Category: Monitoring

  • Update:  Samsung increases health applications with Gear 2 watch, Gear Fit, Galaxy S5

    Update: Samsung increases health applications with Gear 2 watch, Gear Fit, Galaxy S5

    Samsung has updated its devices as it tries to establish dominance in the health and fitness tracking market. Its Gear 2 watch is now based on Samsung’s Tizen operating system rather than Android. It includes an accelerometer and gyroscope – capable of acting as a pedometer and an optical heart rate monitor. This allows the watch…

  • Apple patents health monitoring earbuds

    Apple patents health monitoring earbuds

    United States Patent 8655004 As the sensor based health monitoring market continues to expand, the USPTO on has granted Apple a patent for a biometric headphone system. By positioning the headset in or near the ear, an embedded activity sensor can measure temperature, perspiration and heart rate data, among other metrics.  In addition to skin-based…

  • Smart holograms diagnose and monitor medical conditions

    Smart holograms diagnose and monitor medical conditions

    http://www.cam.ac.uk/research/news/holographic-diagnostics-0 Cambridge researchers are developing responsive, color-changing diagnostic holograms.  Silver nanoparticles are formed into three dimensional holograms of predetermined shapes in a fraction of a second using a single laser pulse.  They will be used for portable medical tests and devices, to monitor diabetes, cardiac function, infections, electrolyte or hormone imbalance easily,inexpensively, and non-invasively. The…

  • Sensors detect radiation complications early, at home

    http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/24395986 Susan Peterson and colleagues at MD Anderson have completed a feasibility study showing that equipping head and neck cancer patients with home-based sensors can identify dehydration during radiation treatment. Physicians reviewed patients’ information daily using CYCORE (CYberinfrastructure for COmparative Effectiveness REsearch), a software-based platform to collect and manage data from multiple systems through a suite of home-based and…

  • Smart contact lens prototype to monitor glucose

    Smart contact lens prototype to monitor glucose

    http://googleblog.blogspot.com/2014/01/introducing-our-smart-contact-lens.html Google is testing a smart contact lens that’s built to measure glucose levels in tears.  It uses a tiny wireless chip and miniaturized glucose sensor embedded between two layers of soft contact lens material. The prototype can generate a reading once per second. They are investigating the potential of integrating tiny LED lights that…

  • Illinois and NIH researchers develop ultrathin “diagnostic skin” for continuous monitoring

    http://newswise.com/articles/ultrathin-diagnostic-skin-allows-continuous-patient-monitoring Subtle variations in temperature can indicate harmful underlying conditions such as constriction or dilation of blood vessels or dehydration. Even changes in mental activity, such as increased concentration while solving a mathematical equation, are accompanied by measureable changes in body temperature. University of Illinois researchers and the National Institute of Biomedical Imaging and Bioengineering…

  • Sony’s “SmartWig” can monitor and transmit health data

    US Patent Office Sony has submitted a patent application for a health monitoring “SmartWig.”  It can include a GPS and camera placed near the forehead. Users can receive vibrating feedback on specific parts of their head.  A laser pointer and remote can be controlled by the head’s movement. An ultrasound transducer could transmit or receive…

  • NEC’s PaPeRo Petit robot uses third party apps to monitor seniors at home

    http://jpn.nec.com/press/201311/20131111_01.html NEC has introduced the PaPeRo Petit robot, which is about half the size of earlier PaPeRo senior companions, and a cloud computing system for services using the new robot.  PaPeRo Petit combines multiple sensors (cameras, ultrasonic range finders, temperature sensor, and microphones) to detect people and look in their direction even in complete darkness.  It…

  • Implanted nanotube sensor monitors health for up to one year

    http://web.mit.edu/newsoffice/2013/new-implantable-sensor-1103.html MIT scientists are developing injectable and embeddable carbon nanotube sensors that can monitor blood sugar levels, inflammation, and other health issues.  The continuous monitor can stay in a person’s body for up to a year. Researcher Nicole Iverson wrapped carbon nanotubes in DNA sensitive to nitric oxide and made two types of sensors.  One is injectable…

  • Printable, multi-touch sensors consumers can cut with scissors

    http://embodied.mpi-inf.mpg.de/files/2012/11/ACuttableMultiTouchSensor.pdf Max Planck Institute researchers and the MIT Media Lab have developed printable, multi-touch sensors that are printed with e-ink and can be cut with scissors.  A new circuit layout makes it robust against cuts, damage, and removed areas.  By customizing and pasting such a sensor, one can make every surface interactive, including the wristband…

  • Ambient Assisted Living system monitors senior health at home

    http://www.theengineer.co.uk/medical-and-healthcare/news/wireless-system-provides-ambient-health-monitoring-of-elderly/1017120.article One outcome of the EU’s support of Ambiant Assistant Living is the following multi-bio-marker home monitoring device which continuously monitors glucose, cholesterol and blood oxygen levels.  It is expected that several similar monitors will be introduced in the near future, enabling seniors to better manage various diseases at home. Fraunhofer FIT has developed an…

  • Mayo Clinic studies step tracking data as a post-surgery monitoring tool

    http://www.annalsthoracicsurgery.org/article/S0003-4975(13)01253-8/fulltext Mayo Clinic has published a study using step recording from a  Fitbit activity tracker to monitor recovery in cardiac surgery patients and help hospitals determine the appropriate length of stay.  Those who had the shortest hospital stay walked the most on all days in the study, by a statistically significant margin. Likewise, patients bound for home walked…