Kinsa, a health technology start-up, is on a mission to create the world’s first real-time map of human health that will help prevent the spread of illness. The organization has created a thermometer that leverages on the power and connectivity of your smartphone. Using the free mobile app, users can “track their illness histories to share with physicians, access tools to better manage and plan around their health problems, and view the “health weather” in their local area, including what symptoms and illnesses are going around.” No batteries, LCD or processor are needed since the thermometer feeds off the power of a smartphone.
Kinsa Smart Thermometer is currently on Indiegogo where the company is looking to raise $50,000 to put the product on the market. “We are still seeking better ways to track infectious disease both at the level of the individual as well as the community,” says Ken Staley, MD, former White House Director for Biodefense and an advisor to Kinsa. “Kinsa’s approach is exciting because it engages consumers — it can provide real value for individuals — and at the same time aggregates information in a way that provides value for clinicians and public health officials.”
While it appears that the thermometer is initially being marketed to the Western world, we hope that Kinsa will expand its reach to third world countries where tracking the spread of disease can be difficult due to a lack of connectivity between rural areas and cities. Imagine how many lives could be saved if doctors could track outbreaks of cholera, malaria or dengue fever in real time. It may be the new preventative “medicine” of the 21st century.
To learn more about the Kinsa Smart Thermometer check out the video below (it gets interesting around the 1:25 mark):
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Photo via Kinsa
