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Science: Health: Diagnosis: Software
phone takes photos of fingernails to screen for disease   (+5)  [vote for, against]
ten different systemic diseases can be diagnosed with images of fingernails. Have a phone app image the nails and have the cloud/AI diagnose and refer to a physician

A bunch of diseases internal to the body cause the fingernails to look different.[link]

I think they are looking for medical diagnostic apps. Imaging the fingernails and then uploading to cloud/AI then doing a physician referral could benefit people. Quick seach "nail diagnose app" turned up nothing so this is apparently a new idea.

If it is mostly about the tissue rather than the shape of the keratin fingernail then this could be extended to images of the inner lip or the tongue!
-- beanangel, May 14 2018

paper with 10 different diseases that affect fingernails https://www.ncbi.nl...rticles/PMC4375768/
[beanangel, May 14 2018]

Crowley - Fingernails https://drive.googl...FwjxGSCsTv8J6oDTL0a
[not_morrison_rm, May 15 2018]

One fun thing for this idea, and the halfbakery in general, is that the US patent office now prioritizes first to file over first to invent. So someone can still do this for the money!
-- beanangel, May 14 2018


No, they can't.

Or, to be specific, anyone can make money with this idea, and anyone else can compete with them. By posting it here, you have simply put it into the public domain, and therefore prevented anyone from securing exclusive rights to it.

Fortunately, though, it would probably be unpatentable even if it hadn't been disclosed. As you note, there are numerous references in the medical literature to the effect of various diseases on nail growth and form.

You could get some non-patent protection for a particular app that did this, but anyone could then write another app that did the same thing.
-- MaxwellBuchanan, May 14 2018


Gentlemen, what's this down on beanie?

Aren't we all going a bit r_carty here?

It seems like a good idea. Admittedly it does the go against the hb ethos to post ideas that would actually work, but [+].
-- not_morrison_rm, May 15 2018


Ah, le Marquis d'Arquartis. I wonder where he is now.
-- pertinax, May 15 2018


Just waiting in the hidden lab under Antarctica, and when the time is right...

I've done it myself, been there, done that, got the chilblains to prove it.
-- not_morrison_rm, May 15 2018


No, I suspect the disease most diagnosable from facial characteristics is obesity.
-- MaxwellBuchanan, May 15 2018


The eyes, a window on the body, are in the face. Magnification and number of frequencies is widening the view.
-- wjt, May 16 2018


Holmes would loved this...
-- not_morrison_rm, May 16 2018



random, halfbakery