Design Notes for Low-Cost Medical Diagnostic/Treatment

New - Please also see "Interfacing with the Doctor Within" - http://doctor-within.blogspot.com/

Hello All - This posting looks at designing "Low-Cost Medical Diagnostic/Treatment Devices", by providing low-cost or free self-care information, laying the foundation for a “Computer-Assisted Medical Advisor”, and interfacing with the "Doctor Within". The topics in this posting might be helpful in providing basic survival needs, making into products to sell, or instructions for people to make devices themselves. Good Luck!

Note - This posting only contains part of the full written article. For free download of full article go to http://docs.google.com/Doc?docid=dswxq4k_0gs9bksgp&hl=en

Health care usually consists of prevention, treatment, and management of illness and the preservation of mental and physical well-being. I'd also like to add diagnosis to this list.
Here are some suggested steps toward low-cost or free healthcare, some of which you can do today!

Step 1 - For prevention, some diagnosis, treatment, and illness management see the book - Where There Is No Doctor (low-cost or free PDF download). The Hesperian Foundation has other excellent low-cost publications and free downloads. Some of this information even shows how to make your own medical equipment, such as crutches, etc.

Step 2 – Read this information over. If you like what you see, please pass this along to as many others you think might also be interested.

Step 3 – Pick out something you can do to help out. Start today.

For more on “Computerized Medical Advisor” and “Doctor Within”, please see below.

From what I can see, the largest health care costs come from seeing a doctor, taking medications, having operations or treatments, and transport to/from the doctor. Another cost might be the "trial and error" approach to diagnosis and treatment, by ourselves and perhaps even doctors. Usually people go to a Medical Doctor only when necessary after trying Self-Care first.

When going to a doctor, a typical Physical Examination consists of the following steps:

1. The doctor listens to the patient's symptoms to get an idea on where to focus efforts. The patient essentially answers the questions - "Where does it hurt?" or "Why are you here?" Also, the doctor obtains a medical history - including Height, Weight, etc.

2. The doctor then performs a Medical Inspection, including palpation, percussion and auscultation. Here the physician relies on the Five Classical Senses. The Vital Signs are established, plus taking further Diagnostic Tests if necessary. In addition to the words of a patient, the doctor might also consider the patient's body language.

3. From the medical history, symptoms, inspection, and tests the doctor then makes a diagnosis, especially a differential diagnosis . From the diagnosis, the doctor then makes a recommended Treatment or Therapy Plan. The doctor's decision-making process usually relies mostly on Logic, though Intuition might be considered, by some practitioners. In addition, the doctor probably has some sort of weighting factor system, giving more credibility to some information more than others.

4. All of what happens in a medical office becomes a part of a person's medical record.
If technology is available, this record could be an Electronic Medical Record or Electronic Health Record. Follow-up is usually up to the patient to take medications, perform exercises, etc. recommended by the doctor. Follow-up doctor visits are also usually up to the patient. Essentially, the process above is repeated, as necessary, until the patient is satisfied, runs out of money, gives up, or dies. Usually, the doctor does not pursue the patient - the patient pursues the doctor. Furthermore, the patient, or even the doctor, might go to a different doctor for a "second opinion". The patient is responsible for payment whether satisfied or not. Also, I have yet to see a warranty on medical services, similar to other services.

As you will see from the References at the end of this posting, most if not all, the above steps could be computer-based. Therefore, it seems obvious to be able to provide a low-cost or free “Computerized Medical Advisor”. Some aspects of a “Computerized Medical Advisor” already exist, e.g. WebMD, but I think much more could be done in this area. This “Computerized Medical Advisor” could provide helpful information where there is no doctor or for those people who cannot afford the available health-care. If more help is needed than self-diagnostic/treatment, the person could take a printout or send an e-record to a doctor, if possible. The record, whether electronic or hand-written, could include home tests, knowledge and learning, intuition or instinct, other's input, results of self-treatment, etc. The doctor's visit might change from “Please fix me” to the following form. "Hello Doc - Here's what I think I have and here's why I think this way. This is what I think I need from you. What do you think?" By contributing “Sweat Equity”, maybe we can reduce our healthcare costs to next to nothing.

OK, now here's the really exciting part and I think has the greatest potential. There seems to be a "Doctor Within" that takes care of most of the body functions, with or without our help or the help of a medical professional. Examples of this are birth, death, common cold, wound healing, general healing, bone healing, spontaneous healing, etc. However, sometimes the "Doctor Within" seems to need help from the outside to complete the body repairs. It seems that currently we only "look in" to fix the health problem by our medical tests, etc. We don't seem to “ask” the "Doctor Within" what it needs to fix itself. I'd like to lay the foundation for better accessing the "Doctor Within", perhaps by electronic means.

