For deaf people wanting to have a conversation with non-deaf people remotely, there aren’t too many options. In the Netherlands, Royal Dutch phone company KPN has launched its Tele Interpreter service, which translates sign language to speech (or text) and vice versa, in real time. The service uses a combination of technology and real-life translators. Read more: Springwise
Tech to help blind people navigate… and perform yoga
A pair of “smart glasses” being developed by researchers at Oxford University could help blind people in unfamiliar surroundings. The majority of people registered as blind have some residual ability to perceive light and motion. With this in mind, the team are developing glasses with mini cameras on either side which detect objects. Enhanced images are then displayed on the lenses. In addition, the cameras can detect how far an object is from the wearer by comparing the distance between the cameras. (more…)
New digital pathology technology enables remote tissue analysis
Belfast-based PathXL’s TissueMark technology launched this week has the potential to transform pathology services worldwide. The technology allows tissue analysis to be carried out remotely, enabling pathologists and pathology skills to be accessed from anywhere in the world.
TissueMark analyses detailed structural patterns in tissue samples and marks the boundaries of potentially cancerous sections for detailed analysis (a process which is otherwise carried out by pathologists hand-marking of slides). A pathologist can mark around one hundred samples per day, while it takes around ten minutes for TissueMark to do so (and in greater detail). TissueMark could therefore accelerate cancer research and discovery, including the advancement of personalized medicine. Thanks to our Editor-In-Chief Donna Cusano for the heads up on this one!
Read more: PathXL Press Release
Turn up, tune in but don’t drop out with health monitoring earphones
As part of a recent research project, Microsoft has incorporated health and fitness monitoring into a pair of earphones.
One application being developed for the hardware platform named Septimu, is a smartphone app called Musical Heart. The app enables Septimu to generate tunes based on a person’s mood or activity. So for example, fitness enthusiasts who want to keep the heart rate high can use Musical Heart to automatically up the tempo, helping them keep up the pace. Or for those feeling stressed or angry, Musical Heart could select something more soothing to help bring the heart rate and breathing down to a more relaxed level. Reported in PSFK.
A timely study published online last week in Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, demonstrated that ‘musical agency’ (i.e. music chosen by the study participants) greatly decreased perceived exertion during strenuous activity. (more…)
Don’t worry, there’s a wristband for that…
Not one for my Christmas list, but check out this TechCrunch review if you want to find out more about the Tikker wristwatch (which is currently doing well on Kickstarter). Tikker will calculate when you’re likely to bite the dust, based on factors like age, activity level, BMI and location.
If you’re hesitating as to how you might feel about wearing such a thing, just place a mood wristband on your other arm. (more…)
Dogs and monkeys to monitor your health!
In the on-going quest to support people to live independently without the use of cameras, scientists at Newcastle University have developed a sensor to monitor a dog’s movements (no, not those sort of movements!). The premise is that changes in behaviour patterns of pet dogs, such as the amount of food they eat, or the length and regularity of their walks, could quickly signal variations in the well-being of their owners. (more…)
‘Futuristic’ chair monitors vital signs
If you’re more excited than this editor, to read of Japanese multinational Sharp’s ‘futuristic’ chair (you can sit on it while your vital signs are measured and sent to a doctor!), then check out this link via Ubergizmo. I think I preferred it pre-makeover, when it was a luxury/techy chair with Bose headphones (though minus the $21,500 price tag). But on the bright side, we now get to wonder at its new clothes!
Relax, it’s (not) just a breathing monitor headset
A headset which monitors the quality of your breathing is being developed by BreathResearch, a San Francisco Bay area start-up.
Combined with a mobile app, the ‘Breath Acoustics’ headset listens to your breathing and analyzes the patterns. Sensor-based breath monitoring may be a less commonly monitored biometric pattern but recent studies suggest it could be used to detect stress levels, bacterial infections and other conditions. The headset also presents other biometric data, including heart rate, pulse oximetry, and respiration. (more…)
Northern Ireland’s Connected Health Innovation Centre launch
Northern Ireland’s first ‘Connected Health Innovation Centre’ (CHIC) has been launched this week. It is supported by a £5 million R&D grant from Invest NI and you can read more about it on TANN Ireland.
Teenager Tackles Autism With Help From Google Glass
First human to human brain control – yikes!
University of Washington researchers have performed what they believe is the first non-invasive human-to-human brain interface, with one researcher having used a brain signal to control the hand of a fellow researcher.
Rajesh Rao sent a brain signal to his colleague Andrea Stocco (who was on the other side of the university campus), causing Stocco’s finger to move on a keyboard – involuntarily! It’s pretty cool stuff and you can watch a video of it here.
“It was both exciting and eerie to watch an imagined action from my brain get translated into actual action by another brain,” Rao said. So how was it for Stocco? Maybe slightly less thrilling – he compared the feeling of his hand moving involuntarily to that of “a nervous tic”! (more…)
Humanising healthcare…or doctor making a ‘glasshole’ of you?
A cardiothoracic surgeon at the University of California, San Francisco recently performed surgery wearing Google’s wearable computer, Google Glass.
Dr. Pierre Theodore described his experience at the recent Rock Health Innovation Summit. During the surgery he used the glasses to compare the patient’s CAT scan images with what was in front of him. “There was a cognitive integration between what I saw in front of me and the radiographs. It was extraordinarily helpful,” he explained, likening it to driving a car and glancing in the rear-view mirror (as opposed to having to turn around to see what’s behind).
