Wearables and Simple Telehealth – another step forward?

May 2, 2014 | by

In addition to Managing Editor Donna’s items on the opening of the Amazon Wearables Store, and the use of wearables by older ‘quantified selfers’,  Prof Mike Short has kindly drawn our attention to the most recent BBC Click programme which features wearables. Of particular interest to me was the first item on how Formula 1 technology involving measuring drivers’ heart activity is now being developed for the mass market, at rather lower cost. That will overcome a serious limitation of existing activity trackers that rely on accelerometers – for example my Jawbone UP faithfully measures every step I take whether walking or on a cross-trainer. However sessions on the rowing machine – or indeed a recent row in the London Head of the River race (for me definitely the most physically exhausting event so far this year), record no activity.

Another intriguing way of measuring heart activity is (more…)

Phobic? There’s an app for that.

May 2, 2014 | by
[grow_thumb image=”https://telecareaware.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/05/phobia10.jpg” thumb_width=”150″ /]Everyone has certain fears or things that have a high ‘eeewwww’ factor (see left). Phobious, a new app, uses virtual reality on a smartphone that after several sessions of gradual exposure, desensitizes the user to potentially disabling fears such as dentists, insects, flying and dogs. (Can it work in the backyard when you’re about to be attacked by bees and Godzilla-sized weeds?–The Gimlet Eye) It was developed by a group from Barcelona by way of Charm City a/k/a Baltimore, Maryland, participating in the prestigiously backed DreamIt Health Baltimore accelerator’s 2014 class. The app is currently available for $49 in the Apple App Store and Google Play, with a 3D goggle device VR system due in September at $149–$299 with two psychology sessions. According to MedCityNews, the founders are seeking $750,000 in funding, plan to develop a clinical quality version and obtain FDA clearance and CE Marking. The progress in VR therapy made in less than four years is startling when this Editor considers the price of the CAREN system (Motek and Polycom) which was tested on Iraq and Afghanistan veterans back in June 2010: $500,000. (Ed. note: if you have a phobia about typos, don’t look at the Phobious website!)

Concussion diagnostics a hot area

May 2, 2014 | by
[grow_thumb image=”https://telecareaware.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/05/Cerora-Simon.jpg” thumb_width=”150″ /]Diagnosing concussive and sub-concussive head blows both in sports and on the battlefield have been challenging, and your Editors have chronicled several approaches. One of the 2014 graduates of NYCEDC’s ELabNYC was Oculogica; their EyeBox CNS records three key eye movements in a 4 1/2 minute test to determine whether they fit a normal box pattern, with subsequent exams determining rate of brain recovery [TTA 17 Apr]. (We’ll be seeing more of Oculogica at NYC MedTech 13 May, along with MC10 which helped to develop the Checklight impact indicating skullcap with Reebok, seen at last November’s CES preview [TTA 15 Nov 13] and winning CES’ 2014 Design & Engineering award.) Now out of Bethlehem, Pennsylvania is Cerora’s MindReader, developed out of Lehigh University, Ben Franklin Technology Partners of NE Pennsylvania and in the first StartUp Health Academy/GE Entrepreneurship class. It is a wireless dry contact EEG reader which combined with other biosensor data and clinical observation aids speedy diagnosis. The reader is worn either on Google Glass or a headset (pictured above left on CEO Adam J. Simon, PhD). It’s in early days and still in testing; the baselines alone will need data from at minimum tens of thousands of subjects beyond the current testing on Lehigh U. athletes. Dr. Simon is also projecting use for sub-concussion injury, Alzheimer’s, PTSD and other neuropsychiatric disorders. Lehigh Valley Live, release on presentation at the American Academy of Neurology Annual meeting 30 April, WFMZ Ch. 69 News (video)

More UK older adults are now going online

May 1, 2014 | by | 1 Comment

Telehealth and telecare applications can often depend on the willingness of the users to use the [grow_thumb image=”https://telecareaware.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/05/Ofcom-logo.jpg” thumb_width=”150″ /]internet and that is not to be taken for granted with older users. On the other hand it is indeed the older people who can most benefit from these technologies. Recent research in the UK shows encouraging results in this respect.

