Google Lens Can Now Search For Skin Conditions 11
Google Lens, the company's computer vision-powered app that scans objects and brings up relevant information, is now able to search for skin conditions, like moles and rashes. "Uploading a picture or photo through Lens will kick off a search for visual matches, which will also work for other physical maladies that you might not be sure how to describe with words (like a bump on the lip, a line on nails or hair loss)," reports TechCrunch. From the report: It's a step short of the AI-driven app Google launched in 2021 to diagnose skin, hair and nail conditions. That app, which debuted first in the E.U., faced barriers to entry in the U.S., where it would have had to have been approved by the Food and Drug Administration. (Google declined to seek approval.) Still, the Lens feature might be useful for folks deciding whether to seek medical attention or over-the-counter treatments. Lens integration with Google Bard is also coming soon. "Users will be able to include images in their Bard prompts and Lens will work behind the scenes to help Bard make sense of what's being shown," reports TechCrunch.
Lighting and lens size (Score:4, Insightful)
Smartphone cameras have tiny itty bitty apertures and take poorly lit pictures in all kinds of places that aren't well-lit medical clinics.
I hesitate to call it useless, but if I have something that looks like it requires a medical opinion, I'd rather have an actual doctor look at it with their own eyes and poke it with their own fingers rather than looking at compressed jpgs of poorly taken out of focus pix I take.
Re: (Score:1)
Re:Lighting and lens size (Score:5, Informative)
Smartphone cameras have tiny itty bitty apertures and take poorly lit pictures in all kinds of places that aren't well-lit medical clinics.
I hesitate to call it useless, but if I have something that looks like it requires a medical opinion, I'd rather have an actual doctor look at it with their own eyes and poke it with their own fingers rather than looking at compressed jpgs of poorly taken out of focus pix I take.
Lack of lighting is usually an easily solved problem, so it's not really a problem. I think everyone agrees that most doctors will more accurately diagnose most medical conditions, including skin conditions. However, in the US, medical costs are high, and for many people, paying a doctor is a big financial burden, and for these people, the choices are ignore the problem or pay the doctor and skip discretionary expenses like meals. For these people, the app might be useful. Yes, the app might produce a false negative for a serious issue. However, for those poor people, the real problem would be poverty and not the app.
Re: (Score:2)
It's not just the cost. Around here (norcal) it takes 3 months to get in to a dermatologist as a returning patient. By then, either the lesion has resolved, metastasized, or you didn't need a doctor in the first place.
Re: (Score:2)
Current mid range phones have excellent cameras with great macro capability. Google's Pixel A series is a great example of that.
While this won't replace a doctor for serious conditions, in a lot of places doctors are not cheap or easily available, and even where they are often people just need some reassurance about a rash or something. I'm sure it will direct you to seek medical advice if it is at all unsure about the condition being benign, and come with some massive disclaimers.
In the UK there is a push
Re: (Score:1)
> Smartphone cameras have tiny itty bitty apertures
That's okay, makes my wanker look bigger.
Integration with AdSense (Score:5, Funny)
Re: (Score:2)
Re: (Score:1)
Ballmer: "I thought I ordered you deleted!"
Just wait (Score:4, Insightful)
Once it's common to self-diagnose with Google... Google's going to sell access to the database. They'll say the data's scrubbed to make it anonymous, but then you'll find they've been selling 'ratings checks' to your HMO and that's why your insurance was cancelled just when you needed it.
Re: (Score:2)
That should be illegal in your country. Lobby your politicians.