Also speaking at the event was Ian Shakil, Co-founder and CEO of Augmedix, a start-up company which is building applications for healthcare on Google Glass. According to Mr Shakil, one aim of the technology is to re-humanize healthcare so that physicians can focus on the doctor-patient encounter and cut down on the non-patient facing tasks, like taking notes and looking up medical records.
While it’s arguable whether or not companies such as Augmedix will succeed in further humanising healthcare (picture your doctor, one eye staring at you as you explain your latest woe, the other twitching around, viewing who knows what in a Google Glass eye-piece), various applications for Google Glass do seem to have real potential for being of benefit in certain healthcare settings.
Indeed, for better or worse, there’s little doubt that Google Glass (or a similar device) will be used in many professions in the not too distant future. And according to research carried out by Augmedix, most of us are fine with that. The company asked 200 patients before a visit if they minded seeing a doctor wearing Google’s head-worn gadget, and only 3 demurred!
However, as highlighted previously by the discerning gaze of TTA’s Gimlet Eye, we might be best served not to disregard the potential for misuse and abuse with wearable ‘cybernetic headbands’ such as Google Glass, not least in a clinical setting!
Read more: Fast Company / MIT Technology Review
Related TTA articles: Google Glass ‘hacked’ for hospital facial recognition / Google Glass through a doctor’s eyes / Google Glass: a proper potential in healthcare
Is your body temperature looking hot? Soon you’ll be able to find out!
[grow_thumb image=”https://telecareaware.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/08/sony_vital_signs.jpg” thumb_width=”150″ /]In a Pointer to the Future, Sony has filed a US patent application describing a way to associate vital signs such as blood pressure, pulse rate or body temperature with your photographs.
The idea is to record your vital signs as you take a photo or make a recording on a smartphone (or other portable gadget such as a PDA or tablet). Readings would be gathered from strategically placed sensors within the casing of the device and could be recorded continuously or at intervals.
The sensor information would then be assigned to a tag (such as “general fitness tag”) and stored alongside the image, with the tag and/or sensor readings used to organize and sort the images.
Other types of sensors such as a GPS locator, ambient temperature sensor, or light detector, could also be integrated. In this way the tag could be a result of internal biological data combined with external factors such as current position.
As regards healthcare applications, the technology could serve as a non-threatening way for healthcare professionals and clinicians to obtain vital signs readings from patients, either in person or remotely. It could be a useful addition to face-to-face or online psychotherapy consultations, and for assessing the urgency of emergency ambulance calls.
As this filing is currently at the application stage, no patent has (yet!) been granted to Sony. The idea does however open up some interesting possibilities, not only in healthcare and for Quantified Selfers, but also in areas such as security and gaming. Also reported in Engadget.
Online psychotherapy as good as conventional therapy. Maybe even better!
In a randomised controlled non-inferiority trial, researchers from the University of Zurich have provided evidence of the effectiveness of internet-based psychotherapy, as compared with face-to-face consultations. Based on earlier studies, the Zurich team assumed that the two forms of therapy were on a par. Not only was their theory confirmed in this most recent clinical trial of 62 patients diagnosed with moderate depression, but the results for online therapy actually exceeded expectations. For both patient groups, the degree of satisfaction with the treatment and therapists was more or less equally high. However, in the medium term, online psychotherapy yielded even better results. University of Zurich News Release.
Biosensor tattoo helps avoid extreme fatigue in athletes
[grow_thumb image=”https://telecareaware.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/07/biosensor-tattoo.jpg” thumb_width=”150″ /]A new biosensor, worn on the skin like a temporary tattoo, provides an early warning to athletes that energy stores in their muscles are running low. The device works by measuring lactate levels in sweat, which allows athletes to evaluate their workouts and adjust the level of intensity.
Reported in the current issue of Analytical Chemistry (subscription required), tests on 10 human volunteers have shown that the sensor can continuously measure real-time lactate levels in sweat during exercise. This method of monitoring has clear benefits, as lactate is usually measured using blood samples which are not only invasive but also require frequent breaks in a workout session to collect.
Research on the biosensor tattoo began in the Laboratory for Nanobioelectronics at the University of California, San Diego (UCSD) – see previous TTA item ‘A tattoo sensor to delight or scare kiddies’ covered by TTA’s Editor In Chief, Donna Cusano. Since then the venture has expanded into a commercial company, Electrozyme, which hopes to begin offering the technology to consumers by 2015.
As UCSD nanoengineer Joseph Wang explained in this LA Times article, scientists could also adapt the sensor technology to measure other physiological indicators, such as glucose levels for diabetes and cortisol levels for stress. Or as Donna Cusano noted in her previous TTA item, “…there’s great potential for this not only in sports, but also in assisted living and rehabs where one of the most serious conditions is gradual, invisible dehydration of residents.”
This development has got quite a bit of coverage and you can read more at Mashable, The Engineer, MobiHealthNews, New Scientist and the Los Angeles Times.
No more lying through your teeth?
A sensor embedded in your tooth could tell doctors if you have defied medical advice to give up smoking or to eat less!
Built into a tiny circuit board, the sensor includes an accelerometer that transmits data to a smartphone. So from each tell-tale jaw motion pattern, the software can work out how much chewing, teeth grinding, smoking, coughing, talking or (…okay I’ll stop there!) that you are doing.
The device can be fitted into dentures or a dental brace, and the team at the National Taiwan University in Taipei plan to miniaturise it further to fit into a cavity or crown. Results so far look promising, with the system having recognised ‘oral activities’ correctly 94 per cent of the time in tests to date. New Scientist and IEEE Spectrum have both covered the story.
It kind of takes ‘wearables’ into a whole new sphere! Don’t you think?
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