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
Latest By
Category:
Armor
Artificial
Intelligence
Biology
Clothing
Communication
Computers
Culture
Data Storage
Displays
Engineering
Entertainment
Food
Input Devices
Lifestyle
Living Space
Manufacturing
Material
Media
Medical
Miscellaneous
Robotics
Security
Space Tech
Spacecraft
Surveillance
Transportation
Travel
Vehicle
Virtual
Person
Warfare
Weapon
Work
"I would say 75% of the economy is now being run by ex-science-fiction fans."
- Greg Bear
 |
| Medical Mantis | ||
| A medical telefactoring device; allows a physician to remotely examine patients and perform procedures. |
Telefactor devices are beginning to appear in the practice of medicine. The medical mantis provides a well-written glimpse at something we may all encounter someday.
| There's this praying mantis a meter long, all black with chrome trim, hanging upside down from the ceiling of the Medical cubby. ..it hovers over his face, jointed arms clicking and dipping like crazy articulated chopsticks... The mantis stops in midmotion, its antennae quivering... "Hello, er-Gerry, isn't it?" it says at last. "I'm Dr. Troyka." Fischer remembers: the medical equipment can't always do everything on its own. Sometimes, when things get too complicated, it calls up the line to a human backup. "Wow," says the mantis. "What happened to you?" |
| Technovelgy from Starfish,
by Peter Watts. Published by Tor Books in 1999 Additional resources -
|
This sequence is great fun in the novel. It hints a little at the paranoid mindset of some of the characters.
In the real world, a variety of devices have appeared to assist physician's in the performance of their duties. For example, RoboDoc Robotic Surgical Assistant from Integrated Surgical Systems has been providing assistance to physicians doing hip replacement surgery since 1992. The device
"... mills a cavity in the femur for the placement of a prosthetic implant. The system is designed to accurately shape the cavity for a precise fit and precise positioning of the implants in the cavity for optimum biomechanics."
For the first reference (anywhere! as far as I know) to a machine that would allow a physician to examine a patient at a distance, see the telemedicine apparatus from E.M. Forster's The Machine Stops, published in 1909.
Comment/Join this discussion ( 0 ) | RSS/XML | Blog This |
Additional
resources:
More Ideas
and Technology from Starfish
More Ideas
and Technology by Peter Watts
Tech news articles related to Starfish
Tech news articles related to works by Peter Watts
Medical Mantis-related
news articles:
- da Vinci Surgical Robot: Dr.'s Helper
- InTouch Companion: Medical Rounding Robot
- NEEMO 7 - NASA Undersea Robotic Telemedicine Experiment
| Bacteria Turns Plastic Into Pain Relief? That Gives Me An Idea. |
| Heart Patches Grown In The Lab Repair Hearts |
| Pixel Watch 'Loss of Pulse Detection' And Philip K. Dick |
| ErythroMer Artificial Blood |
Want to Contribute an
Item?
It's easy:
Get the name of the item, a
quote, the book's name and the author's name, and Add
it here.
| <Previous | Next> |
|
|
|
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 Science Fiction 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
'The peculiar quality of this light, which gave it its great preeminence over all other penetrating rays...'
'The overworked leg motor would have to cool down before he could work on it...'
‘Where to, sport?’ the starter at cab relay asked.
This is nothing new for science fiction fans!
'Their only check on the growth and development of Vulcan 3 lay in two clues: the amount of rock thrown up to the surface... and the amount of the raw materials and tools and parts which the computer requested.'
'I guess there's nobody round this table who doesn't have a Crosswell [tapeworm] working for him in the small intestine.'
'Figments of his mind in one sense, of course, for he had shaped them...'
