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/

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/

All the telehealth you need, 'in' your phone

from Telecare Aware:

If the Lifewatch V does what it claims to do, hubs and connected devices may be on their way to obsolescence. Using sensors on and apps in an Android-based smartphone, it measures ECG (one lead), body temperature, blood glucose, heart rate, oxygen saturation, body fat percentage and stress levels (heart rate variability), delivering the test results to a cloud-based server accessible for analysis and sending to the monitoring physician or clinician. For blood glucose, your strips are actually inserted into the phone. There's also a med reminder, a pedometer application, diet plans and logs for exercise and weight.

Full text at

http://www.telecareaware.com/index.php/all-the-telehealth-you-need-inq-your-phone.html

Health at a fingertip

from ISTOÉ:

The use of applications in medicine, physical training, nutrition and wellness makes cell phones and tablets the newest features to enhance the body and mind care.

Full text at (in Portuguese):
http://www.istoe.com.br/reportagens/197736_A+SAUDE+A+UM+TOQUE+DOS+DEDOS

Mobile Industry Views Health Care as Growth Opportunity

from iHealthBeat:

Most executives in the mobile technology industry say health care represents the biggest growth opportunity for 4G services, according to a new survey from Deloitte, MobiHealthNews reports.

For the survey, Deloitte interviewed about 250 senior executives who worked for mobile device manufacturers, mobile network operators, software application developers and other mobile technology firms. Researchers finished analyzing the data in August 2011.

Full text at
http://www.ihealthbeat.org/articles/2012/3/22/mobile-industry-views-health-care-as-growth-opportunity.aspx#ixzz1pwN3EtsK

11% of U.S. Adult Cellphone Users Had Health Apps in 2011

iHealthBeat:

About 11% of adult mobile phone users in the U.S. have downloaded an application that helps them track or manage their health, according to a new survey by the Pew Research Center's Internet & American Life Project, MobiHealthNews reports (Dolan, MobiHealthNews, 11/3).

For the survey, researchers polled 2,260 adults between July 25 and Aug. 26 on whether they downloaded apps to a cellphone or tablet computer (Kanaley, Philadelphia Inquirer, 11/3).

Full text at:
http://www.ihealthbeat.org/articles/2011/11/3/survey-11-of-adult-cellphone-users-had-health-apps-in-2011.aspx#ixzz1dDAZIiF4

A smart-phone app for heart-failure patients

MIT (Technology Review):
A smart-phone app under development for heart-failure patients allows them to keep track of the pressure inside their heart as measured by an implanted sensor. That data could help patients adjust their medication to maintain a healthy pressure, much as diabetics do with insulin and blood sugar readings.

Called Pam+ (for "patient advisory module"), the app is being developed by researchers at the University of Southern California in collaboration with medical device maker St. Jude Medical. The researchers hope it will help patients better manage their health and reduce hospitalizations, which are responsible for much of the $40 million in health-care costs linked to heart failure.

In congestive heart failure, pressure builds up in the circulatory system and the heart fails to pump blood adequately to the rest of the body. Fluid pressure changes by the day, and monitoring those fluctuations continuously is essential to treating heart failure effectively. A number of implanted devices are now under development to monitor this pressure, giving patients and doctors real time data.

Full text at:

http://www.readability.com/read?url=http://www.technologyreview.com/biomedicine/38673/?nlid=nldly&nld=2011-09-26

Wireless Health Care

IEEE Spectrum:

Imagine a world in which your medicine cabinet notices that you are due for a prescription refill and calls it in. A sensor implanted under your skin detects a fluid buildup in your lungs and alerts your doctor, who decides your heart medication needs an adjustment and contacts the pharmacist to change your dosage. Meanwhile, sensors in your toilet confirm that your body has adjusted well to your other medications but sees indications that you may be a borderline diabetic. Your doctor, given these readings and your family medical history, suggests that you change your diet. Noting that fact, your bathroom scale asks you to punch in a weight-loss goal and starts giving you a regular progress update. Your medical checkup isn't an annual event—it happens every day, simply as you go about your daily life.

If such ambient monitoring and intervention strikes you as a little creepy, think of it this way: It could avert a heart attack, stroke, or other medical crisis. It could keep you out of the hospital and save money for both you and the health care system. Part of the savings would come from radical changes in the management of chronic diseases, which in the United States eats up 75 percent of health care spending, or about US $1.9 trillion each year.

