Category: Sensors
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50 Cent/Intel headphones combine music and health
Following Dr. Dre‘s enormously successful Beats by Dre, celebrities are entering the wearable/headphone market, combining audio with health/fitness monitoring features. Intel and rapper 50 Cent, through his SMS Audio venture, have announced a partnered to develop BioSport headphones. Their key feature is a series of biometric sensors integrated into a custom heart rate monitor. An…
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Wearable and app for Parkinson’s tracking
Intel and the Michael J. Fox Foundation have combined smartwatches with analytics software to gauge the impact of Parkinson’s medications. (Intel press release here.) 25 clinical trial participants wore (originally crowdfunded) Pebble watches to track tremors, gait, sleep patterns and other indicators for four days. 300 data points per second per patient were relayed to the…
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Wearable sensor detects chemical disease markers
University of Michigan professors Sherman Fan and Zhaohui Zhong‘s newly developed graphene-based wearable sensor detects airborne chemicals that serve as disease indicators. This could be the first wearable that monitors a broad array of chemical, rather than physical attributes. The sensor could detect acetone, a biomarker for diabetes, or abnormal levels of nitric oxide and oxygen, indicators of…
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Biosensor monitor for post-surgery GI disorder
AbStats is a plastic, disposable, non-invasive acoustic gastrointestinal surveillance biosensor that attaches to the abdomen after surgery. It was developed by UCLA professor Brennan Spiegel and described in a paper published in the Journal of Gastrointestinal Surgery this week. The device can help doctors determine which post-operative patients should be fed, and which should not, by monitoring for post-operative ileus,…
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Sensor seatbelt detects fatigue
HARKEN is a sensor embedded driver’s seatbelt and seat cover that monitors cardiac and respiratory rhythms. Its hidden signal processing unit analyzes the data in real time. The prototype is being developed at Spain’s Biomechanics Institute in Valencia. When the sensor data indicates the person is falling asleep, an alarm will wake the driver. Closed track testing…
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Robotic fingers enhance grip
MIT researchers, led by Professor H. Harry Asada, have developed a robot that enhances the grasping motion of the human hand. Worn around one’s wrist, the device works like two extra fingers adjacent to the pinky and thumb. It consists of actuators linked together to exert forces as strong as those of human fingers during…
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Apple granted “iTime” patent
Apple‘s U.S. Patent No. 8,787,006 for a “Wrist-worn electronic device and methods therefor” describes a wearable touchscreen device that can be docked into a wrist strap, turning it into a smartwatch. One illustration names it “iTime”. The device connects to an iPhone, iPad or computer to access information and receive alerts. Its strap could contain haptic mechanisms, various…
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Sensor / 3D printing / bandage combination for continuous monitoring
Bioscope bandages, developed at the National Taiwan University, wirelessly transmit temperature, heart rate, movement and vital sign data to doctors to monitor or remotely diagnose. The bandage comes with an integrated thermometer, accelerometer, and sensors to measure electrical activity. A microphone can track organ sound patterns to detect disease. The area holding the modules is…
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Google/Novartis “smart lens” monitors diabetic eyes, helps presbyopia
Google announced its “smart lens” prototype 6 months ago. (See ApplySci, January 14 2014). Today they have partnered with Novartis to accelerate its development as a tool to manage eye conditions. Non-invasive sensors and microchips embedded in the lens monitor fluid to provide continuous, minimally invasive glucose measurement. The data is sent wirelessly to a…
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Google Fit platform aggregates health data
Using a single set of APIs, Google Fit collects and aggregates data from fitness apps and sensors to manage a user’s fitness stream. The platform will work with wearables and other peripherals. To protect privacy, permission is required and data can be deleted. Initally, Adidas, Nike , Intel, LG and Motorola will participate. Nike will add…
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Sensor enabled prosthetic grip improvements
Touch Bionics has introduced “Grip Chips,” bluetooth enabled devices that can be attached to objects to trigger a pre-programmed grip configuration when detected by motion sensors. They are useful for triggering specific grip patterns that are used regularly, but perhaps not enough to warrant programming to the prosthetic itself for triggering via muscle movement. For example,…
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Eye sensor tracks intraocular pressure changes
University of Washington researchers have designed a sensor that could be placed permanently in one’s eye to track pressure changes. It would be embedded with an artificial lens during cataract surgery. The sensor would detect pressure changes instantaneously and then wirelessly transmit the data using radio frequency waves. Eye pressure is thought to vary throughout…