Sensiotec Inc. (Atlanta, GA) is presenting a new non-contact vital signs monitoring system at the 2012 conference of the American Telemedicine Association in San Jose. The Virtual Medical Assistant uses the ultra wideband, a former military high frequency band, to detect movements from the heart, lungs and torso. Using a specific algorithm, the detected absorption rates can be transformed into vital signs data. The server can transmit patient data to any number of nursing stations, personal computers, cell phones, tablets and pagers simultaneously.

A nice feature for developers is the server architecture that provides an API (Application Programming Interface) based on standard web technologies. This makes it possible to easily build new clients or create interfaces with all other types of software applications.

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Sensaris, a company out of Crolles, France, has released a device to help track and share important health data from commonly used diagnostic devices.  The ZAO includes a pulse oximeter, blood pressure cuff, and a thermometer, and can also accept readings from a glucometer.  Data is stored on a removable memory card and can be shared via WiFi automatically with an app available for both iOS and Android.

Using the phone’s 3G connection, the app can pass on readings stored on it to an online server for review by a physician.

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Isansys has received regulatory clearance to make available the LifeTouch Patient Surveillance System in Europe.  The heart of the system is the LifeTouch HRV011 sensor that continuously monitors a patient’s ECG and passes the data wirelessly to the “cloud” for a physician to be able to review from just about anywhere.

The transfer of information happens when the sensor sends its readings to the Patient Gateway device, which in turn relays the data to be uploaded to the associated EMR.

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The United States Patent and Trademark Office recently granted IBM a patent for a multi-touch floor embedded with numerous sensors to identify the shapes, weights, and locations of objects that are in contact with it. The patent also includes the means by which information on the identified objects is retrieved and certain actions are executed based on the information.

IBM’s “related art” and primary applications in the patent description deal mainly with  intelligent home security systems. For example, the multi-touch floor could sense whether a person who enters a home is a registered and authorized person, like the homeowner, or an unidentified person, such as a burglar. Beyond smart home security, however, IBM also  describes a possible application for determining whether a person is in need of emergency medical attention. For example, the sensors in the multi-touch floor could detect if an elderly person has been lying on the floor in a prone position for an unusual period of time due to a fall or heart attack, and automatically summon for help.

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Avery Dennison Medical Solutions (Chicago, IL) has created a disposable wearable sensor to improve medical monitoring. To establish a strong identity in the quickly growing body monitoring field, Avery Dennison worked with Karten Design (Los Angeles, CA) to optimize the Metria sensor for end users. With a design that draws more from athletic apparel than medical products, the firm sought to design a fitness-inspired product that could be worn comfortably around the clock for approximately seven days.

“Many sensors available today look like bandages,” explains Jonathan Abarbanel, the lead designer on this project, in an interview with Medgadget. “Through design, we wanted to visually message the wearable sensor’s capabilities: it’s not just a bandage; it’s a body-worn sensor with complex electronics that can provide real-time, continuous information about your vital signs.”

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In space, nothing is as easy as it is on Earth, and an ill astronaut could pose a major problem to any space mission. For advanced diagnostis purposes, the International Space Station already carries an ultrasound device, but astronauts are generally not trained ultrasound operators. Also, a connection to ground-based expert help may involve unwieldy communication delays, so it is no surprise space agencies are looking into ways to make future space travellers more self-sufficient.

The European Space Agency (ESA) is working on an augmented reality system that will help astronauts better diagnose medical problems in space. The Computer Assisted Medical Diagnosis and Surgery System, CAMDASS as it is strangely called, is a wearable augmented reality system with a head-mounted display that merges actual and virtual reality by precisely combining computer-generated graphics with the wearer’s view.

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SkyLight, a technology start-up which began life as a Kickstarter project, has announced the release of its namesake microscope-to-smartphone adapter this coming March. The minimalist SkyLight adapter can optically interface any smartphone device to any microscope via a series of simple sliding and locking fixtures, which help to position the smartphone’s camera over the microscope’s eyepiece lens.The adapter is made of lightweight plastics and weighs less than an iPhone.

The project was the brainchild of Andy Miller, a designer and engineer who, as an undergraduate, developed low cost microscopes for the developing world. According to the company, the SkyLight adapter was designed as a simple way to remotely connect doctors to patients in rural locations using existing microscopes and easy to use, increasingly available smartphones.

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The 104-year old R&D research arm recently released a video of its glass-filled vision for the next 104 years. Some of the concepts presented are already in development, but one intriguing section in the middle of the video visualizes the use of Corning glass in the medical lab. We’ll start you off at the 3:07 mark and you’ll see glass used in futuristic, transparent medical terminals and tablets. You’ll also see glass (which is antimicrobial) used in a holographic examination table integrated with a cool-looking MRI scanner.

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CardioComm out of Victoria, Canada received marketing clearance from the FDA to bring its HeartCheck Pen Handheld ECG to the U.S.

The device can be used by the patients themselves at home and comes with software the allows recorded telemetry to be uploaded to the company’s C4 medical call service telemedicine group where physicians can analyze the data.

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Hidalgo out of Cambridge, England has released its new wireless Equivital EQ02 LifeMonitor that can continuously record ECG, respiratory rate, skin temperature, and activity levels in patients.  Data is analyzed using special software for PCs, web and mobile devices and can provide real-time results that can be immediately acted upon by clinicians.

Hidalgo’s technology has already been in use by UK’s Cambridgeshire Fire and Rescue, Addenbrooke’s hospital, and the US Marine Corps in Iraq where wireless, mobile, and easy to use devices save the day.

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