SleepTracker is a wristwatch that promises to improve sleep quality (and outlook on life) by monitoring the wearer’s sleeping patterns. The watch’s alarm wakes the wearer at the best possible time during a user-determined window.
New Imaging Technique Offers Hope for Patients with Traumatic Brain Injury
March 16, 2012 | by
Brain injuries are exceedingly complex, which makes treatment and rehabilitation difficult in many cases. Researchers at the University of Pittsburgh have reported using a new imaging technique called High-Definition Fiber Tracking (HDFT) to identify the disrupted neural pathways (paths made up of brain cells that communicate with one another) in patients with traumatic brain injury.
MyHeartMap Challenge Inspires Pennsylvanians to Map AEDs
March 14, 2012 | by
The University of Pennsylvania has been conducting a contest — the MyHeartMap Challenge — in which participants record locations of automated external defibrillators (AEDs) throughout the state. The purpose of the contest is to raise awareness about the importance and location of AEDs, and to build a statewide database of AED locations.
Ultrasound Offers Painless Contraception For Men
February 16, 2012 | by
While ultrasound technology is familiar to most people as a diagnostic imaging technique — it’s what obstetricians use to monitor the health of a developing fetus, for example — the technology has been making recent headlines for an entirely different reason.
Portable “Life and Activity Monitor” Records Vital Signs
February 9, 2012 | by
Scientific research and studies that will advance the understanding of medicine often require patients to undergo vital statistic monitoring, including measurement and recording of heart rate, activity level, and respirations. However, monitoring such vital statistics has historically required that study participants agree to frequent office visits, or else wear large and cumbersome monitoring devices.
Researchers at Oregon State University and the University of California at San Diego have designed a miniature vital statistics monitor that is not only small — it’s about two inches wide — and inexpensive to make, but is also capable of monitoring vitals from inside a pocket.
From Oregon State University’s press release:
“When this technology becomes more miniaturized and so low-cost that it could almost be disposable, it will see more widespread adoption,” said Patrick Chiang, an assistant professor of computer engineering at Oregon State University. “It’s already been used in one clinical research study on the effects of micronutrients on aging, and monitoring of this type should have an important future role in medicine.”
Vital statistics monitors like this one may make large-scale medical studies easier on participants and less expensive for labs to run, speeding the pace of health discovery and innovation.
Source: Oregon State University
