Tricorder Watch

So what could be the Holy Grail of diagnostic equipment? The Tricorder®, that workhorse of the Star Trek TV series would be an obvious choice. With it’s flashing lights and whirring noises, it could measure three different parameters, weather patterns, geology and biology.
In the hands of Dr. Leonard ‘Bones’ McCoy the Tricorder® could diagnose any medical mystery. All it took was a few brief waves of his hand and the Chief Medical Officer of the Starship Enterprise was able to tell a dramatic Kirk and a calm Spock what the creature of the week was.
Point of Care (POC) instruments claim to be Tricorder®, but are they? What makes a good Tricorder®?
First of all it has to be portable. POC instruments are certainly that.
Second of all, they have to non invasive. Unfortunately, POC still need to penetrate skin to get a drop of blood in order to provide a result.
Finally, a Tricorder® will not harm the patient. No one ever gets sick because of McCoy placing it over them.
But despite all the promise that this futuristic diagnostic instrument offers, there are still some modern day realities that would have to be considered if tomorrow one was developed.
You still need to train someone how to interpret the data produced. To be effective, it would have to be in the hands of a healer, not a technologist.
Which brings me to the second point; you would still need a technologist to do the QC and maintenance of the Tricorder®. You couldn’t send one on the away team if it wasn’t working properly.
The Labvocate is constantly on Tricorder® watch, and there are a few developments in progress. This will be discussed in the future.