3 ms·
This is super cool but my first thought was that human skin already changes color to detect infection. Or gets swollen, or leaks pus, etc.
by gameswithgo 6y ago
This is super cool but my first thought was that human skin already changes color to detect infection. Or gets swollen, or leaks pus, etc.
- todd3834 6y agoYes but ideally this will catch it before the infection advances to that level.
- spoonjim 6y agoLight colored human skin changes color a lot. As a dark skinned person, almost none of the skin color indications work for me.
- rin72ka 6y agoI'm a dark skinned person and my skin color changes.
- alisonkisk 6y agoWell, that's a interesting coincidence. The prizewinner in the OP also has a skin color that can't show infection by color. I wonder how many other medical techniques are predicated on assumptions like the color of skin that don't work for everyone, and conversely how many medical challenges are literally invisible to most doctors.
- jfengel 6y agoPulse oximeters have been a notable instance just this year: https://www.npr.org/sections/health-shots/2020/12/16/947226068/dark-skin-can-lead-to-errors-with-pulse-oximeters-used-in-covid-19-treatment https://www.npr.org/sections/health-shots/2020/12/16/9472260... The problem has been known for some time, but has only been front page news recently. I don't know of any technological improvements to come of this yet, but I hope people are working on it. It might be exactly the kind of thing a bright high schooler could figure out.