Apple's iPhone 7 Plus decided to add another lense to be able to make better pictures. Meanwhile Walabot who started with wanting to build a breast cancer detection technology released a 600$ device that can look 10cm into walls. Thermal imaging also got cheaper.
I think it would be possible to build a 1500$ device that could combine those technologies and also add a laser that can shift color. A device like this could bring medicine forward a lot.
A lot of area's besides medicine could likely also profit from a relatively cheap 3D scanner that can look inside objects.
Developing it would require Musk-level capital investments but I think it would advance medicine a lot if a company would both provide the hardware and develop software to make the best job possible at body scanning.
My understanding of the medical value of body scanners comes from watching the TV show House. Given that, wouldn't having lots and lots of these scanners massively increase medical costs by creating many false positives?
I think that many physiotherapists could do a better job if they would have body scanners.
The BMI is a horrible metric and having cheap body scanners would move us past the BMI and provide us with better targets for weight management.
In many cases I wouldn't need to go to the doctor if a good body scanner can tell me what's up with me. If the scanner can tell me whether my teeth are alright, I don't have to go to the dentist. ... (read more)