The ‘Star Trek’ Medical Scanner
A client wanted a device to help heal bones, and sound like a tricorder
It’s relatively easy for Dr. McCoy in Star Trek to figure out what is bothering a patient. He pulls out his trusty, sci-fi medical scanner which chirps back and tells him whether the patient has a concussion, a broken bone, or infection by an alien parasite.
We’re still far away from that technology, but this magnetic two-way medical scanner controls an embedded implant in healing bones. The device works by controlling a magnetic field that sends and receives control signals to a device inside a person which injects a current into the bone. This makes the bone heal quicker.
One interesting feature is the client wanted the device to sound like a Star Trek scanner. MTSI is thrilled to work on such projects. We used an MC68HC11’s Pulse Width Controller to make the sounds.
This product generated sales of $800 million a year.