Ofcom, the UK telecoms regulator, has a duty to promote media literacy and to carry out research to measure the usage of all forms media. The results of the most recent surveys commissioned by Ofcom were published on Tuesday. Adults’ Media Use and Attitudes Report 2014 is an encouraging report showing that the use of the internet by over-65s has increased by over a quarter over the past 12 months.

“The proportion of people aged over 65 that are accessing the web reached 42% in 2013, up nine percentage points from 33% in 2012. One reason found for this is an increase in the use of tablet computers by older people aged 65-74 to go online, up from 5% in 2012 to 17% in 2013. This has helped to drive overall internet use up from 79% of all adults in 2012 to 83% in 2013” say Ofcom.

“However, older people spend significantly less time surfing the web than younger people (16-24 year olds), who on average spend more than a whole day (24 hours 12 minutes) each week online. This compares to an average 9 hours 12 minutes online per week among adults over 65.”

Although these results are for the UK, they probably broadly represent the trends in most developed countries.

Babylon app for booking GP visits debuts (UK)

May 1, 2014 | by

Making news out of Tuesday’s Wired Health UK 2014 at the Royal College of General Practitioners (RCGP) in London is Babylon. From the app (iPhone, Android), appointments with a GP or specialist can be booked 12 hours a day, six days a week, with one of the almost 100 part time salaried and on call doctors in Babylon’s system or a BUPA (private healthcare/insurance system) physician. Also bookable through the app are diagnostic kits and blood tests;  X-rays or scans would be at a partner facility. Have a question or want to check your symptoms? The app directs your text and pictures to a doctor or nurse. Need a prescription? Delivered to your home or a nearby pharmacy. Record storage is on your phone. All for £7.99/month for basic service or £24 per consult–both low prices that seem to be introductory (a/k/a not profitable) or for light users. Babylon is registered with the Care Quality Commission, an independent healthcare regulator, and has designated body status from NHS London.

Founder Ali Parsa, a former Goldman Sachs banker who previously founded Circle, approvingly says that booking an appointment is as simple as ‘booking a Hailo cab’ (in NYC, Uber). This is a more complete model than a ZocDoc or Vitals (US appointment services) with testing and a symptom checker, but it does not seem to have a video consult (more…)

Amazon’s new wearables ‘store’ needs a location guide

April 30, 2014 | by

[grow_thumb image=”https://telecareaware.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/04/amazon.png” thumb_width=”150″ /]Amazon’s flashy ‘wearable technology store’ which debuted today (29 April) is touted by a company representative as “…an exciting category with rapid innovation and our customers are increasingly coming to Amazon to shop and learn about these devices.” It features all the trendiest fitness bands too: Misfit Shine, the new Jawbone Up24 sleep tracker, smartwatches, wearable cameras, healthcare devices and even an Editor’s Corner with Advice for the Wearable-Lorn. The store is well stocked for fitness/wellness devices and smartwatches, but the shelves are bare for healthcare devices: the 12 listed include sleep tracker Lark, Withings and BodyMedia along with the exceedingly pricey HeartMath and iHealth telehealth products. The unfortunate problem is for those without the direct link to find the store. A search will divert you to a list of products. It isn’t listed under Electronics, nor if you search ‘wearable technology’, not listed under Departments or the show results for category bar (both at left). It’ll be fixed, being Amazon, and it does point to the now high profile of wearables. Amazon release, Silicon Republic (which features Amazon as a tech employer) Hat tip to Contributing Editor Toni Bunting, who reminded this Editor today that none of this appears on Amazon.co.uk!

Ear implant crossed with gene therapy for auditory repair (AU)

April 29, 2014 | by

A hopeful Pointer to the Future for those with hearing loss–or, in fact, with nerve damage of other types–is the research out of the University of New South Wales (UNSW) on their developing a DNA-based genetic treatment, delivered by a cochlear implant, to restore hearing in deafened guinea pigs. The recombinant DNA enters the cochlear cells to produce neurotrophins, proteins that cause auditory nerve endings to regenerate, improving pitch perception and tonal range. Unfortunately the effect lasted only a few months, so that further work is required before the treatment even nears human trials. Study co-author Gary Housley also cited other implant-extending usages, such as deep brain stimulation used in Parkinson’s disease treatment and retinal implants. Published this month in Science Translational Medicine (abstract only, subscription required for full access.) The Verge, Engadget (short UNSW video included)

