Category: Heart
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Phone tracks health with out wearable sensors
Javier Hernandez Rivera of Rosalind Picard‘s Affective Computing Group at MIT is developing a health monitoring phone that does not require a wearable. BioPhone derives biological signals from a phone’s accelerometer, which the team says captures small body movements that result from one’s heart beating and chest rising and falling. Hernandez said that BioPhone is meant…
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Chip uses ECG to monitor heart, improving wearable accuracy
Samsung’s Bio Processor uses ECG to continuously measure the electric activity of the heart, improving its accuracy. It must be worn on the skin near the heart, and includes built-in flash memory and Bluetooth for connecting to one’s phone. The chip can also monitor PPG, ECG, skin temperature, GSR and body fat. The company describes this as a breakthrough…
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Toward a 3D printed heart
Carnegie Mellon‘s Adam Feinberg is developing 3D printing techniques that could in the future be used to repair the heart. This work is aimed at alternative solutions for the 4,000 Americans currently waiting to receive a heart transplant. Feinberg described his progress: “We’ve been able to take MRI images of coronary arteries and 3-D images…
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Optogenetics used to regulate heartbeat
Oxford’s Gil Bub and and Stony Brooks’ Emilia Entcheva have used optogenetics, a method used to control neurons, to regulate heartbeat. Arrhythmia patients currently use pacemakers or drugs to control heart rhythm. These approaches can stop or start waves, but cannot provide fine control over wave speed and direction. In the Bub and Entcheva study,…
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Noninvasive 3D scan identifies coronary artery blockages
Fractional flow reserve computed tomography is a high-definition 3D scanner used to identify blocked arteries around the heart. The technology, developed by Heartflow, eliminates the risk of diagnostic methods where vessels are probed. The risk of death from an angiogram is one in 1,000, and can be caused by a rupture of an artery, or…
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Device detects heart attacks with one drop of blood
UCLA’s Chi On Chui has developed a device that brings lab quality bio-molecular assessments to point-of-care settings, such as clinics, ambulances or homes. SELFA (Semiconductor Electronic Label-Free Assay) could reduce emergency room time for heart attack patients by hours. Similar to a diabetic glucose sensor, SELFA uses a single drop of blood, taken wherever symptoms occur,…
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Faster, personalized, 3D printed heart models for surgery planning
MIT and Boston Children’s Hospital researchers are converting heart MRI scans into 3D printed physical models, for surgical planning, in 3-4 hours. Previously, the process took 10 hours. The project, which limits human input to increase accuracy, is led by Professor Polina Golland. Physicist Medhi Moghari enhanced the precision of the MRI, decreasing the dependence on generic models,…
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Piezoelectric sensor car seat monitors respiration, heart rate
Faurecia‘s “Active Welness” car seat monitors respiration and heart rate with embedded piezoelectric sensors. The goal is to detect driver stress or alertness. When low energy is detected, the seat responds with specific massage patterns and air flow through the ventilation system. The non-contact sensors were developed by Hoana Medical. Combined with advanced algorithms and signal processing, Faurecia…
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Simple, rapid “tricorder” vital sign monitoring
Johns Hopkins researchers have developed a “tricorder” that quickly picks up vital signs from a patient’s lips and fingertip. MouthLab could replace bulky monitors and gather more data during an ambulance, emergency room, doctor’s office or home assessment. Heart rate, blood pressure, temperature, breathing rate, blood oxygen and a basic ECG are measured. Early…
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Cheap, non-invasive, mobile cardiovascular disease screening
An IMEC led consortium is developing CARDIS, a mobile, low-cost, non-invasive, cardiovascular disease screening device, with the goal of mass screening. Current detection methods, including chest X-ray, ECG, Holter monitoring and cardiac MRI, often detect CVD at a later stage due to cost or complexity of use. CARDIS is based on Doppler vibrometry (LDV) – a…
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Mirror sensors, imaging systems, assess cardio-metabolic risk
Wize is a mirror that its developers claim can monitor health with breath monitors, 3D scanners, video cameras, and imaging systems. It assesses cardio-metabolic risk through changes in face shape and circulation, signs of anxiety, and breath tests for heart attack-inducing chemicals. After a user looks into the mirror for one minute, a health score…
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Phone sensors measure oxygen saturation with out pulse oximeter
MoveSense allows oxygen saturation to be monitored by phone sensors with what its developers describe as medical accuracy. A mobile phone must be carried in one’s pocket, and no pulse oximeter is required. The technology was developed by Bruce Schatz at the University of Illinois. In a study, patients wore pulse oximeters (for comparison) and carried phones…