Brigham and Women’s Hospital to pilot post-discharge app with heart patients

from mobihealthnews:

Brigham and Women’s Hospital in Boston will pilot iGetBetter’s apps to reduce hospital readmissions through remote patient monitoring and post-discharge patient engagement. The pilot will target patients that have heart disease, specifically those with hypertrophic cardiomyopathy (HCM).

“There is a great need for innovative approaches to relieve symptoms for patients with hypertrophic cardiomyopathy,” Dr. Neal Lakdawala, a BWH physician and the clinical lead on the pilot, said in a statement. “Disease manifestations can vary significantly on a day to day, and even minute to minute basis, but contemporary practice has not adapted to this aspect of disease. We are excited about the potential for this pilot, in which we will accelerate the pace of relief for patients using technology that allows them to report symptoms, vital signs, and step counts daily. This information will allow us to titrate their medications weekly and individualize treatment.”

Full text at:
http://mobihealthnews.com/42154/brigham-and-womens-hospital-to-pilot-post-discharge-app-with-heart-patients/

The Best Wearables Will Be The Ones You Throw Away

from FastCompany:

HOW DO YOU MEASURE THE SUCCESS OF WEARABLES? WHEN YOU DON’T NEED THEM AT ALL.

The market for wearable electronics seems to be exploding: forecasters estimate that we will see growth at a compound annual rate of 35% over the next five years with 148 million units shipped by 2019. The data appears impressive until you consider that only two years ago forecasters were predicting shipments of twice that amount—over 300 million by 2018. Why are the numbers declining?

Full text at:
http://www.fastcodesign.com/3044716/the-best-wearables-will-be-the-ones-you-throw-away

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/

Medical home diagnostic tools

from gizmag:

Using online medical resources to diagnose our various aches and pains is just as likely to send someone rushing to the doctor in the belief they have some incurable, life-threatening disease as it is to put any fears to rest. Medical startup Scanadu, which is based at the NASA-Ames Research Center, is set to provide a set of home diagnostic tools that are designed to let users monitor their health over time and provide a better indication of whether a trip to the doc is actually necessary.

While Scanadu continues working on a tricorder-like device capable of capturing key health metrics and diagnosing a set of 15 diseases in an attempt to claim the US10 million Qualcomm Tricorder X Prize, it has just revealed its first three consumer health products that are designed to put a doctor in your pocket.

Full text at:

http://www.gizmag.com/scanadu-scout-scanaflu-scanflo/25240/?utm_source=Gizmag+Subscribers&utm_campaign=8727133184-UA-2235360-4&utm_medium=email

Oregon State University engineers develop tiny, inexpensive chip to monitor vital signs

from Oregon Live:

Call them toys or call them training tools, electronic fitness monitors can offer intriguing insight into everything from the rate at which your heart beats to the number of steps you take or calories you expend over the course of the day. 

Typically they're not cheap, though. Take, for instance, Nike's $150 FuelBand, or Fitbit brand monitors costing $55 to $99 that can track your activity or sleep.

Now, electrical engineering students and faculty at Oregon State University hope to give such gizmos a run for their money. They've developed, are patenting and planning to take to market technology that can monitor vital signs with sensors so miniscule and inexpensive they could fit on a small adhesive bandage, cost less than 25 cents and be disposable.

In collaboration with private industry, they expect to move the sensor-packed microchip, the size and thickness of a postage stamp, into the consumer marketplace, perhaps by mid 2013.

Plus, they'll pursue U.S. Food and Drug Administration approval so the system could one day be used in everyday medical care.

Full text at:

http://www.oregonlive.com/health/index.ssf/2012/11/oregon_state_university_engine.html

Implants that don't need an external charge could make it easy to aid hearing.

from arstechnica.com

key words: cochlea chip,  self-sufficient, self-powering implants

Inner ear implant uses biological battery to self-charge. A team of surgeons, neuroscientists, and electrical engineers has developed a cochlea chip that extracts electrical signals from the inner ear to power itself. The chip is the latest in a series of inventions aimed at creating entirely self-sufficient, self-powering implants that will remove the need for external power and enable permanent surgical implantation in some cases. This year alone, Stanford University announced the creation of its radio wave-powered heart implant and infrared light-powered retinal implants.

Cochlear implants have been around for decades, with the first electrical stimulation of auditory nerves taking place in the 50s. Though the implant has been a great success, with hundreds of thousands of people with severe hearing difficulties receiving the implant each year, they still run on batteries so are fairly cumbersome. MIT hopes to change all that by taking advantage of a natural battery that lies dormant within the ear.

