Category: Heart

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Heart

“Microswimmer” robots clear arteries intravenously

Drexel and Daegu Gyeongbuk Institute researchers are developing microscopic, magnetic, robotic beads that will allow physicians to clear blocked arteries intravenously.

MinJun Kim leads the team investigating the chains of iron oxide beads, which are linked together via chemical bonds and magnetic force. The chains are small enough­­ to navigate in the bloodstream, and are put in motion by an external magnetic field that causes each of them to rotate. Linked together, their individual rotations cause the chain to twist like a corkscrew, which propels the microswimmer.

The speed and direction of the micro swimmers are determined by controlling the magnetic field. The magnetism also allows separate strands of micro swimmers to be joined  together, enabling them to be propelled with greater force.

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Heart Wearables

Heart monitoring t-shirt

Imec and Holst Centre researchers have developed a smart t-shirt that monitors heart rate, heart rate variability, activities performed and calories burned.  The data is shared via the cloud to a user or doctor’s phone, tablet or computer.

The fabric contains miniaturized electronic modules with high accuracy and ultra-low power multi-sensor data acquisition chips. Processing, battery and bluetooth are embedded. The module can be removed to wash the shirt or charge the battery.

The original properties of the fabric are preserved, and the t-shirt remains flexible, stretchable, breathable, lightweight and washable.

5 DAYS UNTIL WEARABLE TECH + DIGITAL HEALTH NYC 2015 – JUNE 30 @ NEW YORK ACADEMY OF SCIENCES.  REGISTER HERE.

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Heart Sensors Wearables

Necklace, scale, cuff to monitor vitals, help manage CHF

toSenses‘s CoVa necklace, and prototype floor pad and cuff/handle combination, measure pulse oximetry, heart rate, blood pressure, respiration rate and temperature.  The various forms of monitoring are meant to improve compliance and ease of use.

CoVa has received FDA clearance, and is primarily used as a congestive heart failure alert/management system.

The scale-like pad uses bioimpedance and ECG to measure thoracic fluid levels and also measures weight.

The cuff/handle device measures vital signs, plus blood pressure. The user holds the device at the stomach to measure thoracic impedance, and inflatable bladders in the arm cuff compress the radial artery to measure blood pressure.

WEARABLE TECH + DIGITAL HEALTH NYC 2015 – JUNE 30 @ NEW YORK ACADEMY OF SCIENCES.  REGISTER HERE.

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Brain Heart Monitoring

Car-based heart, brain activity monitoring

“Sixth Sense” by Jaguar/LandRover attempts to monitor a driver’s heart rate, respiration and  brain activity to identify stress, fatigue and lack of concentration.

The  XJ “wellness seat” analyzes heart rate and breathing, has  touchscreens that predict which button a user wants to press with fingers mid-air, and has a vibrating  accelerator pedal that communicates hazards.

The  company claims that its “MindSense” project can determine if a driver is distracted or tired using sensors in the steering wheel.  They did not detail the science behind this, but said that their software can amplify a steering wheel sensor captured brain signal and filter background noise.  ApplySci believes that a minimal EEG headband could provide much more accurate driver alertness data.

WEARABLE TECH + DIGITAL HEALTH NYC 2015 – JUNE 30 @ NEW YORK ACADEMY OF SCIENCES.  REGISTER HERE.

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Heart IoT Wearables

Phone ECG detects irregular heartbeat

AliveCor(R) Heart Monitor. (PRNewsFoto/AliveCor, Inc.)

USC‘s Leslie Saxon has released a study showing that smartphone ECG sensors can detect atrial fibrillation in the general population.

865 participants were given AliveCor enabled smartphone ECG sensors.  57,703 thirty-second ECGs were recorded and wirelessly transmitted to the cloud via an acquisition and interpretation app.  AF was detected in 185 recordings from 93 participants.

After 30 days, 73% of participants said that they were more aware of their heart rate and behavior.  According to Saxon, “Having an ECG device on smartphones is quite incredible because it makes tracking heart health and behavior accessible to almost anyone.”

WEARABLE TECH + DIGITAL HEALTH NYC 2015 – JUNE 30 @ NEW YORK ACADEMY OF SCIENCES.  REGISTER HERE.

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Diabetes Heart Wearables

Heart rate as diabetes marker

Wearables can effectively monitor heart rate.  A recent study shows a new use for this data – predicting diabetes.

Penn State‘s Xiang Gao observed an association between faster heart rates and an increased risk of developing diabetes in 73,357 Chinese adults. In the same population, faster heart rates were also associated with impaired fasting glucose levels and a conversion from impaired fasting glucose levels to diabetes.

According to Gao, “Each additional 10 beats per minute was associated with a 23 percent increased risk of diabetes, similar to the effects of a 3 kilogram per meter square increase in body mass index. We further combined our results with those of 7 previously published studies, including 97,653 subjects, and found a similar association — individuals with a fast heart rate had a 59 percent increased risk of diabetes.”

WEARABLE TECH + DIGITAL HEALTH NYC 2015 – JUNE 30 @ NEW YORK ACADEMY OF SCIENCES.  FINAL REGISTRATION DISCOUNT ENDS TUESDAY, 6/2.

