Real-life Star Trek tricorder nets $10.5M funding

The tricorder, the handheld all-around medical device used in the hit series "Star Trek," has just moved closer to reality after a startup that developed a mobile scanner measuring one's vital signs raised $10.5 million in funding.

 

Scanadu, the startup firm, said its device dubbed the "Scanadu Scout" got the funding from multiple investors led by Relay Ventures, tech site Mashable reported.

 

The device reads vital signs in seconds then sends the data to a patient's smartphone.

 

It also lets users check other vital readings like oxygenation and respiratory rate.

 

Scout's campaign on funding site Indiegogo alone reached its $100,000 goal in the first hour, and raised more than $1.6 million in just under two months, Mashable added.

 

Mashable quoted Scanadu CEO Walter De Brouwer as saying the amount, which raised the company's total to $14.7 million, will go to expanding the Scanadu team that will seek approval from the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) for the device.

 

But Mashable noted the working prototype does not necessarily mean the Scout is ready to make its public debut anytime soon.

 

It said Scanadu has announced a Medical Advisory Board including seven health and medical professionals, to help make sure the product gets FDA approval.

 

De Brouwer said FDA approval is important as doctors and patients must be able to trust the device's data.

 

"The idea is not to replace doctors, according to De Brouwer, but provide patients with additional data about their health without requiring an expensive trip to the emergency room," Mashable said.

 

The report added Scanadu hopes Scout will be eventually made available to consumers after a year for $199.

 

With the device, users can share their data with doctors directly from the smartphone app.

 

Potentially, patients can use the device to take their vital signs on the way to the hospital, "and the doctor would have them in hand upon his arrival." — TJD, GMA News