"In the past, people have thought that the space where the high potential [in the ear] is located is inaccessible for implantable devices, because potentially it's very dangerous if you encroach on it," said Konstantina Stankovic, an otologic surgeon at the Massachusetts Eye and Ear Infirmary. "We have known for 60 years that this battery exists and that it's really important for normal hearing, but nobody has attempted to use this battery to power useful electronics."

Full text at: 

http://arstechnica.com/science/2012/11/inner-ear-implant-uses-biological-battery-to-self-charge/

Lionsgate Technology turns Smartphones into medical monitors

from ep&t:

Accessible, real-time measurement of body through mobile devices

Vancouver-based Lionsgate Technologies Inc., leading provider of mobile health (mHealth) technology, will launch a universal interface that transforms Smartphones, tablets and laptops into mobile medical diagnostic tools capable of real-time vital signs monitoring.

Using standard medical sensors connected directly through the universal audio port of virtually any mobile device, the proprietary interface, called the Vital Signs DSP (Digital Signal Processor), provides precise monitoring of blood oxygen levels, blood pressure and body temperature which are displayed on the mobile device's monitor.

The availability of an accurate, affordable mobile medical diagnostic tool has sweeping applications in the medical/clinical and consumer markets as well as in the developing world where 64% of mobile phone users are found.

Full text at:

http://www.ept.ca/news/lionsgate-technology-turns-smartphones-into-medical-monitors/1001779401/

mHealth Challenges

from Telecare Aware:

Rather surprising in their synchronicity were two new reports--the first from research company Frost & Sullivan, the second an academic study published in the Journal of Medical Internet Research (JMIR)--detailing problems and concerns with mobile health from the perspective of those who are considering or currently working with it.

Frost & Sullivan's Advances in mHealth Technologies surveyed approximately 60 healthcare executives, academics and developers currently implementing mobile health systems in the US, Canada, Europe and Asia/Pacific. Their top concerns were security of patient information, integrating the technology into providers' monitoring systems, and a lack of best practices. F&S projects that "developers will gain a superior understanding of the nature of security breach concerns and take necessary precautions" as mHealth is adopted by providers over the next 3-4 years. The F&S release provides an overview and of course encourages readers to purchase their study; Information Week's article has more details.

The JMIR study interviewed 27 US 'key informants' primarily from Federal agencies and integrated health systems. Concerns expressed here centered on the policy and regulatory environment (privacy, data security and regulation as medical devices); the wireless network environment (mobile cost and proprietary platforms); the health system environment (funding, lack of demonstrably successful business models); mHealth in current practice (not meeting consumer engagement needs); and mHealth research (evidence early, weak and generally lacking in quality). The study also included, from some respondents, approaches for these issues.Issues in mHealth: Findings From Key Informant Interviews Also: FierceMobileHealthcare article.

Full text at:
http://www.telecareaware.com/index.php/mhealth-challenges-two-perspectives.html#axzz29kOIPeV1A

Safety product: Automist - Affordable domestic fire sprinkler alternative

from Telecare Aware:

Will the Automist device (video below) become a standard addition to telecare (plesiocare?) providers' product offerings? However they incorporate it into their business models (via referral commissions or as an accredited installer?), the device is an interesting proposition for them and for care homes too.

Full text at:
http://www.telecareaware.com/#ixzz28o7avklL

5 trends will reshape Health IT in 2013

from InformationWeek Healthcare:

Look for growth in mobile health, telemedicine, clinical analytics, and personal health records—and an EHR vendor shakeout.

Ultimately the goal of all healthcare--IT included--is to put itself out of business. That may sound a bit strange but medicine's primary objective is to cure disease, or prevent it from occurring in the first place. And as the profession gets better at these two tasks, the public should become increasingly self-sufficient and have less and less need for its services.

How far down this path will we be in 12 months? Probably not too far. But we are making progress on five fronts: Mobile Health, Personal health records, Telemedicine, EHR vendor shakeout and Clinical Analytics.

Full text at:
http://www.informationweek.com/healthcare/leadership/5-trends-will-reshape-health-it-in-2013/240006254#

Automatic Stove Turn-Off Devices

from thisCaringhome.org:

These electric stove turn-off products can increase cooking safety for those with dementia who still have good stove skills and judgment but are liable to forget occasionally. These devices come with a timer, a motion sensor, and an automatic stove shut-off. Gas stove shut off devices are in development; we currently know of only one manufacturer that offers this product but we have not reviewed it yet. Below you will find three reviews of devices for electric stoves. All three turn off the stove top and the oven, but each one works a little differently. Some features may be safer or more convenient for your needs and/or the person you care for. Here are 4 things to consider...