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Apps Heart mHealth Monitoring

Airplane seat sensors monitor physical, emotional states

FlightBeat, designed by TU Delft students, uses  airplane seat integrated heart rate sensors to monitor the physical and emotional state of passengers.

Data is transmitted wirelessly to the crew, and presented on a color-coded seat map showing which passengers need attention.  Health information can also be sent to physicians or family members on the ground.

The goal is to optimize in-flight service, but the technology could save the lives of those unable to communicate, or one day detect heightened emotions of potential terrorists.

WEARABLE TECH + DIGITAL HEALTH NYC 2015 – JUNE 30 @ NEW YORK ACADEMY OF OF SCIENCES.  REGISTER HERE.  

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Asthma Cancer Data Diabetes Heart Parkinson's

ResearchKit can simplify, improve diagnostics

As a company devoted to improving the human condition through health innovation, ApplySci was delighted to hear yesterday’s ResearchKit announcement.  The framework allows people to easily join health studies, and simplifies the process by bringing research to one’s phone.

ResearchKit’s first tests detect Parkinson’s disease, diabetes, cardiovascular disease, asthma, and breast cancer.  Apple worked with 12 institutions to create the app, including some which will participate in ApplySci’s Wearable Tech + Digital Health NYC 2015 conference.

Apple’s (admirable) goal is to more easily recruit research subjects, and improve accuracy by increasing sample size and diversity.  Data is captured and recorded using iPhone sensors.  Examples include:

  • An iPhone’s microphone can detect tiny voice  fluctuations that may indicate Parkinson’s disease.
  • An iPhone’s screen can detect tapping inconsistencies associated with disease.
  • An iPhone accelerometer can compare one’s gait and balance against a healthy person’s speed and posture.

Users control their own data, and decide if, how, and when to share it.   Apple will not have access to it.  The company hopes that external developers will soon dramatically increase the number of tests available.

Wearable Tech + Digital Health NYC 2015 – June 30 @ New York Academy of Sciences .  Early registration rate available until March 27th.

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fitness Heart Sensors Wearables

Smart earring monitors heart rate, calories, activity

Ear-o-smart is a crowdfunded smart earring that monitors heart rate, calories, and activity level.   Its sensor is combined with a changeable earring.  Its app, via voice instruction, tells wearers to speed up or slow down based on heart rate data.

The tiny  wearable was created by minimizing PPG Technology and Bluetooth data transfer.  PPG Technology gauges heart rate through infrared light that blood reflects if present under the skin.  The sensor works better if worn on the earlobe than on the wrist, as the many blood vessels in the  ear make PPG more effective.

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fitness Heart Sensors Wearables

Multiple measurements, including blood pressure, from shirt sensor insert

Nike was recently awarded a patent for a skin-touching sensor system that can be inserted into a shirt.  It can measure heart rate, blood pressure, hydration, and skin temperature, and transmit the data over radio frequencies, Bluetooth and WiFi.

If it works, the ability measure blood pressure from shirt sensors, combined with other vital signs, is new and promising.

A Quartz article quoted Loyola sports medicine doctor James Winger describing the potential impact on cardiac rehabilitation. He said that this could be a substitute for bulky EKG and other sensors patients use at the gym in the first stages of rehab.  He is also optimistic about use in professional sports, although he believes that  skin temperature and hydration levels, as monitored by this system, wouldn’t  correlate to internal temperatures indicating serious health issue on the field.

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Heart

Body’s cold sensor could treat hypothermia, heart failure

A cold “sensor” that  triggers the skin’s vascular response could treat frostbite, hypothermia, and vascular diseases, according to a study published by King’s College London.

The research focuses on the role TRPA1 plays in the narrowing and widening of blood vessels to retain body heat.  It could enable treatments that  limit the effects of exposure to cold, and the body cooling process associated with hypothermia.

Currently linked to pain sensitivity and used in the development of painkillers, this is the first time the TRPA1 gene has been associated with the response of blood vessels in the skin to cold.

According to Peter Weissberg at the British Heart Foundation: “This study helps us to understand how and why our blood vessels contract and expand, and could help scientists develop treatments for many conditions where blood vessel or ‘vascular’ health is important, from Raynaud’s to heart failure. Any research that helps to explain the complicated processes that control the circulatory system may have wide reaching implications in the future, as vascular health is involved in so many different diseases.”

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Brain Heart Sensors Wearables

Electrode/patch system monitors physical & mental health of soldiers

University at Buffalo professor Albert H. Titus, Sentient Science, and ONR are developing technology to monitor physical and psychological stress levels of soldiers, and send alerts when distress is detected.

The wireless system includes electrodes that measure heart rate, brain activity and other vital signs, and are attached to the skin adhesively or sewn into clothing.  The electrodes relay information to a sensor patch worn on the skin.  The patch sends the data to a computer, where algorithms consider terrain, weather, environmental information, and the soldier’s activity level. Health alerts are sent to soldiers and emergency medical facilities in the field.