Photo by Nino Liverani on Unsplash
Nurses are like the front line combatants of medical practice. Closer to the patient than any engineering lab could ever be, caregivers – often underestimated for their contribution to the health care industry – are uniquely positioned to spot sub-par solutions as well as break-through technology.
We still rely on hospital staff to tell whether a person – who is under medical treatment and cannot communicate – is in pain. But nurses might soon be able to go on a lunch break without worrying that their mystery coma patient will succumb while they’re munching away.
Researchers at UC San Diego have developed a computer vision algorithm that can assess pain levels by analyzing the patient’s facial expressions. It’s not a first, but the results of this new study are far more promising than ever before.