Slideshow: Retro-futurist health IT

February 18, 2013

12:55 PM

The “Instrumented suit”

Retro-futurism offers views of the future as predicted by creative thinkers of the past. Think flying cars, pills as food and underwater cities. What was predicted for the future of healthcare IT? View this slideshow to see retro-futuristic visions of automatic diagnosis, telemedicine and more. Click on images to enlarge.

The January 17, 1960 edition of the comic strip Our New Age by Athelstan Spilhaus featured some predictions of healthcare technology in the future. The image shown above depicts what Spilhaus calls an “instrumented suit,” which would take a variety of readings simultaneously.

Image courtesy of Matt Novak, from the Paleofuture blog at Smithsonian.

Automatic diagnosis

In the three images above, Spilhaus shows what an automatic diagnosis might look like, aided by the “instrumented suit.” A patient steps into an “examination booth,” doctors remotely monitor relevant readings and then transmit a diagnosis to the patient. While we don’t have mysterious booths or elaborate suits, diagnoses and medical advice are available almost instantaneously via today’s telemedicine technology and mobile health apps.

Images courtesy of Matt Novak, from the Paleofuture blog at Smithsonian.

“Diagnosis by Radio”

On the cover of the February, 1925 issue of Science and Invention magazine, a doctor makes a diagnosis remotely using radio technology. The magazine, published by radio and publishing pioneer Hugo Gernsback, featured an article he wrote that explained this curious device, which was predicted to be available by 1975. Gernsback’s device, called a “teledactyl,” would allow doctors to see patients through a television screen and even touch patients using controls that are manipulated in the patient’s room.

Image courtesy of Matt Novak, from the Paleofuture blog at Smithsonian.

The “teledactyl”

The illustration above demonstrates how the “teledactyl” would work: “The impulses of the teledactyl are transmitted by radio to the patient, who, in turn, has a similar instrument, which not only receives but also transmits the same impulses.” Today’s telemedicine technology allows doctor’s to see and communicate with patients many miles distant, but the robotic arms of the “teledactyl” are still dreams of the future.

Image courtesy of Matt Novak, from the Paleofuture blog at Smithsonian.

What’s next?

Will we be receiving care from robots in the future? Robotic surgery is already in practice, and even remote surgical procedures have been performed with the aid of robotic devices. Yet, these advanced machines need human input. The future of health IT just might include completely unassisted robotic surgery.