Full text at:
http://www.thiscaringhome.org/products/auto-stove-turn-off-devices.php

Chips will monitor your body

from info - trending blog:

Doctor and Ph.D. in Computer Science, the chief scientist of the division of research and development at IBM in Brazil, Fabio Gandour, says that the intensive use of chips in clothing, furniture and even the bathroom will generate enough information so that each person can monitor in detail the functioning of his health.

Full text at (in Portuguese):
http://info.abril.com.br/noticias/blogs/trending-blog/geral/os-chips-vao-monitorar-seu-corpo/

The Future of Home Care Technology

from Aging in Place Technology Watch:

Sponsored by LivHome, Microsoft and Philips, the report entitled "The Future of Home Care Technology" looks at current technology use and processes, suggesting changes required to better serve recipients of care in the home.

Executive Summary

Experts agree that the home care industries (non-medical home care, home health care, and geriatric care management) are at the early stages of maximizing benefits of technology. Information about the individual client is not yet passed effectively or electronically between the various locations a care recipient may visit. In a survey of home care managers responsible for a total of 34,509 workers, telephone and email dominate the communication toolkit. Little in-home use is made of telehealth and chronic disease monitoring tech, even less use of video communication with either the care recipient or the family. As non-institutional home care plays a growing role along the care continuum, a Home Care Information Network (HCIN) will form, enabling important information to follow the care recipient across building boundaries, boosting quality and informing and reassuring families.

Full text at:

http://www.ageinplacetech.com/files/aip/Future%20of%20Home%20Care%20Technology%20Final-07-31-2012.pdf

Kaiser Permanente shares their vision of the future of Healthcare at NASA mHealth Conference

from mHealth Insight:

Shown for the first time at the recent NASA mHealth event held at KP’s Center for Total Health in Washington DC, this video was designed to help set out what the world’s first major healthcare brand to take a Mobile First focus thinks the US healthcare experience might look like in the not-so-distant future:

Full text at:

http://mhealthinsight.com/

An innovative iPhone App for touch-free heart rate monitoring

from iMedicalApps:

Cardiio has launched their first, much anticipated, biosensor that uses an iPhone or iPad camera to provide touch free heart rate measurements and related health predictions.

The app, priced at $4.99, is beautiful, intuitive, and claims to accurately assess resting heart rate to within three beats per minute of standard medical pulse monitors.

Cardiio and its PhD Co-Founders Ming-Zher Poh and Yukkee Poh spun out of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) Media Lab, where the core technology was developed and published in multiple peer reviewed journals (see here, here, andhere). Cardiio is also a recent graduate of the digital health acceleator Rock Health.

While Cardiio’s technology is based on validated, cutting edge research–the application itself is deceptively simple and elegant to use. You literally place your face within a red circle on a stethoscope image, enjoy a few seconds of quotes celebrating science or childhood rhymes, and then receive your heart rate reading.

Full text at:

http://www.imedicalapps.com/2012/08/cardiio-iphone-touch-free-heart-rate-monitor/

Continua Alliance to help Denmark with telemedicine standards

from HealthcareITNews:

The homeland of Hans Christian Andersen, Tivoli Gardens and Hamlet is considered one of Europe's leaders in telemedicine. Now Denmark is relying upon the Continua Health Alliance to make sure that effort follows a uniform set of standards.

Officials at Continua, the Beaverton, Ore.-based non-profit organization focused on end-to-end, plug-and-play connectivity for personal health devices and services, say Denmark will be using Continua's design guidelines to develop an "Action Plan for Telemedicine." That plan will establish reference architectures and national standards for health IT "in areas including the secure collection, transmission and storage of personal health data from patients’ homes, sharing medical documents and images, and the management of health records, medical appointments and other related information."

Full text at:

http://www.healthcareitnews.com/news/continua-alliance-help-denmark-telemedicine-standards?topic=08,16,19,26

Experimental weigh scale also checks your heart

from gizmag:

People being monitored for heart conditions currently have to go into a hospital or clinic on a regular basis, to have an electrocardiogram performed on them. That may be about to change, however, as researchers from Spain’s Universitat Politècnica de Catalunya have developed a bathroom scale that performs the procedure right in the user’s home.

Full text at:

http://www.gizmag.com/weigh-scale-electrocardiogram/23519/