Google Glass in pediatric surgery: An exploratory study

Citation

Muensterer, O. J., Lacher, M., Zoeller, C., Bronstein, M., & Kübler, J. (2014). Google Glass in pediatric surgery: An exploratory study. International Journal of Surgery, 12, 281e289. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ijsu.2014.02.003

Keywords

  • Google Glass
  • Pediatric surgery
  • Telemedicine
  • Virtual presence
  • Data privacy
  • Innovation
  • Hands-free documentation
  • Information query
  • Hardware limitations
  • Software limitations

Brief

Google Glass shows potential in a clinical setting, such as hands-free documentation and information gathering, but requires improvements in hardware and software, and data privacy needs to be addressed.

Summary

This 2014 article from the International Journal of Surgery, titled "Google Glass in pediatric surgery: An exploratory study," investigated the potential use of Google Glass in a clinical setting. The authors wore the device for 4 weeks in a University Children’s Hospital and found that while it had some clear benefits, there were significant drawbacks that would need to be addressed before it could be universally recommended.

Here are some of the key findings from the article:

  • Positive Applications:
    1. Hands-free photo/video documentation in the operating room was a significant advantage.
    2. Real-time online searches for medical information, diagnoses, procedure codes, and billing were useful.
    3. Hands-free communication via telephone and video conferencing was possible, although the audio quality was poor.
  • Drawbacks:
    1. Short battery life (8.5-10 hours on average) was a significant limitation.
    2. Poor audio quality through the bone conduction transducer made it difficult to use in most hospital environments.
    3. Automatic data synchronization to Google’s servers raised significant privacy concerns, especially regarding sensitive patient information.
    4. The lack of specialized medical applications limited the device’s functionality in a clinical setting.

The authors concluded that while Google Glass showed promise for use in medicine and surgery, substantial improvements to the hardware and software were needed. They suggested that longer battery life, better audio quality, enhanced data privacy features, and the development of specialized medical applications would be essential for wider adoption in the medical community.

Origin: https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S1743919114000405

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