A medical scanner device is common on TV science fiction shows (such as Star Trek) where a future physician can wave the device over a patient and acquire a complete medical readout. Although such a device is probably not practical (or is it?) with present day technology, a medical diagnostic bed might be possible by extrapolating conventional medical imaging and remote sensing into the near future. Discuss the present state of the art of medical imaging. What areas of anatomy and physiology of the human body are not imaged or imaged poorly at present? What sort of advances in medical imaging would be necessary to develop the sickbay diagnostic bed? What impact would such a device have on biological and Medical fields?

A medical scanner device is common on TV science fiction shows (such as Star Trek) where a future physician can wave the device over a patient and acquire a complete medical readout. Although such a device is probably not practical (or is it?) with present day technology, a medical diagnostic bed might be possible by extrapolating conventional medical imaging and remote sensing into the near future. Discuss the present state of the art of medical imaging. What areas of anatomy and physiology of the human body are not imaged or imaged poorly at present? What sort of advances in medical imaging would be necessary to develop the sickbay diagnostic bed? What impact would such a device have on biological and Medical fields?