Google Glass embraced at Beth Israel Deaconess.

[techbeck]

Dr. Steven Horng launched a Google Glass pilot program at Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center late last year because he thought the futuristic device could help save lives. One night in January proved that.

 

A patient with bleeding in the brain told Horng he was allergic to certain blood pressure drugs ? which the doctor needed to slow the hemorrhage ? but didn?t know which ones. Horng had little time to leaf through the man?s medical files or search for records on a computer, but with Google Glass, he didn?t have to. Instead he quickly called up the patient?s information on the device?s tiny screen and saved his life with the correct medication.

 

This week, Beth Israel Deaconess is expanding the use of Google Glass to its entire emergency department, and the hospital said it is the first in the United States to employ the device for everyday medical care. Now, whenever ER doctors begin their shifts, they will slip on pairs of the high-tech glasses as routinely as they put on scrubs.

 

?We?re doing this to prove that the technology can work and really motivate others to explore this space with us,? said Horng, who helped pioneer the use of Google Glass at the hospital.

 

Google Glass -- called simply ?Glass?? by the Internet giant and users of the device -- is the company?s foray into wearable computing, which some technologists believe is the next frontier in mobile devices. The eyeglass frame has a small clear screen over one eye, which can display pretty much anything users can also see on a smartphone or mobile device, from email to web pages. Glass devices that are specially programmed, such as the ones at Beth Israel, can access information for specific uses, such as medical records, that can only be seen by the wearer.

 

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http://www.bostonglobe.com/business/2014/04/08/beth-israel-use-google-glass-throughout-emergency-room/WhIXcVzkpn7MOCAhKuRJZL/story.html?s_campaign=sm_tw

 

Wearable tech like this has a place no matter if it looks silly to some or not.  Whether Google makes this kind of wearable tech popular or not, it isnt going away.  Lots of practical applications for it and this is one of them.