Star Trek’s Tricorder is here and it could soon be in your first aid kit

A man on top of a rock holds up a device into the air

Sci-fi is reality with medical device inspired by Star Trek.

30 May 2017 2 minute read

Imagine waving a tennis-ball sized sensor over your body to diagnose everything from the flu to cancer.

Sci-fi has become a reality with DxtER, a medical device inspired by Star Trek’s Tricorder.

Where no man has gone before…

Developed by Final Frontier, a team of US-based brothers, the DxtER device will give you the ability to diagnose yourself of 34 conditions from the comfort of your own home.

DxtER monitors your vital signs (including pulse and temperature), body chemistry and biological functions using the machine’s wearable sensors. It then pairs up with a smartphone app to ask a series of questions and run tests to determine what’s wrong.

With the capability to diagnose 90% of ER situations, this space age-like device has an AI-based engine that learns to identify medical conditions by comparing the user’s data with information from clinical databases.

Credit: XPRIZE

And it’s gaining international attention…

DxtER recently took out the top place at the XPRIZE competition – a global search for a real-life Tricorder which brought together Star Trek fans, scientists, medical professionals and radical innovators to compete for the US$10million prize pool.

As part of the competition, DxtER was required to identify 13 illnesses and conditions including cancer, urinary tract infection and leucocytosis by using AI and sensors to ask the user questions, measure the patient’s vital signs and choose which tests to run to reach a final diagnosis.

Beam me up, Scotty

Enabling patients to test and diagnose themselves from wherever they are in the world could not only reduce unnecessary visits to the emergency room, but it could also make healthcare a more accessible option for millions of people living in remote places.

It could make healthcare a more accessible option for millions of people living in remote places.

And with DxtER’s most recent US$2.5million boost of funding from the XPRIZE, this 2017 version of Star Trek’s Tricoder has never been closer to helping us live long and prosper.