Category: Heart

  • Algorithm analyzes head movements to measure heart rate

    http://web.mit.edu/newsoffice/2013/seeing-the-human-pulse-0620.html MIT researchers have developed an algorithm that gauges heart rate by measuring tiny head movements in video data.  A subject’s heart rate was consistently measured within a few beats per minute when compared to results from electrocardiograms. The algorithm was also able to provide estimates of time intervals between beats, which can be used to identify…

  • Machine learning in the ICU

    http://www.technologyreview.com/news/515461/machine-learning-and-risk-prediction-in-the-icu/ Etiometry is building a clinical-decision support system to interpret large volumes of real-time patient data and guide diagnosis and treatment.  It integrates and analyzes information from heart monitors, ventilators, and pressure sensors and plugs the data into predictive models that have been built on prior patient outcomes.

  • Medical device data shared via ultrasound, real-time treatment enabled

    http://www.buffalo.edu/news/releases/2013/05/0570.html Navy sonar technology is being miniaturized by University at Buffalo professor Tommaso Melodia to be applied inside the human body to treat diseases like diabetes and heart failure in real time. A network of wireless body sensors that use ultrasounds could be used to wirelessly share information between medical devices implanted in or worn by diabetic/heart failure patients. Previously, researchers focused…

  • Flexible “skin” heart monitor

    Stanford professor Zhenan Bao has developed a flexible, skin-like heart monitor, worn under an adhesive bandage on the wrist.  This non-invasive method could replace intravascular catheters, which create a high risk of infection, making them impractical for newborns and high-risk patients.  An external monitor could give doctors a safer way to gather information about the heart, especially…

  • Medical monitoring via webcam

    http://www.economist.com/blogs/babbage/2013/03/remote-monitoring A team of researchers at Xerox is working on technology that would allow doctors to obtain patients’ vital signs using a simple webcam. Already, the team is testing use of the technology to monitor the pulse rate of premature babies and to track irregular heartbeats in patients suffering from arrhythmia. By applying further signal-processing…

  • 8 new sensor based health tracking devices

    http://www.boston.com/lifestyle/health/gallery/wearable_trackers/ An overview of 8 new sensor based health tracking devices.  Some predict that 400 million such products will enter the market by 2014.

  • Study charts heart risk in 1M adults in real time

    http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424127887324323904578368572640617966.html The Health eHeart Study will use smartphone apps, sensors and other devices to gather data on a wide variety of measures associated with cardiovascular health—including blood pressure, physical activity, diet and sleep habits—in real time.

  • Fujitsu facial imaging technology measures pulse

    http://www.sys-con.com/node/2582171 A Fujitsu research lab has developed software that can accurately measure a subject’s pulse using the small digital cameras attached to smartphones and tablets. The technology is based on the fact that the brightness of an individual’s face changes slightly as their heart beats, due to their blood flow. Hemoglobin, which carries oxygen around…

  • A move toward aggregating health data from various devices and apps

    http://gigaom.com/2013/03/15/tictrac-emerges-to-help-make-health-tracking-more-mainstream/ It seems that every day a new app or device promising the ultimate in health or fitness monitoring enters the market.  A startup has created a personal analytics dashboard which gives people a big picture view of their own aggregated data and underlying patterns, helping them make sense of the numbers.

  • Doctors use smartphones to save lives

    http://appleinsider.com/articles/13/01/25/doctors-see-apples-iphone-as-life-saver-in-the-future-of-medicine A doctor recently used his iPhone, in combination with AliveCor, a mounted sensor capable of delivering clinically accurate electrocardiograms, while in flight, to measure the vital signs of a passenger experiencing severe chest pains at 30,000 feet. The results indicated that the passenger was having a heart attack.  The doctor recommended an urgent landing,…

  • NASA technology benefits cardio-pulmonary patients

    http://www.azosensors.com/news.aspx?newsID=5350 PUMA measures six components to evaluate metabolic function: oxygen and carbon dioxide partial pressure, volume flow rate, heart rate, and gas pressure and temperature. From those measurements, PUMA can compute the oxygen uptake, carbon dioxide output and minute ventilation (average expired gas flow rate). A small, embedded computer takes readings of each sensor and relays…

  • Genetically modified virus produces heart’s own pacemaker in animals

    http://technorati.com/technology/article/viruses-helped-to-make-the-natural/ Researchers at the Cedars-Sinai Heart Institute had another idea. They knew a gene called Tbx18 is normally activated during the sinoatrial node’s development, when an embryo is forming. So they set out to add Tbx18 into a functioning, fully grown heart. To do it, they inserted the code for this gene into a virus,…