Free Essay on the Use of Google Glass in Medical Emergencies

Google glass is one of the wearable technologies available in the market today. The technology is currently being used in medicine in various ways. For instance, doctors are able to record videos and take photos and share with other experts. In addition, doctors are able to read and reply to emails which improve communication. One of the main advantages of using Google glass is the fact that is enables the doctor to perform a number of tasks without having to touch a button. Some of the current uses of Google glass for medicine include:

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Taking photographs

A doctor using the wearable technology can take a photograph of the organs of a patient during a surgery session by just coming the glass to take the picture without having to touch anything. The Google glass can then send the picture to a database of the patients records. By eliminating the need touch any button to command the Google glass, the doctor reduces chances of infection during the process which is one of the advantages of using the technology for electronic medical records.

Recording videos

Doctors using Google glass technology to record patients status and share them with colleagues for a second opinion.

Instant Communication

The current feature of Google Glass enables doctors to receive email messages from patients and also reply to emails using voice.

Use of Google Glass to manage medical emergencies

The current features offered by Google glass can be integrated with patients records to enable doctors to manage emergency situations. Some of the possible applications of Google glass in medical emergencies include:

Diagnosis and treatment of patients

Google glass can be integrated with patients records for seamless access to patients records. Using the wearable technology, doctors can stream patients data in real time and reduce the amount of time taken to diagnose and treat patients especially in the emergency department.

Real time streaming of video

In most emergency cases, nurses have to make phone calls to medical expert before starting any other procedures. This requires that nurses describe the condition of the patient to the expert which is extremely challenging using traditional communication methods. Using Google glass, a video and photos of the patients can be recorded from the patients bed and transmitted to the expert for instant diagnosis and thereby save the patient.

Real time notifications

Using the Google glass wearable technology, doctors can be able to receive real time notifications on the condition of patients who have arrived at their office or who may need immediate assistance. For instance, when a doctor encounters a patient in the emergency department, Google glass can search the patients medical history in order to enable the doctor provide instant diagnosis of the emergency case.

Monitoring surgeries

Google glass can be used to stream videos and photos from the theatre during surgery. These can easily be shared with other experts and assist in the management of emergencies that may arise in the course of operations.

Documentation of patients

Google glass can reduce the amount of time spent in recording of patients data in the emergency department. In addition, the gadget can be programmed to take a photo or video of the patient and include it in the electronic medical records system without having to touch a button. This will enable doctors save time spent in documentation and focus on diagnosis and treatment

Diagram of Usage of Google Glass in Medicine

Source: chicagotribune.com.

Suggestion of Cloud computing

I would suggest the integration of Google glass for electronic medical records with cloud computing technology. This would make it easier for Google glass to integrate with other enterprise applications and share data in real time. In addition, integration with cloud computing will mean that patients data will be accessible from any place in the world.

Confidentiality, Integrity, and Availability

Confidentiality when accessing electronic medical records with Google glass wearable technology is key to successful implementation of the technology while ensuring that data is not accessible to unauthorized persons (Hayat et.al, 2006). One way to ensure confidentiality is through the use of encryption technology. Data that is being transmitted between Google glass and the network is encrypted to ensure that confidentiality is maintained.

Data integrity is another important security concept that has to be considered when using Google glass for electronic medical records (Hayat et.al, 2006). The data should be protected from any modification while under transmission. Again cryptography plays a great role in ensuring that data integrity is maintained during transmission.

Availability is another key consideration which ensures that authorized who need patients information can be able to access it with ease. One of the strategies to ensure availability is through regular backup of data and also the use of data replication across server.

Key information security risks and how to mitigate them

Denial of Service attack. This compromises the services by bombarding the server with too many requests and therefore making the service unavailable to genuine users. One way to mitigate this risk is through the use of offsite restore points from which services can be restored.

Computer viruses. These are malicious programs designed to compromise data and files. Computer antivirus software should be used.

Security algorithms such as cryptography play a key role in mitigation of risks.

A security algorithm is a mathematical procedure that is used to encrypt data that is being transmitted over a network. The data that is under transmission is encoded in a form that requires the recipient to apply the same key in order to retrieve the information. This is due to the fact that when data is subjected to the algorithm, it is transformed into a new string of characters which is inaccessible to an unauthorized person, as a result, only the intended person is able to access and read the message as it was originally written. This ensures that data under transmission is secure.

References

Graham, M. (2015). Software, Google Glass combines to offer visual cues to surgeons. Chicagotribune.com. Retrieved 20 April 2016.

Hayat, Z., Reeve, J., & Boutle, C. (2006). Prioritization of network security services. IEE Proceedings - Information Security, 153(2), 43.