The use of telemedicine is becoming more widely used to help in bridging the gap between the location of patients and physicians.  New telemedicine tools are constantly generated that will expand the capabilities of physicians.  Here are three examples of new technologies.

Littmann stethoscope – 3M has just unveiled its new stethoscope that provides physicians with the ability to listen to patients remotely as if they were present in their doctor’s office.  The stethoscopes use Bluetooth technologies to transmit sounds waves from the patients’ stethoscope to the physicians own stethoscope.  Distance is not a factor, the sound from the stethoscopes can travel to anywhere in the world. (See Article )

Visualization Table – A 46 inch interactive table has been created by Sectra that allows users to interact with 3D images produced by MRI and CT scans.  These real sized images provide users with pictures of multiple layers of tissues.  This is beneficial because physicians can attempt various types of theoretical surgeries with a virtual knife. ( See Article )

World’s Smallest Microscope – This quarter-sized telemedicine microscope can be used to view fluid samples including blood samples and it can even be utilized to test the quality of water in remote regions.  The lensless microscope creates a holographic image that can be placed on a USD drive or sent to a smart phone. ( See Article )