Boys win Lego award for robot reminding people to take medicines

from thejournal.ie:

A TEAM OF SCHOOLBOYS from Dublin have won a European award for building a robot and app to remind people to take vital medicines at regular intervals throughout the day.

The boys from Jobstown in Tallaght took a top award at the First Lego League robotics tournament in Paderborn in Germany, beating 52 teams from 34 countries to win an award specifically recognising their team spirit.

The team of seven boys – aged between 11 and 16 – designed and built a Lego robot, which worked with a smartphone app which alerted elderly people that it was the appropriate time to take their daily medication.

Full text at:

http://www.thejournal.ie/jobstown-teenagers-robot-medicines-913526-May2013/

Physician review of the iPhone AliveCor ECG heart monitor, the clinical reality of the device

from iMedicallApps:

By: Satish Misra MD and Iltifat Husain MD

Satish Misra MD is a 3rd year Resident Physician at Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine who will be starting a cardiology fellowship at Johns Hopkins in July of this year. He is the Managing Editor of iMedicalApps. Iltifat Husain MD is the founder and editor-in-chief of iMedicalApps and a second year Emergency Medicine Resident Physician at Wake Forest University School of Medicine.

In our video review, we take a close look at the AliveCor heart monitor’s features and real life functionality. In the text portion of this review, we explain what the device can and cannot do — and attempt to bring clarity to this mobile heart monitor’s capabilities. For example, we touch on how the device does not replace a 12 lead ECG and will miss heart attacks — an impression the general media appears to think is not the case and something the device makers never touted the device can do in the first place. Overall, we walked away impressed with the elegance and simplicity of the device.

Full text at:

http://www.imedicalapps.com/2013/03/physician-review-iphone-alivecor-ecg-heart-monitor/

Dynamic New Software Improves Care of Aging Brain

from ScienceDaily:

Innovative medical records software developed by geriatricians and informaticians from the Regenstrief Institute and the Indiana University Center for Aging Research will provide more personalized health care for older adult patients, a population at significant risk for mental health decline and disorders.

A new study published in eGEMs, a peer-reviewed online publication recently launched by the Electronic Data Methods Forum, unveils the enhanced Electronic Medical Record Aging Brain Care Software, an automated decision-support system that enables care coordinators to track the health of the aging brain and help meet the complex biopsychosocial needs of patients and their informal caregivers.

The eMR-ABC captures and monitors the cognitive, functional, behavioral and psychological symptoms of older adults suffering from dementia or depression. It also collects information on the burden placed on patients' family caregivers.

Full text at:
http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2013/03/130314141134.htm

Wearable Mobile System lets doctors wirelessly monitor patients

from gizmag

This wearable sensor pack uses Wi-Fi technology and is claimed to allow doctors using a tablet or smartphone to remotely monitor patient vital signs with the accuracy of an intensive care unit. The included sensors allow doctors to constantly monitor blood oxygen levels, blood pressure, heart rate, electrocardiogram readings and skin temperature with the accuracy of an intensive care unit, while allowing patients to stay in ordinary hospital rooms or move about.

The idea is to provide doctors with immediate, direct access to a patient’s vital signs whether at an ambulance scene or while the patient is walking about in hospital. This continuous monitoring removes some human error and gives fewer reasons to disturb patients. It also helps in the early detection of patient deterioration, which the current practice of taking vital sign readings every few hours often misses. Furthermore, the technology frees up expensive intensive care unit spaces and allows patients the enjoyment of more mobility.

Future expansion is planned, including monitoring patients after they’ve been discharged, the inclusion of a cuffless non-invasive blood pressure (cNIBP) sensor and the monitoring of patient posture or activity as a “new vital sign.”

Full text available at:

http://www.gizmag.com/visi-mobile-wireless-health-monitoring/25583/