All of us are aware of the smart revolution that has been going on since the beginning of the decade. The number of items being integrated into the network due to their new found smart abilities have been increasing at a rapid rate. And amongst all these smart gadgets, one of the most popular items that sits right on top of the most used pile is the smart speaker. Barring the smartphone, the smart speaker has been one of the most widely adopted devices. Most homes nowadays have at least one smart speaker installed for the convenience they offer. And soon it seems like this device might make an entry into the hospital scene as well.
The idea to implement smart speakers to aid in hospital operating rooms was well documented in the research that was presented at the Society of Interventional Radiology’s 2019 Annual Scientific Meeting. Smart speakers such as the Amazon Echo and Google home run on a conversational type of an interface. Harnessing this ability within the radiology sector could potentially give physicians the ability to ask and retrieve information for their patients’ treatment without breaking sterile scrub.
Such a feature could aid the medical industry greatly. This is because during treatments, doctors require accurate information that could be crucial to the procedure. And apart from the convenience of using voice commands, the main advantage that smart speakers could provide is the ability to maintain sterility as there wouldn’t be a need to come into contact with any foreign object. Moreover, it can make the entire process quicker and help physicians make better and more informed decisions.
To provide added functionality, the researchers at UCSF even developed a device sizing application for the Google Home smart speaker. The application takes in questions from human voice and gives recommendations on the accurate sizing of medical devices. This would basically give doctors the option of asking the speaker for any device size related query, such as the size of the sheath they would require for a specific type of treatment or any other material depending on the requirement.
Due to the delicate nature of medical operations, the application was built in such a way that it only provides the doctors with the most precise information possible. During the development phase, size specifications were acquired using literature reviews for 475 IR devices such as catheters, sheaths, stents, etc. For information extraction, natural language processing was implemented using Dialog Flow. And logic operations, and other data processing were implemented on a python script that was integrated into the cloud.
The evolution of smart products hasn’t even begun to hit maximum potential yet. Over the course of time, these speakers will become even smarter. And applications such as the one developed at UCSF will continue to capitalize on the power of these devices. Future applications will include additional features and information such as material costs, inventory databases and many more. The possibilities for the expansion of smart speaker technology are endless. With more time and research, there is no doubt that this technology will grow, become more efficient, and ultimately help treat millions of people all around the world.