Category: Monitoring

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mHealth Monitoring Sensors

Multi-use, wireless, wearable sensors

http://www.kth.se/en/aktuellt/nyheter/hudnara-elektronisk-doktor-ar-framtiden-1.382668

The Bio-patch, developed by researchers at KTH Royal Institute of Technology, measures bioelectrical signals through the skin, gathering data on different parts of the body depending on where it is placed.

“On the chest it provides electrocardiography (ECG), on the skull it measures brainwaves (EEG), and on the forearm it can measure muscle response to stimulation from the nervous system (EMG),” says KTH researcher Geng Yang.  It also has a built-in sensor that constantly monitors body temperature.

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Crowdfunding Monitoring Seniors Sensors

Eldercare monitoring system based on social connections

http://mobihealthnews.com/21650/lively-a-new-eldercare-monitoring-system-focused-on-social-connections-heads-to-kickstarter/

Lively is an in-home sensor network for connecting elderly loved ones to their families.  The system combines a series of wireless sensors, a data-collection hub and biweekly printed mailers that serve as kind of an analog social network. The basic setup measures medication compliance, food and drink intake and general activity outside the home.

Lively is crowdfunding on Kickstarter, with a goal of $100,000.

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Apps mHealth Monitoring Pregnancy Sensors

Mobile monitors for expectant mothers

http://www.fiercemobilehealthcare.com/special-reports/mobile-monitors-expectant-mothers

AirStrip OB is a mobile patient monitoring solution for women in labor. The system, developed by San-Antonio-based AirStrip Technologies, captures vital patient waveform data, including fetal heart tracing and maternal contraction patterns, in “virtual real time” and sends it to a physician’s mobile device.

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Apps Eyes Monitoring

Monitoring app for deteriorating eye, retinal conditions

http://www.healthtechzone.com/topics/healthcare/articles/2013/04/12/334081-new-fda-approved-myvisiontrack-medical-device-provides-hope.htm

Using a proprietary patented shape discrimination hyperacuity (SDH) test, myVisionTrack enables patients to regularly assess their vision function. myVisionTrack stores test results, tracks disease progression and can automatically alert a healthcare provider if it suspects significant deterioration of visual function in the patient. Clinical studies demonstrate that myVisionTrack’s shape discrimination hyperacuity test has comparable or higher sensitivity and specificity compared to clinically available standard visual function tests for detecting advanced maculopathy from high-risk moderate maculopathy.

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Monitoring Sensors

Cord-free hospital medical monitors

http://ajw.asahi.com/article/economy/technology/AJ201304120065

Hospital patients may no longer need to be hooked up to a tangle of wires, thanks to new technology developed by Fujitsu Ltd. The device enables cord-free monitoring through radio-wave transmission of electrocardiograms, blood pressure and other data from sensors attached to patients’ bodies.

A transmitter mounted on each sensor sends readings to a receiver adjacent to the bed, which will be connected to a dedicated monitor or personal computer. The data transmission utilizes the “medical body area network” (mBAN), a telecommunications standard for medical equipment. The radio waves only have a transmission range of 5 meters and do not interfere with pacemakers or other medical equipment, Fujitsu officials said.

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Apps mHealth Monitoring

Obamacare positions mHealth as a remedy for chronic hospital readmissions

http://www.scientificamerican.com/article.cfm?id=affordable-care-act-technology

The Obama administration introduced the ACA in 2010 to move health care away from a fee-for-service model to one that promotes preventative care and overall wellness. Beginning this October the ACA will reinforce this approach by penalizing hospitals with chronic readmission problems by cutting Medicare reimbursement payments to those facilities. This policy initially targets patients suffering from three health conditions—heart failure, pneumonia and heart attack—but penalties will apply to additional conditions beginning in 2015.

Remote health monitoring systems have patients wear sensors that wirelessly collect, store, analyze and transmit health-related data. One of several approaches is the Wearable Wellness System from Italy’s Smartex, essentially an undershirt with embedded sensors and a processor that can monitor heart and respiration rates. Although not as fashionable, the Metria wearable sensor, from Vancive Medical Technologies, a medical division of Avery Dennison, can be adhesively bound to the body to measure heart rate, respiration, sleep duration and activity levels.