I’m surprised doctors do as good as they do, considering the little information we typically give the doctor, plus the limited time they typically doctors have. The “Doctor Within”, however, has much more time and information to work with. Some information the “Doctor Within” has is where it really hurts, 24/7 health monitoring, what we eat/drink, what we’re exposed to, our emotional state, our activities, etc. All we typically tell the doctor is where it hurts, not the bigger picture.

Every organism does already benefit from self-diagnostic/treatment. It is well known that animals "know what to do to get better" by instinct, I guess. Examples of this are dogs or cats eating grass to aid digestion, animals licking their wounds with healing saliva, animals seeking out healing herbs for their malady, etc. This might be viewed as organisms responding to the "doctor within". The technical term for this is Zoopharmacognosy or animals self-medicating. Perhaps a term that covers this in humans is Innate Intelligence. In other words, we seem to have an inherent internal "Onboard Diagnostic System", similar to automobiles. I don't know how it works. Wouldn't it be great if we could better access our internal diagnostic system directly? Maybe we can and we don't know it yet.

Something to think about - Albert Schweitzer wrote “We are at our best when we give the doctor who resides within each patient a chance to go to work." - Maybe some day we'll have a way to access our "doctor within". Maybe this article is a step toward that direction.

Several times above I have used the word "intuition" Other names for intuition are – hunch, gut feel, sixth sense, gut instinct, gut knowing, innate wisdom, gut reaction, etc. Maybe intuition is a way to access the "Doctor Within". Nothing new here, Medical Intuition has been around for some time.

To detect and record intuition, I’d like to suggest medical dowsing as a starting point. (If you have a better physical starting point, please blurt it out for the rest of us.) Continuing, dowsing has been described as an indicator of intuition or unknown knowledge. Furthermore, computer-assisted dowsing could document dowsing. As you will see in the Reference section of this posting, particularly DE19517828, computer-assisted dowsing is not new. I suggest starting with what has been done already with medical dowsing. Then, interface this dowsing with a computer.

Another resource that could be explored are the existing Medical Intuitives. Perhaps their techniques could be computer recorded, then analyzed, improved, etc.

Before we get too dependent on computer-assisted dowsing or anything else, please remember that the answers are within each of us and not within the devices.

From all the references in this posting, which is just a sampling of what's publicly available, it is known that:
1. People go to Internet resources for diagnostic and treatment recommendations.
2. People diagnose and treat themselves.
3. The results of medical tests are factored into diagnosis and treatment.
4. Much of the healing and maintenance within a body goes on with or without a doctor.

Maybe some day all we'll need is a good ear to the "Doctor Within". For now though, it seems obvious to combine all these individual public concepts into a free or low-cost “Computerized Medical Advisor”, which might have these concepts and maybe more.
1. Easy to use interface, available in any language, to allow information and test results to be entered.
2. Internet-based, or other means, for easy collaboration.
3. Privacy protected, yet accessible by those granted permission.
4. Input capability for accessing the "Doctor Within".
5. Ability to give a good diagnosis and treatment plan.
6. Ability to continuously improve the process via open innovation.
7. Readily and cheaply available to anyone, anywhere, anytime (24/7) in the world.

Now all we have to do is make it happen. I lack the resources to make this happen alone. Maybe you can. Go for it. To pull this off, we have to work together.

If you think this concept has merit, here's some suggestions to make a positive difference:
1. Ask your local library if they have the book “Where There Is No Doctor” or those like it. If not, ask if they can add it to their collection. Also, consider financially helping the Hesperian Foundation to provide low-cost or free healthcare information to others, particularly those who can’t afford it.

2. Write a book or magazine article on how the general public can best use WebMD, Medical Symptoms Database , Online Medical Symptom Checker , MSO Online Medical Symptom Checker , or Diagnosaurus, etc.

3. Make an ultra-low-cost health-care kiosk and tell the world how you did it. Some good idea springboards might be the ViTelCare Kiosk, Virgin Life Care HealthZone, IBM Health and Fitness Kiosks, Some Health Kiosk images, etc.

4. Write a Science Fiction story or screenplay about how people can heal themselves, for the most part, given the tools and knowledge.

