Researchers at Georgia Tech have developed an ultra low-cost hearing aid, for which all the components cost in total less than $1. Designed to be worn by people with age-related hearing loss, the technology provides much of the functionality of conventional hearing aids, but at a tiny fraction of the price. The device may represent […]
Tag: Geriatrics
Vitls Platform Cleared in U.S. for Remote Patient Monitoring
Vitls Inc., a company out of Houston, Texas, won FDA clearance for its Vitls Platform, a combination of a vitals monitoring patch, cloud storage, and an app that lets clinicians monitor multiple patients wearing such a patch at once. The patch, which is called Tégo, keeps track of a patient’s heart and respiration rates, heart […]
Thinklabs One Electronic Stethoscope Helps Physicians Stop Spread of COVID-19
The COVID-19 pandemic has led to the implementation and use of telemedicine and telehealth platforms and devices as part of current day-to-day standards of care in many hospital and healthcare systems. In this era of social distancing, doctors on our frontlines are at the most risk when diagnosing patients, and it’s therefore important to minimize […]
WalkWise Walker Attachment Helps Seniors Stay Safe and Mobile
Falls have serious consequences for seniors, especially those who live alone. Medical alert devices can notify emergency services, but they are not always worn. In addition, they do not address fall prevention by encouraging active lifestyles and physical strengthening. WalkWise hopes to fill these gaps. The Fargo, ND-based company offers a smart device that can […]
Flexible Throat Sensor Powered by AI to Track COVID-19 Symptoms
As COVID-19 continues to infect more people around the world, there are still few reliable ways to spot the early onset of the disease and to monitor its symptoms in detail, particularly at a distance and while patients are at home. Now, researchers at Northwestern University have partnered with the Shirley Ryan AbilityLab (formerly Rehabilitation […]
Breathable, Stretchable Electronic Fabric for New Medical Wearables
Stretchable electronic technologies offer the potential to monitor the body over extended periods of time in unprecedented ways. The heart’s rhythms, flexion of joints, and other biomedical parameters can be tracked with high fidelity and continuously using devices that can conform to the body. While much of this has already been possible, and documented here […]
MIT’s Comfortable Shirts Loaded with Body Sensors
MIT engineers have developed a way of creating shirts and other clothing items that are embedded with tiny electronic sensors capable of measuring the heart and respiration rates, temperature, and movement. Other vital signs can be added by utilizing additional sensor types. The technology will allow physicians to monitor their patients closely throughout the day, […]
Stanford’s Smart Toilet Scans Urine and Stool for Diseases
Advancements in wearable sensors have allowed us to quantify and monitor the many bio-signals, and sometimes even bio-fluids, that emanate from our bodies. But when it comes to urine and fecal matter, which can contain a wealth of information, we’ve largely relegated its inspection to the yearly physical or when helping a doctor diagnose a […]
EchoNous Receives EU Approval for Kosmos AI Ultrasound Platform
EchoNous announced that it has received the Eurepean CE Mark of approval for its Kosmos platform, an ultrasound and AI-based software system that helps physicians obtain diagnostic imaging and make clinical decisions at the bedside. The Kosmos platform consists of an eight-ounce ultrasound device, the Kosmos Torso, which also has ECG and digital auscultation functions. […]
Biobeat Receives EU Clearance for Vital Sign Monitoring with Wristwatch and Patch
Biobeat announced recently that it has received CE Mark approval for its patch and wristwatch that non-invasively measure blood pressure, cardiac output, stroke volume, blood oxygenation, and heart rate. The Israel-based company’s platform monitors vital signs in real-time using wireless, non-invasive, medical-grade technology, and uploads these data points into the cloud through either a smartphone or […]
VitalConnect Introduces Remote Arrhythmia Detection Using VitalPatch
In a world where cardiovascular diseases are the leading cause of death (with an estimated 17.9 million annual deaths globally, according to the WHO), the need to accurately and reliably monitor patients following cardiac procedures is ever-growing. This need is highlighted by the frequency of complications that occur following such procedures. For example, approximately 30% […]
SmartTab Wireless Pill for Targeted Drug Delivery: Interview with CEO Robert Niichel
Velóce Digital Health is working to make pills smarter. The Denver, Colorado company is developing the SmartTab, an ingestible capsule that can be wirelessly controlled via a smartphone to release its contents at precise locations within the gastrointestinal system. “The idea is that [with] the smart capsule, you will have precision medicine and delivered to […]
Misty Customizable Robot for Healthcare Applications: CES 2020
The integration of multiple modern technologies, such as voice recognition, AI, real-time communications, and robotics can allow for important contributions to how clinical patients and elderly people at home are taken care of. While at CES 2020 in Las Vegas, we had a chance to meet reps from Misty Robotics, a company that has developed […]
XStraw Makes Swallowing Oral Meds Easier
Many people experience difficulties swallowing their medications, with kids and elderly people being most commonly affected. Crushing pills and taking apart drug capsules is usually a poor solution, since the effectiveness and rate of release of medications can be significantly altered. DS Technology, a German firm, has developed a unique drinking straw that makes it […]
Smart Phyjamas for Monitoring Physiological Signals at Night
Researchers from University of Massachusetts at Amherst have developed a new smart pajama, dubbed Phyjama, that can track physiological signals during sleep. Their work demonstrates that the technology can reliably measure heart rate, breathing rate, and sleep position during the course of the night. One day, advances like this can be incorporated into regular sleepwear, […]
MRI Can Now See Molecular Content of Our Brains
As we age, the molecular composition of our brain changes. This is a natural process, but it can also be associated with the presence of disease. Currently, there’s no practical way to study the molecular changes within living humans, and post-mortem studies are limited in the scientific information they can provide. Now, scientists at the […]
FDA Clears First Cuff-Free Blood Pressure Monitors
The FDA has granted Biobeat, an Israeli firm, clearance for the company’s wrist watch and patch that measure blood oxygenation, heart rate, and blood pressure. Not relying on a traditional cuff allows for long-term monitoring of blood pressure, particularly in patients who have difficulty keeping track of their health parameters on their own. Moreover, it […]
Cartilage on a Chip to Identify New Treatments for Osteoarthritis
Researchers from the Polytechnic University of Milan and the University Hospital of Basel have developed a microfluidic chip containing cartilage, which can be subjected to mechanical stress. The procedure mimics the conditions of osteoarthritis and could help in developing new treatments. Osteoarthritis is relatively common among people over 60, with 20% of women and 10% […]
Fully Flexible and Wireless Body Monitoring Sensors
Flexible body-worn sensors that conform to the skin have great potential for monitoring patient health, conducting long-term studies, and giving consumers a way to track their exercise and overall health. Although there have been flexible sticker-like body monitors developed in the past, they have all involved rigid electronic chips and batteries. So, although they’re flexible […]
Flexible Pump Breakthrough for Soft Robotics to Advance Artificial Muscles, Assistive Technology
Researchers at Ecole Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne in Switzerland have developed a flexible and stretchable pump for soft robotics. The existence of the device, described in the latest journal Nature, means that soft robots may no longer need to be tethered to rigid and bulky pumps, allowing for greater versatility in soft medical devices, such […]