Category: Wearables
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Phone ECG detects irregular heartbeat
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…
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Google’s conductive fabric for everyday wear
Google’s Project Jacquard creates conductive fabrics that can be woven into every day clothes. The yarn is tough enough for industrial weaving, and can connect to chips that react to gestures, and monitor heart rate or body temperature. This seamless integration of sensors into clothing can make health monitoring ubiquitous. In a demo at the company’s I/O conference,…
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Optical frame integrated health tracker
VSP Global‘s Project Genesis integrates health tracking technology into optical frames. Steps, calories burned, activity time and distance traveled are calculated by sensors at the part of the frame that touches one’s temple. Building wearable technology into stylish glasses, worn every day to improve vision, increases the potential for mass adoption. The prototype is now…
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Wearable tracks breast cancer side effects, sleep, mood, activity
A pilot study exploring the use of wearables in breast cancer is underway. Polaris Health Directions and the MD Anderson Cancer Center are using the Apple Watch to track multiple factors, increase engagement, and provide immediate feedback and interventions. Side effects, sleep, activity levels and mood will be monitored, and combined with electronic health records…
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Sensor sweater guides senior rehabilitation
Vigour, by Pauline van Dongen, is a sensor sweater developed for geriatric rehabilitation. The knitted cardigan, with integrated stretch sensors, discreetly and continuously monitors upper body movement. Two sensors monitor lower back movement, and one under each arm monitors shoulder and arm movement. Data is transferred to the user, caregiver, or physician. It can be worn…
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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…
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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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Big Data, AI and personalized healthcare
With the goal of personalizing healthcare, improving outcomes and cutting costs, IBM’s Watson Health will aggregate massive amounts of disparate patient data. The company has struck deals with Apple, Johnson & Johnson and Medtronic to collect and use more information from devices. To address privacy concerns, IBM is offering ways to strip personal information from wearables and…
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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…
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Strong, elastic artificial “skin” mimics collagen structure
Jang Kyung-in, of the Rogers Research Group at the University of Illinois, has developed artificial skin, intended for health monitoring, that mimics the structure of collagen. The strong and elastic platform is well suited for silicone-based electronic sensing systems. It will attach to real skin like a band-aid. Users can apply and remove it multiple times without damage.…