IT Tech Report
IT and Project Management – Tech Report
Medical Software and How We View The Heart The medical field is at the heart of the most technologically advanced products and software in the world. The development of technology to save lives is the most lucrative to businesses and the most vital to patients. Everything from quantum physics being used to develop computer-generated cells that grow organs in a lab to monitoring and performing procedures from your iPad. The future of medicine is changing extremely rapidly, especially in the field of medical applications. The heart is, by far, one of the most vital organs being considered for app development. This is true because of the importance for accurate heart monitoring and early detection methods necessary to prevent heart attacks and increase the quality and longevity of life. In Worcester, Mass. a team lead by Ki Chon, professor and head of a biomedical engineering at Worcester Polytechnic Institute (WPI), has developed a smart phone app. That can measure not only heart rate, but also heart rhythm, respiration rate and blood oxygen saturation using the phone’s built in camera. The app is so accurate that it can read these vital signs at the same precision as the standard medical monitors in clinical use today. The beauty about this application is not only that you do not need any additional hardware other than your cell-phone, but it can make baseline measurements at anytime, creating a database that could give physicians improved detection of disease states. Remarkably, this software works by emitting a light through the skin using your existing camera. The application can detect and correlate subtle shifts in the color of the reflected light with changes in a patient’s vital signs. Ki Chon, who is the developer of an algorithm using traditional clinical devices, has adapted this algorithm to process the data gathered by application. Sensiotec has launched its new Virtual Medical
Medical Software and How We View The Heart The medical field is at the heart of the most technologically advanced products and software in the world. The development of technology to save lives is the most lucrative to businesses and the most vital to patients. Everything from quantum physics being used to develop computer-generated cells that grow organs in a lab to monitoring and performing procedures from your iPad. The future of medicine is changing extremely rapidly, especially in the field of medical applications. The heart is, by far, one of the most vital organs being considered for app development. This is true because of the importance for accurate heart monitoring and early detection methods necessary to prevent heart attacks and increase the quality and longevity of life. In Worcester, Mass. a team lead by Ki Chon, professor and head of a biomedical engineering at Worcester Polytechnic Institute (WPI), has developed a smart phone app. That can measure not only heart rate, but also heart rhythm, respiration rate and blood oxygen saturation using the phone’s built in camera. The app is so accurate that it can read these vital signs at the same precision as the standard medical monitors in clinical use today. The beauty about this application is not only that you do not need any additional hardware other than your cell-phone, but it can make baseline measurements at anytime, creating a database that could give physicians improved detection of disease states. Remarkably, this software works by emitting a light through the skin using your existing camera. The application can detect and correlate subtle shifts in the color of the reflected light with changes in a patient’s vital signs. Ki Chon, who is the developer of an algorithm using traditional clinical devices, has adapted this algorithm to process the data gathered by application. Sensiotec has launched its new Virtual Medical
Bibliography: Websites: 1 - http://www.imedicalapps.com/2012/05/sensiotec-launches-vital-signs-monitor-body-contact-ata2012/ 2 - http://www.endonurse.com/news/2011/10/iphone-app-measures-vital-signs.aspx 3 - http://www.medtronic.com