The ‘grey’ market is where it’s at for ‘quantified selfing’

April 29, 2014 | by | 1 Comment

Surprisingly in the tech-addicted (and young-skewing, based on subject matter) Gigaom is this short piece on how health tech companies are missing the boat by targeting the young, healthy fitness addict or plain addicted-to-the-data Quantified Self (QS) market, rather than those over 50 and their families. ‘Simple’ and unobtrusive are the keywords, especially for what the late and much missed MetLife Mature Market Institute termed the ‘old-old’–those over 80. Mentioned are home activity monitoring systems such as Lively, BeClose and GrandCare Systems supplanting the PERS pendant (Lifeline) and the additional alert capabilities offered by GreatCall/Jitterbug. (This Editor will also mention a new telecare system entering the European and Americas markets, Essence Care@Home, which premiered at Mobile World Congress 2014. More on this in the next few days.) What’s notable about the article is the emphasis on the market size (via expert Laurie Orlov): $2 billion now, ten times that in 2020. What’s incomplete about the article is no ‘look-ahead’ to how devices like smartwatches (and watch-like forms such as AFrame), sensor-based wearables which connect to smartphones–and sensor-equipped smartphones, tablets and even Glass-type devices with simple apps which can help with self-or group-monitoring, prompts for those with cognitive difficulties, and more. Worldwide, we are also running out of carers [TTA 24 April]. Who will crack the code on tech for seniors?

Welsh Government to develop new eHealth and Care Strategy

April 28, 2014 | by

The Government of Wales has announced that it is to develop a new eHealth and care strategy in [grow_thumb image=”https://telecareaware.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/04/Welsh-Goverment.jpg” thumb_width=”150″ /]conjunction with health boards, NHS trusts and local authorities in Wales. The strategy will focus on using technology such as video conferencing, remote monitoring and better use of health records.

In a written statement issued last week while the Welsh Assembly is on its break, the minister for health and social services states that consultation will take place with health and social care professionals and users and the strategy will be in place by the end of the year.

“This will help us achieve our aim of ensuring there are more services, care and support available for patients in their homes or in their local communities” says the statement from Mark Drakeford.

“Technology has a key role to play. This could include the use of video conferencing to allow patients and health professionals to talk to each other; to aid diagnosis and decision making and remote monitoring for people with particular health conditions. Technology can also help improve access to services by bringing them closer to people’s homes, for example by providing mobile services in rural areas.

“With an increasing ageing population it is essential we enable people to live independently for as long as possible. Without this, the health and well-being of individuals will be adversely affected.

“We will expect our information to be accessible to professionals where and when it is needed whether in health or in social care. We already have the Individual Health Record, with appropriate security and governance in place. Any potential wider access to people’s data would only be with their consent.”

The full statement is available on the Welsh Government website here.

Telehealth Center establishes multi-state advisory council (US)

April 27, 2014 | by

We reported way back in 2006 that the US was to set up an Office for the Advancement of Telehealth [grow_thumb image=”https://telecareaware.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/04/UAMS.jpg” thumb_width=”150″ /](OAT) within the Health Resources and Services Administration (HRSA) (TTA Jan 23 2006). The same year the OAT initiated a regional Telehealth Resource Center (TRC) grant program to provide support and guidance to telehealth programs. The OAT promotes the use of telehealth technologies for health care delivery, education and health information services. The office is part of the Office of Rural Health Policy, located within the HRSA at the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. HRSA’s mission is to assure quality health care for underserved, vulnerable and special needs populations.

Fast-forward 8 years to Arkansas and the South Central Telehealth Resource Center (SCTRC) which serves Arkansas, Mississippi and Tennessee. The SCTRC focuses on telehealth education and peer interactions online.  The SCTRC also conducts hands-on training in its training center or on-site and operates primarily out of the University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences. Last year HRSA renewed grant funding of $975k for the center for 3 years and the center has recently set up a cross-state advisory board.  Telehealth projects in these states should contact advisory board members to discuss what SCTRC can offer them. For details see the SCTRC website.