Full text at:

http://spectrum.ieee.org/biomedical/devices/wireless-health-care

Smartphone detects danger in a heartbeat

CNN:
A new medical invention which harnesses the power of smartphone technology could revolutionize the treatment of heart patients, according to researchers in Switzerland.

The autonomous tool -- developed jointly by the Embedded Systems and Telecommunications Circuits labs at Ecole Polytechnique Federale de Lausanne (EPFL) -- not only automatically identifies anomalies in heart-rate, but also alerts doctors in seconds helping them treat patients more quickly.

The small, lightweight monitor consists of four non-invasive electrode sensors attached to the skin which are linked to a radio module and computer chip which clips onto a patient's belt.

Data is fed to the user's smartphone where it can be viewed in real time for anything up to 150 hours on a single charge.

Full text at:

http://edition.cnn.com/2011/10/24/tech/mobile/heart-monitor-smartphone-app/

Researchers Turn a Smart Phone Into a Medical Monitor

ScienceDaily:

An iPhone app that measures the user's heart rate is not only a popular feature with consumers, but it sparked an idea for a Worcester Polytechnic Institute (WPI) researcher who is now turning smart phones, and eventually tablet devices, into sophisticated medical monitors able to capture and transmit vital physiological data.

A team led by Ki Chon, professor and head of biomedical engineering at WPI, has developed a smart phone application that can measure not only heart rate, but also heart rhythm, respiration rate and blood oxygen saturation using the phone's built-in video camera. The new app yields vital signs as accurate as standard medical monitors now in clinical use. Details of the new technology are published online, in advance of print, by the journal IEEE Transactions on Biomedical Engineering.

Full text at:

http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2011/10/111006113622.htm

AT&T's play into health IT builds momentum

FierceMobileHealthcare: 
AT&T took another big leap ahead of its competitors in the mHealth market this past week, helping to launch a group to assist in developing accountable care organizations and hiring its first-ever chief medical information officer. Oh, and it soon may be selling mobile medical devices in its retail stores.


Fulltext at:
http://www.fiercemobilehealthcare.com/story/atts-health-it-play-continues-build-momentum/2011-09-18?utm_medium=nl&utm_source=internal

Reminder calls boost patient monitoring via smartphones

FierceMobileHealthcare: Remote patient monitoring alone may not be an effective way to increase patient compliance, with tasks like checking blood pressure or blood glucose, according to a study out of the University Health Network in Toronto.

It turns out patients are far more likely to use the devices if they receive automatic phone calls or texts reminding them to perform the checks, or alerting them to negative trends in their results, says Dr. Joe Cafazzo, lead researcher on a one-year clinical trial of BP monitors for patients with diabetic hypertension.

http://www.fiercemobilehealthcare.com/story/reminder-calls-boost-success-smartphone-enabled-patient-monitoring/2011-09-12?utm_medium=nl&utm_source=internal

Mi-Look: Cell Phone For The Elderly, Pedometer And Mobile Alarm System In One

Techcrunch:

Kyocera did what a clever cell phone manufacturer whose home market has the oldest society in the world (over 20% of the Japanese people are 65 or older) has to do: it manufactured a cell phone specifically designed for the elderly. While the basic concept isn’t new, the way the so-called Mi-Look[JP] works certainly is.

The Mi-Look is essentially three devices rolled into one. First, it’s a basic cell phone with a simple 2-inch QVGA display, three large buttons (and hardly any other bells and whistles).

http://techcrunch.com/2011/07/22/mi-look-phone-pedometer-alarm/

Beyond Smart Phones: Sensor Network to Make 'Smart Cities' Envisioned

ScienceDaily: Thanks to numerous sensors, smartphones make it easy for their owners to organize certain parts of their lives. However, that is just the beginning. Darmstadt researchers envision entire "smart" cities, where all devices present within municipal areas are intelligently linked to one another.

More: http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2011/05/110516080130.htm

Korea launches M-Health project

futuregov: A private and public collaboration in Korea has spurred a mobile initiative that will use 3G-enabled applications and services enabling patients and health workers to better manage diabetes.

http://www.futuregov.asia/articles/2011/aug/25/korea-launches-m-health-project/

Mobile Devices and Healthcare

White Paper: Mobile Devices and Healthcare: What's New, What Fits, and How do You Decide?

http://www.gil-global.com/JE/FS_WP_Mobile_Devices_HC.pdf