Science Fiction
Dictionary
A B C D E F G H I J K L M N O P Q R S T U V W X Y Z
 |
Death Algorithm Developed In Japan
How much time do you have left? Japanese researchers have developed an algorithm that can be used by emergency operators to determine just how long a caller has left.
Kenji Ohshige and fellow researchers at Yokohama University crunched through six months of call data from a Yokohama ambulance service. They correlated factors like "breathing status" and "consciousness level" with the end result of the call. Was the person found dead by medics? Or did the patient make it to the hospital?
Perhaps those medical alert medallions that seniors sometimes wear in their homes could be modified to display a color based on how they were doing, using this kind of an algorithm. If so, you'd have a palm flower like the one described in William Nolan's 1967 novel Logan's Run.
There are several challenges for developing a more improved triage algorithm. The algorithm to assess a patient’s life threat risk can be improved with the data obtained under the new emergency medical services system, in which information obtained during emergency calls is recorded as digital data. Although the coefficients of explanatory variables shown [...] were estimated from limited sample data, data of more than 120,000 triaged cases per year should contribute to the development of an accurate triage algorithm. The variables used as explanatory variables in the logistic model were derived from data sought from callers by call workers, for instance, ‘how is his consciousness?’ Under an emergency situation, the number of such questions is inevitably limited. Patient’s age, consciousness level, breathing status, walking ability, position, and complexion were selected as data that a call worker should seek in the interview protocol. There may be factors for assessing the life threat risk other than the variables used in the current algorithm. If other indicative factors are found in the future, they should be part of the interview protocol and should be included as explanatory variables in the model.
"Show me your hand, Logan," said the psyc doctor.Logan obeyed.
"Do you know why you have this?" he said, tapping the palmflower with an index finger.
"To tell my age," said Logan.
Strictly speaking, the palm flower is really just a counting device; in the world of 2116, a person's maximum age is set, by legislation, at 21 years. The embedded palm flower turns black on Lastday.
Thanks to Moira for picking up on this story and reference; via The Register - see also their research paper Evaluation of an algorithm for estimating a patient's life threat risk from an ambulance call.
Scroll down for more stories in the same category. (Story submitted 10/29/2009)
Follow this kind of news @Technovelgy.| Email | RSS | Blog It | Stumble | del.icio.us | Digg | Reddit |
Would
you like to contribute a story tip?
It's easy:
Get the URL of the story, and the related sf author, and add
it here.
Comment/Join discussion ( 0 )
Related News Stories - (" Medical ")
Health Kiosk Has No Human Doctor
'The electronic body analyzer had been developed...' - Michael Crichton, 1969.
NEO Brain Computer Interface (BCI)
'The remains of the lace took on the rough shape of a brain...' - Iain Banks, 2010.
MIT Computerized Bionic Leg Is Part Of The User
'The leg was to function, in a way, as a servo-mechanism operated by Larry’s brain, through the mediation of the electronic brain in the leg.' - Charles Recour, 1949.
Bone-Building Drug Evenity Approved
'Compounds devised by the biochemists for the rapid building of bone...' - Edmond Hamilton, 1932.
Technovelgy (that's tech-novel-gee!) is devoted to the creative science inventions and ideas of sf authors. Look for the Invention Category that interests you, the Glossary, the Invention Timeline, or see what's New.
Science Fiction
Timeline
1600-1899
1900-1939
1940's 1950's
1960's 1970's
1980's 1990's
2000's 2010's
Current News
Health Kiosk Has No Human Doctor
'The electronic body analyzer had been developed...'
Meta's Horizon Studio's Unique Avatars From Text Prompts
'Looks like she has bought the Avatar Construction Set and put together her own...'
VaMEx Biomimetic Mars Robot Inspired By Skink
'Across the ground something small and metallic came, flashing in the dull sunlight of midday.'
NEO Brain Computer Interface (BCI)
'The remains of the lace took on the rough shape of a brain...'
Did Frank Herbert Predict Bistable Displays Like E-Ink?
'A broken circle with arrows pointing to a right-hand flow appeared in the chalf.'
Monolith One Giant Industrial Metal 3D-printer
'The object seemed melted together like wax — nothing was distinguishable.'
'Mooncrete' Lunar Regolith Concrete (LRC)
'And here they began to build...'
China's 'Magpie Drone' Ornithopter
'Midges have many capabilities. To the untrained eye, they look like sparrows.'
MAI-Voice-2 Microsoft Text-To-Speech
'I made disks of my own voice to the number of five hundred very carefully chosen words.'
Tumblin' Tumbleweed Rovers To Eplore Mars
'His sensors out and working, and the whirring of the tape that sucked up sight and sound and shape and smell and form...'
Tentacled Robot Captures Space Debris
Preventing annoying space debris build-up.
Prufrock-MB2 Ready In Nashville
'It sounds to me as though you had invented a kind of metal earthworm.'
DIY Robotic Content Farming
'The chief wheeled to the master machine and pressed a button.'
Reflect Orbital Sunlight On Demand
'I don't have to tell you about the seven two-mile-diameter orbital mirrors that circulate around the satellite, making it habitable.'
The Amazing Lightfoot Electric Scooter With Solar Assist
'The steel tortoise gave MacKinnon a feeling of Crusoe- like independence.'
Fully Electric, Fully Automated Vegetable‑growing Agribots
'...then back to their work, though little enough it was on these automatic cultivators.'
