While the Microsoft Kinect is seen as a failure in the gaming community, those in the medical field are finding it to be an asset. The Kinect has allowed telemedicine to thrive in ways it might not have before. Telemedicine has enabled doctors and nurses to evaluate, diagnose and treat people remotely and the Kinect is improving this type of medicine with its progressive technology. Here are some ways in which the Microsoft Kinect has improved telemedicine.
Medical Service
The Microsoft Kinect allows medical services access to under-served areas of the globe. The Kinect technology consists of a 3D camera and a microphone. If a patient lives in an area that does not have enough healthcare providers the Kinect will allow the patient to visit with a physician across the world that may be better able to serve them than a doctor closer to home.
Cutting Medical Costs and Healthcare Costs
The Microsoft Kinect may help cut the cost of the healthcare bill by $30 billion dollars. Because the Kinect will help doctors work remotely it will reduce costs due to transportation and service time. The Kinect also reduces transportation costs to patients since the care will be completed remotely or closer to home. The risk of infection to patients will also be greatly reduced since hospital visits will decrease. In the long run this will be a great financial benefit to the public and medical industry.
Fitness and Physical Therapy
Physical therapy and exercise can be done at home instead of a clinic or gym because of the Kinect. Again, because of the remote nature of the technology patients can save time and money by completing their physical therapy and fitness regimens at home. Further injury can be prevented by the decrease in uncomfortable travel.
Virtual Appointments
Virtual doctor visits and virtual nurses will save time for both the patient and the providers.
Anonymity and Privacy
Since the Microsoft Kinect allows patients to complete their medical appointments from the home the chance of running into a noisy neighbor at the doctors office is removed. Another benefit for mental health patients is that they can complete group therapy using an avatar. Therefore more people may be more likely to get the help they need without the fear of social stigma.
With all of these many benefits the Microsoft Kinect will move telemedicine into the future of the medical industry.