‘Sticky sensor’ research at USAF Research Lab

April 24, 2014 | by
[grow_thumb image=”https://telecareaware.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/04/Biosensors.jpg” thumb_width=”150″ /]Sticky biosensor patches are seemingly all the rage in wearables, but in very preliminary stages. The US Department of Defense (DOD) research labs are no exception. Here’s one from the USAF Research Lab that is intriguing because of its less-than-chunky profile (pictured) compared to the University of Illinois research prototypes [TTA 10 April]. The concept is basically to measure biometrics through vital sign measurement and body chemicals through perspiration (a/k/a sweat) that would be sent to a (hold the fanfare) smartphone. It’s advanced enough to be beta tested on runners in the September Air Force Marathon. The key researcher, Josh Hagen PhD., also notes it’s being developed not only for military use, but also for commercialization.  Armed With Science

WLSA announces global adoption theme for Convergence Summit

April 24, 2014 | by

The Wireless Life Science Alliance’s Ninth Annual Convergence Summit, 14-16 May at beautiful San Diego’s Omni Hotel, will be themed around greater global adoption of technology-enabled healthcare. This marks a change from the technology-heavy early days (your Editors have been covering since at least 2010) to worldwide institutional adoption (too slow), outcomes (public health still deteriorating) and consumer engagement (limited). The Wednesday sessions are for members only, the following two days are general sessions and exhibits. Featured speakers include Jeff Arnold, founder of WebMD and now CEO of Sharecare; Dr. Leroy Hood of the Institute for Systems Biology; Ralph Simon, CEO of Mobilium Global Limited which is active in Africa; from the UK, Dale Athey, PhD, CEO & Founder of OJ-Bio Ltd. Another feature of the Summit is the announcement of the TripleTree iAwards for Connected Health winners. Twelve finalists were announced earlier this month. More information and registration.

Number of older people to outstrip family carers by 2017 (UK)

April 24, 2014 | by

The number of people requiring care in the UK is expected to outstrip the number of adult children [grow_thumb image=”https://telecareaware.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/04/ippr_large_logo.jpg” thumb_width=”150″ /]and family members able to provide that care sometime in 2017 according to a new report released today.

“Generation Strain: collective solutions to care in an aging society” is the result of research by the respected Institute of Public Policy Research. The authors note that most care for older people in the UK is provided by family at a value estimated to be £55 billion.  But with the changing demographics the number of adult children able to care for aging parents is diminishing and is expected to reach a break point in the UK in three years, meaning more dependency on already stretched state and private agencies and more people, specially women,  having to give up work to look after their parents.

The central message of the report is the need to transform the understanding of what social care is in order to help people live decent lives in their old age. With insufficient adult children to provide care for parents and more older people themselves becoming carers, the needs of the carers needs to be taken very seriously – social isolation and loneliness, need for transport  and shopping, for example.

The report proposes new neighbourhood networks to help people stay active and healthy and help busy families balance work and care.

These are social problems which can be mitigated, if not solved, by some of the trendy new technologies that we use daily with hardly a second thought but are often not seen as a high priority for the well being of the older person.

Other recommendations are replacement of the current case management process provided by local council adult social services, giving the older people, their families and carers direct access to some of the budget and changing employment rights so more people can continue to work and care.

A highly recommended read. The full report can be downloaded as a pdf from the link above.

Another alliance to promote connected health

April 24, 2014 | by

The formation of the Personal Connected Health Alliance (PCHA) by the Continua Health Alliance, mHealth Summit and HIMSS solidifies what has been a close working relationship into what will “represent the consumer voice in personal connected health.” With the three organizations having worked together for some years particularly in relation to the mHealth Summit, the PCHA will now be the Summit’s formal presenter with Continua, HIMSS and the Foundation for the NIH as partners. Clint McClellan, Qualcomm’s Senior Director of Business Development and Continua’s board chair, is the acting chair and the PCHA will be located in Arlington, Virginia. According to Rich Scarfo, Vice President of the PCHA and the developer of the mHealth Summit,“The Personal Connected Health Alliance, in cooperation with the mHealth Summit and Continua, will continue driving the industry forward by generating a new knowledge base around the personal connected health space, providing a strong and united voice on policy, regulatory issues and government relations, and advancing education and awareness for the widespread adoption of personal connected health technologies.” Continua, after a few uncertain years while it shifted from a sole mission of interoperability standards and certification to combining that with advocating personal telehealth, now enjoys a membership of roughly 200 companies and has largely shed its ‘subsidiary of Intel’ reputation. The mHealth Summit has undergone its own shifts from a focus on governmental and NGO wireless health to a much wider scope (and major expansion) courtesy of HIMSS. Certainly PCHA’s activities will bear watching with this tripartite backing. Release on HIT Consultant (hat tip to publisher Fred Pennic), mHealthNews, YouTube video

