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Watch Like Device for At-Risk Patients
DigitalDame writes "At-risk patients will soon have a little help from a device worn on the wrist that can measure vital signs including pulse rate, cardiac rhythm (ECG or EKG), and blood oxygen levels. It can either store the data and transmit it to a medical center at a later time or, in the case of an emergency, transmit the information in real time using the built-in cellular phone while sending an alarm to a caregiver."
This would be great for protecting VIPs. You could integrate GPS too, so the health and location of the VIP (e.g. president) are known at all times. Heck, you could even monitor stress levels when they're negotiating with a foreign leader or something. Seems like this could also be integrated into those parole ankle braclets people where, i.e. no vital signs, prisoner tampered with braclet (or maybe is dying).
Under the thumbnail picture there is an arrow pointing at the picture encouraging the reader to enlarge the photo. Maybe they ought to point an arrow back at the inventors and tell them to reduce the size of the device. It is enormous compared to any typical wearable wristwatch.
For many years there have been watches that will track heartbeat. Runners and bicyclists have, for a long time, used these to their training advantage by tracking their physical exertion with these light, unobtrusive wristwatches. Granted, it didn't send realtime data to a server which was monitored by doctors, but it had its uses.
I think that increasing the ability of doctors to have access to such vital information is a huge step forward if it means reducing the number of cumbersome machines surrounding the patient in the hospital. So, it would great to have patients fitted with these in the waiting room so that their metabolic status can be monitored over the course of several minutes rather than just the few seconds before the doctor sees them.
Reduce the size and improve the styling, and you could have everyone who was concerned about their health wearing these. I'd do it, if I was so concerned.
Jesus saved me from my past. He can save you as well.
...does it change colors like a mood ring?
Max
My god carries a hammer. Your god died nailed to a tree. Any questions?
I would assume there is not.
Noninvasive, accurate blood glucose measurement is one of the "holy grails" of biomedical engineering. The first company to come up with a technical solution and the associated patents will basically have a license to print money for the next 20 years.
My final project in Uni (2yrs ago) was basically a watch like this. It was supposed to measure heart rate, body fat, blood sugar etc and store it in the EEPROM. This data would then be available for dl via a wireless link like blueTooth. And then ur doctor or u could check your data. I built/programmed most of the framework to interact with the sensors and store the data, and my partner wrote an app in Java which you could use to dl your data and plot/examine ur progress.
:(
Too bad we didn't have any business skills to pursue the idea.
Sounds like the CORA (?) device from Fountains of Paradise.
...and he grinned, like a fox eating shit out of a wire brush.
"Maybe people that ill should be in a hospital, not walking around in the streets?"
I don't see myself wearing one of these things, but I could, by certain definitions, be considered "at risk."
But I am not ill, per se. I do not even vaguely belong in a hospital. Think about people with severe allergies. Bee stings, peanuts, whatever. Perfectly healthy, but at high risk of going into anaphylactic shock. There are any number of other conditions which carry extreme risks, but which don't really count as illness and for which hospitalization would be a silly waste, both for them and for the hospital.
They're risk conditions. A walking emergency if you like. A chronic condition, but with no acute symptoms requiring actual direct intervention.
I do, on occasion, wear a data recording heart monitor wrist watch that works by radio telemetry, although it does not transmit to a remote location. I guess someone could aim a receiver at me to pick up the signals, but. . .
I'm absolutely clueless as to what use this data would be to the police, and I'm one of "privacy freaks" around here.
In any case, as this is medical data it is already privileged by law.
KFG
It would also be a great device for terrorists as I commented on my blog earlier with a much less sophisticated device. With this a terror cell could destroy themselves and their homes or other locations at the same time, reducing the chance that the police would have time to shut down the cell networks.
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