The Doctor Is Out, but New Patient Monitoring and Robotics Technology Is In

[CC-Conrad Clyburn-MedForeSight]

Colleagues,

The mainstream press is increasingly reporting on new developments in telemedicine, remote monitoring and mHealth.  This bodes well for us.  See article below recently published in Scientific American ...

ENJOY!

CC

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YOUR MEDICATION IS CALLING:

Proteus Biomedical's smart-pill sensor aims to monitor compliance with one's prescribed regimen for taking medication and track progress in treating ailments by relaying key information back after a pill is swallowed. COURTESY OF PROTEUS BIOMEDICAL

HEART SENSOR:

Corventis developed the Avivo water-resistant heart-monitoring device to communicate via wireless technology. The Avivo's Band-Aid-sized disposable sensor sends a steady stream of data on posture, activity, fluid status, and heart and respiratory rates to a receiver using Bluetooth technology. COURTESY OF CORVENTIS

... A new generation of medical devices using wireless communications, sophisticated software and data center-driven "cloud" computing promises to deliver health care in ways previously limited to the confines of fancy hospital rooms...

... These advances, ranging from edible sensors to cordless heart monitors to robotic arms that mirror a doctor's movements, presage sharp falls in cost just as consumers clamor for more affordable health care.  Around-the-clock tracking through wireless sensors, advanced biochemistry and raw remote computing power to mine and match symptom data with likely causes could help doctors band together to make faster, more correct diagnoses, from wherever they are...

Examples include:

Smart pill
... Proteus Biomedical ... meshes sensors ... into existing medicines to ensure safe digestion after swallowing ... Proteus says its edible sensor—embedded in a pill—would raise the cost of that pill just pennies  more when produced in large volumes. The company is targeting medicines in the cardiovascular, diabetes, tuberculosis and psychiatric ailment areas....  The sensor aims to monitor compliance and track progress in treating ailments by relaying key information back after a pill is swallowed...

... Proteus's Raisin smart pill (actually as big as a grain of sand) is in late-stage development with backing from Swiss pharmaceuticals giant Novartis and Minneapolis-based medical technology maker Medtronic, Inc. Novartis's research shows that drug compliance rates shot up to 80 percent (from 30 percent) within six months of patients ingesting the hybrid pil...

A heartbeat away
... San Jose-based Corventis has developed a water-resistant heart-monitoring device that communicates via wireless technology. The Avivo consists of a disposable sensor that adheres to the chest like a Band-Aid, as well as a cell phone–sized receiver. The sensor sends a steady stream of data on posture, activity, fluid status, and heart and respiratory rates to the receiver using Bluetooth technology. This information is then forwarded over cellular networks to servers at Corventis, where cardiographic technicians analyze algorithms and data. Reports are then posted on Corventis's secure Web site for caregivers or relayed to them via e-mail, fax or phone so they can react immediately to abnormal signals...Avivo is available in the U.S., Europe, India, the Middle East and Singapore.

Hands-free surgeon
... the Freehand laparoscopic camera controller made by U.K.-based Prosurgics Limited
applies technology from industrial robots to minimally invasive operations including hysterectomies and removals of kidneys and gallbladders. The surgeon wears a sensor much like a climber's headlamp, and controls the robotic arm using head movements and a foot pedal ... Freehand, at about $20,000, costs a fraction of sophisticated robot surgeons including Intuitive Surgical's joystick-controlled da Vinci Surgical System robot, which debuted in 1999. 

Read on at: http://www.scientificamerican.com/article.cfm?id=patient-monitoring...