One can only speculate on PCHA’s mission overlap with another DC advocacy group, the Alliance for Connected Care. The latter, a thinly veiled lobbying group [TTA 13 Feb], has been strangely quiet, with the news section of its glossy website not updated since early March. (Lobbying is best done quietly?)

Redesigning PERS artistically in Glasgow: the winners

April 24, 2014 | by

Following up on our 28 March story of Chubb Community Care sponsoring a competition at the Glasgow School of Arts to redesign the traditional telecare medical alarm (PERS), the five winning entrants and teams were announced today (23 April). They are:

Element: Craig Meakin, Kayleigh Nelson, Eilidh Gibson and Ramsay Black
Pebbl: Gordon Ritchie, Francesca Stephens, Jordan Smith, Erin Wallace and Heather Walker
Bodyguard: Steven McCauley, Harry Hutton, Kim Stendahl, Matias Rinne and Andrew Robertson
Lumeo: Nadia Bassiri, Robert Turner, Harry Opoku Agyeman, Helen Campbell and Jonathan Thomson
Suit: Michael Tougher, Hannah Kirkbride, Euan Spalding and Tristan Stoner

The winning teams will share a £2,500 cash prize, and their designs were publicly presented at Municipal Buildings in Forres, Moray in the north of Scotland. The Glasgow Arts teams worked with Moray residents who currently use PERS and their carers to determine design and functionality factors. According to the release, Chubb is using the designs to complement the work of its own engineering teams, and thus at this point the concepts are still under wraps. We hope these concepts gain wider exposure. Release link to come.

Getting ‘Better’ with a personal health assistant

April 23, 2014 | by | 1 Comment

Is Better going to where better healthcare should be?

[grow_thumb image=”https://telecareaware.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/04/pha.jpg” thumb_width=”150″ /]Making its formal debut last week was Better, an iPhone app (Android to come) developed in conjunction with and backed by the Mayo Clinic. The aim of Better is to deliver information and care no matter where people are located. The analogy co-founder/CEO Geoff Clapp uses is ‘AAA (RAC or AA=UK) for healthcare’ but it seems to be a bit more developed than emergency tows and TripTiks. In its free version, it provides complete access to Mayo Clinic educational content tailored to the user’s interests and provides access to a personal health record (PHR) for the family. In the $49/month premium version, Mayo provides 24/7 national access to a personal health assistant available by phone and video. The PHAs can coordinate your and your family’s providers, help navigate your insurance and billing and coordinate follow up care. If needed, the PHA can connect the user with a Mayo Clinic nurse who can explain symptoms, potential causes and recommend next steps. The paid version also provides a symptom checker, built with algorithms and using the Mayo database.

According to Mr Clapp (interviewed in Mobihealthnews), Better is ‘early’ and trying to define a market. He is encouraged by remarks such as “I’m not sure I totally get it and not sure the world is ready for this” which is similar to what he heard when co-founding Health Hero (now Bosch Health Buddy) in 1998 (among the most Grizzled of Grizzled Pioneers). Also in this interview, he cites a focus on underserved disease groups such as Crohn’s Disease and cystic fibrosis where help is not generally available; eventually they will also move toward telemedicine. Since the sale. he has been mentoring companies at Rock Health. Better has raised $5 million to date between Mayo and Social+Capital Partnership and is located in Palo Alto, California. It’s an interesting spin on concierge medicine–can it be considered ‘concierge healthcare for the masses?’ Given the pedigree and the partners, we expect to hear bigger, better things from Better in the next few months. Also MedCityNews,  the PSFK Labs blog and FastCompany. Video (YouTube)  Hat tips to Bob Pyke, Editor Toni Bunting