How Well Did "Star Trek" Do In Predicting The Future Of Medicine?

There is something the "Star Trek" franchise predicted: the future of medicine.



A medical tricorder, as seen in Star Trek: The Next Generation.

"I was able to put a scope in and biopsy the pancreas which was unheard of 50 years ago," said NYU Langone's Dr. Mark Pochapin. That's unless you were watching "Star Trek," as Pochapin did when he was a boy.

"Star Trek predicted the way you would scan someone is through a non-invasive way without really touching them," Pochapin said.

"Star Trek'"s tricorder? Today we have CT scans, MRIs and ultrasounds.

What else has come true?

"Where Captain Kirk would talk to someone on the flat screen TV, I can talk to a patient now, see their image, see their scans remotely," Pochapin said.

Dr. McCoy's hypospray helped inspire needle-free injectors. The visor that let Geordi see? We now have glasses that beam light to a chip implanted in the retina -- so the blind can see.

What about sick bay?

"They'd get on their bed and all the monitors would go on like the monitors we have here," Pochapin said. "And that has come true. We have wireless telemetry."

We got a sneak preview of modern medicine from a Starship sick bay. But "Star Trek" was about more than fancy gadgets.

It foresaw a world of inclusiveness, with doctors of color, male and female. And in the new series, "Star Trek: Discovery" -- a physician who is openly gay.

We consulted a specialist in "Star Trek"-style medicine. Bob Picardo played the emergency medical hologram on the Voyager series.

"And then I would appear and I would say, 'Please state the nature of the medical emergency,'" Picardo said.

Picardo said "it's possible" a computer algorithm could entirely replace a physician in the future.

"Ultimately, that artificial intelligence physician will be created from the personal experiences of a large group of doctors," Picardo said. "So, yes, I believe the day will come when you will be obsolete."

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