5. Ask your local learning center if they have a course on self-diagnosis, self-treatment, etc.

6. Ask for help from an Engineering School to help you adapt a computer for health purposes. Find schools at All Engineering Schools.

7. Find your local library at Libweb and ask about Medical Diagnostic/Treatment Devices, particularly low-cost or self-administered.

8. Find more good "how-to" information on this topic and share it with the world.

9. Make a discussion group on this topic.

10. Form something like a Corporate Wiki to share ongoing project information on this topic.

11. Run a Blog devoted to this topic.

12. Start a newsletter or online magazine on this topic. Include news, new patents or patent applications, activities, collaboration opportunities, licensing opportunities, networking opportunities, conferences, learning opportunities, book reviews, interviews, etc.

13. Write an article on how WebMD works.

14. For those folks who are not getting satisfactory results from their doctors, try “Computerized Medical Advisor” or “Doctor Within”. Same goes for those who have been told there is no hope for them by doctors.

15. Research sci-fi medical devices, like the Triquarter concept from Star Trek, for related information on this topic.

16. Make hardware/software and place it in the public domain by defensive publication.

17. Write an article on “Listening to your body” or “What is your body telling you?”, and then give practical how-to information on how to actually do this, perhaps using a computer. “How can I listen to my body if I don’t have anything to listen with?”

18. Whatever you find, discover, make, etc. - make it public so others can learn from your successes or mistakes.

19. Doctors - You can embrace this change in the doctor-patient relationship, where the patient takes a more active roll, perhaps only calling on you when absolutely needed.

20. People – You have options and are the ultimate decision-maker in your own health. Why not try a parallel path of going to the doctor as usual plus using a “Computerized Medical Advisor” and/or “Doctor Within”? See which works better. Who says you have to tell the doctor that you’re getting a “second opinion”? Maybe just go to the doctor if your self-care doesn’t work or for the more complicated stuff.

21. Caregivers - You can do something for those you care for, in addition to worrying and turning the whole thing over to doctors. It wouldn't be the first time an average person found some information the doctor overlooked. Get busy on the computer or at the library doing research.

22. You can publicly add your constructive comments, especially via an Internet forum, for all to see. A suggestion might be misc.health.alternative, sci.med, etc.

23. Hobby Hackers, Circuit Benders, Breadboarders, Amateur Scientists unite and work on modifying home computers into "Electronic Doctors". Maybe think about how old low-power cheap computers could be recycled into this purpose.

24. Make “Computerized Medical Advisor” software and add to other open source healthcare software or healthcare freeware.

25. Experiment with the “Doctor Within” asking for alternative affordable medicines instead of expensive medicines.

26. Write a science fiction television program where the patient’s “Doctor Within” instructs the Surgeon how to do the surgery.

27. Attorneys – Smooth out the legal bumps in implementing “Computerized Medical Advisor” and/or the “Doctor Within”.

28. Think about entering data for others into WebMD. Maybe this would be particularly helpful for those who don’t have a computer, are illiterate, are handicapped, or have other reasons why they couldn’t enter the data themselves. I’m sure this goes on all the time already, when one family member tries to help another ailing family member.

29. Start workshops, conferences, get-togethers, clubs, etc. on this topic.

30. What do you know about all this? Blurt out what you know to help others, and yourself!

31. You might be thinking that you’re too old, too young, too sick, too busy, too poor, not smart enough, whatever – Do something anyway!

For REFERENCES (Possible How-To Information) – Please go to http://docs.google.com/Doc?docid=dswxq4k_0gs9bksgp&hl=en

NOTE - Please be advised that many countries have legal restrictions or regulations regarding diagnosing and treating others and the equipment used therein - Alternative Medicine - Regulation, and Medicine - Legal Restrictions, Biomedical Engineering - Regulatory Issues, Medical License, etc. On the other hand, there might be little or no legal restrictions to Self-Diagnosis/Treatment or Self-Experimentation. If in doubt, please check with a legal professional.

That's about all for now. As background, the site "Design for the Other 90%" said to "GET INVOLVED", so I did. I plan to continue posting these LOW-COST DESIGN TOPICS on my Blog for a while yet. Feel free to comment.I hope you find this helpful. I'm sure you can do much better though! Good Luck!

For more of my LOW COST DESIGN TOPICS - Click on the tag below "design for the other 90%".
This writing, and any other communication, from TG Ideas LLC are strictly for informational purposes. See full disclaimer on TG Ideas LLC publications and website - http://www.athenet.net/~ideas/ The above is a collection of publicly available information that anyone could have found and pieced together.