ (Ginn & Jamieson, 2006). This device measures multiple systems with a comparatively simpler ten second placement of the investigational device’s sensor on the user’s forehead. The reliance on optical sensors has multiplied its need for a more complex computational brain. A real-time operating system, or RTOS, is an operating system that guarantees a certain functionality within a specified time constraint (Micrium, 2017). The best way to think of it is a factory line. A robot expects to have a certain piece of hardware to continue its work. If that hardware is not present at the right moment, the entire line shuts down. This kind of system is designed so that does not happen. The program will continue building the item until all components it needs to complete are present, though productivity may decrease. (Micrium, 2017) Once the data is absorbed into the scanner, the communication between scanner and app takes place through Bluetooth technology. Bluetooth is a widespread wireless technology used for exchanging data over short distances using ultra high frequency radio waves (Bluetooth, 2017). Devices can be put into what is called discoverable mode, and then can attach to each other as if on a wired network (Bluetooth, 2017).
Accuracy of hardware is not this tool’s primary selling point. Though it boasts a 95% accuracy of pulse oximetry that is not a significant difference than an electrocardiogram (Ginn & Jamieson, 2006). It also makes no claim to be more accurate than an electroencephalogram anywhere on its tech sheet. Also nowhere to be found is a heightened accuracy of blood pressure measurement. It is designed to be a one stop shop for common clinical measurements according to its own authors. Nearly every article discussing this device employ a Star Trek-moniker when describing this machine. That appears to be in response to Scanadu’s winning a famous and lucrative Qualcomm competition to invent a medical tricorder (Gorman, 2013). For those unfamiliar with the Star Trek series, a tricorder was a tool that could measure unseen injuries within seconds of being passed over the sufferer. The website steers clear of such claims, preferring to focus on its ability to stockpile useful medical data for a user over time, the stated goal of its inventor way back in 2003. (Hardy, 2013)
On its website, it lists several disclaimers. It keeps a living history of all scans done for the individuals it scans, ostensibly, to help users see if there is an underlying health issue. In addition to the scans, an individual is prompted to input all height, weight, age, info into the app. It goes on to mention that future updates may include requests for more detailed personal information. The website further states that it is not a diagnostic device but rather an investigational device. This difference appears legal and semantic rather than functional. The nature of the device is explicitly, according to their narrative on the website, intended for diagnostic purposes by the user. That said, they must distinguish themselves legally from approved FDA diagnostic devices during development period.
The developers go on to warn users that they should always consult a physician regarding any medical condition. On the surface, the app is aimed at putting healthcare data in the individual user’s control. The obvious logic here: No one would argue that one’s health data would be better served in the hands of a distant analyst. Let the users of the app responsibly decide how to employ their own health data when dealing with a health concern (Journal of Engineering, 2017). It allows users to aggregate a multitude of usable data that can used by medical professional to either begin or focus their own diagnosis. Thus far, this device seems to be a boon to people like Howard Hughes who eschew medical care but need it as much if not more than anyone else. Walter de Brouwer has several versions of this device and app devloped such as: