I recently came across an interesting piece of technology that crossed over from outer space to rural India.
The guideVue system was originally developed by Dr. Sriram Iyengar and his colleagues at the University of Texas – Houston with funding from NASA, who was looking for a better way for astronauts to receive physical care while in space. It was while brainstorming other applications for guideVue that Dr. Iyengar realized that “there is something very common about deep space and the rural areas of earth.” Dr. Iyengar recognized that, just as guideVue can help improve care for an astronaut tens of thousands of miles away from health facilities on Earth, it can improve care for a patient located in a rural area, a hundred miles from the closest facility. Specifically, guideVue can help address problems resulting from the lack of trained physicians in rural areas, the lack of standardized training for frontline rural health providers, and poor internet connectivity.
The software product is a clinical decision support suite that can be used on computers, mobile phones, and tablets. Using this technology, frontline health workers with only basic training will be able to more accurately diagnose and treat patients suffering from a whole range of illnesses or afflictions.
The guideVue system consists of computer program which allows healthcare specialists to easily create complicated decision trees, making use of text, images, video, and audio in a large number of languages (they are in the process of developing support for non-Roman script languages). The program is specifically designed so that anyone with basic knowledge of computers and phones can use it. Once completed, the decision tree can easily be saved in a number of formats so that it can be uploaded onto an iPhone, Android tablet, or several other devices. It is made to run inside the device itself so that there is no need for internet connectivity, an advantage in remote regions.
Here is a marketing video about broad application of the product.
Last updated: December 26th, 2025
