Category: Sensors
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Pain relieving wearable, app
Cur is a wearable pain relief system, similar to Quell, (see ApplySci, 1/13/15) for people who respond to TENS. It uses uses electrical stimulation to stop pain at its source. The bandaid-like device sticks directly to skin, and all the modulation of electrical signals is automatically controlled by built in sensors. Users can also adjust the amount of stimulation…
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Stamp sized wearable detects falls
As part of its IoT Ubiquitousware platform, Fujitsu has developed a stamp sized sensor tag that detects falls, position, posture, and temperature changes. The tags contain accelerometers, barometers, gyroscopes and microphones. They can also include heart rate sensors and GPS modules. Data is transmitted via Bluetooth Low Energy. Algorithms analyze the data and automatically send alerts…
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Inhaler sensors track asthma severity across cities
Propeller Health and the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation, through their Air Louisville program, are using sensors on asthma inhalers to track when, where and how often inhalers are used. This helps patients manage symptoms, and city officials warn of increased chances of asthma severity in certain areas. Sensors attach to inhaled medication, and a smartphone app and…
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Sensor technology helps seniors age in place
Evermind, Lively (see ApplySci April, 2013 and November, 2014), and BeClose are sensor systems allowing remote caregiver monitoring — part of a growing genre of technologies helping seniors age in place. Evermind detects when appliances are switched on and off, and sends messages to caregivers through the day. It also sends alerts when changes in activity…
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Robot sensor reads facial expressions to determine emotions
Sungkyunkwan University‘s Nae-Eung Lee has created a stretchable, transparent sensor that helps robots read facial expressions. It senses smiling, frowning, brow-furrowing and eye-rolling. The robot then detects movements, including slight changes in gaze, to determine whether people are laughing or crying, and where they are looking. The ultra-sensitive, wearable sensor layers a carbon nanotube film on two types of…
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Cheap, flexible biosensor detects HIV, E-coli, Staph aureas
Florida Atlantic, Stanford, and Harvard researchers have developed a thin, lightweight, flexible “paper microchip” biosensing platform to detect and determine treatment for HIV, E-coli, Staphylococcus aureas and other bacteria. They have also created an app that could remotely detect bacteria and disease in the blood using mobile phone images. Current paper and flexible material-based platforms…
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Breath test for malaria
QIMR Berghofer, ANU and CSIRO researchers are developing a breath test for malaria. Current blood testing methods have not changed since 1880. A recent study found a marked increase in normally almost undetectable chemicals in malaria patients’ breath. The chemicals were seen four days earlier than with a traditional microscope test, with higher sensitivity. Malaria killed 584,000…
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Breath test for head and neck cancer
EPFL researchers have developed a sensor that can identify the presence of a head and neck cancer through breath analysis. Nico de Rooij‘s micro-sensors detect volatile organic compounds which vary in presence and concentration depending on one’s health. The sensor includes a silicon disk covered by a polymer and suspended by four tiny “bridges” with integrated…
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Nanosensor cancer detection
Priscila Kosaka from the Microelectronic Institute of Madrid is in the early stages of developing a nanosensor to detect cancer from blood samples before symptoms appear. It is not expected to be on the market for another 10 years, but could one day eliminate the need for biopsies. Kosaka claims that the technology is 10 million…
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Sensor models improve physician breast exams
University of Wisconsin‘s Carla Pugh has developed a sensor based breast model to help train physicians to detect tumors. The device indicates when a physician is palpating (pressing) with enough force to detect a lump in the breast. The amount of pressure is displayed as colors on a breast map displayed on a monitor. Blue indicates low…
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Closed-loop glucose monitoring system
GlucoSitter by DreaMed Diabetes is an automated, closed loop, artificial pancreas system for controlling glucose levels. It links the glucose sensor with the insulin pump through control algorithms. Glucose sensor data is analyzed and the pump is directed to deliver the correct dose of insulin. GlucoSitter has been tested on 220 patients with 15,000 hours…
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Wearable detects asthma triggers
North Carolina State University‘s Veena Misra is developing a wearable that detects asthma triggers. The device monitors environmental factors, such as ozone, carbon monoxide and nitrogen dioxide levels, as well as vital signs including heart rate and hydration. Sensor data is transmitted wirelessly to a phone or physician’s office. The intention is to guide people away…