- Forward, a health technologies startup, introduced CarePods, a series of artificial intelligence-supported examination cabins that can operate without any medical professional.
- Designed by experts from universities such as Harvard and John Hopkins, CarePod aims to make primary medical care more accessible.
- Once the exam is completed, off-site doctors will review patients’ results via the mobile app, and patients can also talk to a doctor over the phone in CarePod.
- CarePods will be available in U.S. malls and gyms starting in 2024, starting at $99 per month.
AI-powered exam booths can come to a shopping mall, gym, or workplace near you and draw your blood without any medical professional present. Earlier this week, Forward, a health tech startup, announced its independent practice line CarePods. introduced.
Designed by experts from universities such as Harvard and John Hopkins, CarePod is intended to function like a trained doctor who can meet both general and specific health needs. The goal is to make primary medical care more accessible. Starting in 2024, Forward plans to place these devices in malls, gyms and offices in San Francisco, New York, Chicago, Philadelphia and other US cities. Memberships start at $99 per month and no appointment is required.
Patients can enter white cube-shaped booths, select on-screen health apps and access a wide range of health services, Forward said. These applications will include biometric body scanning, weight management and diabetes screening. Some apps can assess a patient’s heart, thyroid, kidney and liver health, the health technology startup said. There are also artificial intelligence applications that test for diseases such as COVID-19 and HIV and monitor mental health problems.
Each option will provide patients with directions on how to receive the service using advanced artificial intelligence capabilities.
“Let’s say you choose the body scanning app, CarePod asks you to stand still and then spins you around in a circle, takes a series of measurements, displays those measurements on the screen, and explains it to you.”
According to Axios, if patients choose the “heart health” app, CarePod will present a sensor and tell them to point the sensor at their heart. This service may also be a convenience for patients who are wary of needles. Aoun said CarePods will attach the vacuum chamber, a device known as “capillary blood collection” that the CEO likened to a leech, to a patient’s upper arm and draw a small sample of blood in two to four minutes without pain.
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However, the process will not be completely independent of healthcare professionals. After the session is completed, off-site doctors will review patients’ results, which they can access through Forward’s mobile app, Axios reported. Patients will also be able to talk to a doctor on the phone while in CarePod.
Technology is expected to improve further over time. Forward; It plans to create applications for prenatal care, advanced cancer screenings and genetic analysis that detects a patient’s risk of developing an inherited disease.
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While artificial intelligence was taking the medical industry by storm, this application was implemented after the company announced that it had raised $ 100 million in November. However, it is not yet clear whether CarePods will work as promised. AI is still prone to producing errors. A recent study found that OpenAI’s ChatGPT was producing cancer treatment plans filled with misinformation. In another study, it was found that the artificial intelligence chatbot gave incorrect answers to medical questions about medications.
Forward is backed by investors including former Google CEO Eric Schmidt and Mustafa Suleyman, co-founder of Google’s artificial intelligence unit DeepMind.
Compiled by: Esin Özcan