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Apps mHealth Monitoring

Top 7 doctor recommended health apps

http://www.pcmag.com/slideshow/story/309765/doctor-recommended-7-top-health-apps/1

PCMag visited seven specialists—an allergist, a dermatologist, a pediatrician, and a nutritionist—and asked which apps they recommend to their patients.

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Heart Monitoring Signal Processing

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 algorithms to the images, doctors can get a read-out of a baby’s blood-oxygen level. If the camera can see more than one part of the child it can also measure that child’s blood pressure. It does this by recording the time each pulse caused by the heartbeat takes to arrive in different arteries.

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Asthma mHealth Monitoring Sensors

Sensors and mobile technology for asthma management

http://techcrunch.com/2013/04/05/asthmapolis-wants-to-hack-the-inhaler-and-help-26-million-americans-better-track-and-manage-their-asthma/

Asthmapolis uses a novel combination of smartphone applications and snap-on inhaler sensors that track when and how often patients use their inhaled medications. The geomedicine platform, available in both English and Spanish, is designed to help individuals with their daily preventive medications, reveal insights about their use of rescue medications and provide personalized feedback to improve their ability to successfully manage the disease.

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Diabetes mHealth Monitoring Sensors

Sensors detect diabetic foot ulcers early

Two new sensor-based early detection tools for diabetic foot ulcers are being developed.

http://www.express.co.uk/life-style/health/383644/The-alarm-that-can-save-limbs

Orpyx Medical Technologies has developed a wristwatch and shoe insert.  An insole is designed to support the foot, with three separate foam layers. Eight tiny electronic sensors are packed in the top of the insole so that they rest against thesurface of the foot once the shoe has been put on. These sensors are programmed to detect when pressure exceeds predetermined levels at certain points of the foot that are most susceptible to ulcers. Once they do, they wirelessly transmit a warning to the watch, which immediately sounds an alert.

http://www.podimetrics.com

Cambridge based Podimetrics is developing a home-monitoring bath mat with sensors that record changes in blood flow patterns when a diabetic patient steps on the mat. The sensors scan the foot to collect data about blood flow and send the data to the cloud to be stored and analyzed. The company’s algorithms look at that data in two ways: longitudinally over time and comparatively between the left and right foot to detect patterns that may indicate the presence of a developing ulcer. When the algorithms detect a pre-ulcer, an alert is sent to the patient and his doctor prompting an intervention early on.

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Apps Diabetes mHealth Monitoring

Self tracking for diabetes — more efficient, still complicated

http://www.theatlantic.com/health/archive/2013/04/the-diabetics-paradox/274507/

Diabetes patients have been self monitoring for years.  Advances in mHealth have made the process more efficient, though still complicated.

The iPhone can improve the functionality of glucometers; last month the FDA approved LifeScan’s VerioSync glucometer; the device automatically sends blood sugar levels to an iPhone via Bluetooth (fewer steps mean fewer mistakes and less anxiety). The iBGStar is a similar patient-centric tool.

The ultimate goal is a non-invasive glucose monitor, which will allow patients to check their blood levels without drawing blood. We aren’t there yet.  When such devices can connect to automatic insulin pumps, which adminster insulin into a patient’s bloodstream subcutaneously through an open line rather than an injection, some of the hassle and stigma of diabetes may be lessened.

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Monitoring Obesity

Implantable microchip could be used to battle obesity

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/health-21852062

The microchips were designed by Imperial College London professors Chris Toumazou and Sir Stephen Bloom.  They will soon be tested in a series of animal trials which could determine whether or not they are a good alternative to weight loss surgery.

The intelligent implantable modulators are only a few millimeters wide and will attach to the vagus nerve in the abdomen’s peritoneal cavity using cuff electrodes. The vagus nerve serves as the primary communicator between the brain and the digestive tract.  Once attached, the chip would be able to read electrical and chemical signals indicating appetite. It would then respond by sending a signal of its own to the brain reducing or halting the urge to eat.