Researchers are developing wearable devices to catch early signs and symptoms of diseases or monitor sick patients. We spoke to wearables and medical device expert Professor John Rogers about the benefits, challenges, trends and innovation within the sector.
Liquid biopsy performed on serum samples taken from breast cancer patients can provide increasingly accurate information on progression and enable earlier detection of recurrence.
A wireless sensor could offer doctors a way to monitor changes in brain chemistry without requiring a second operation to remove the implant.
Researchers have developed a smartwatch that assesses cortisol levels found in sweat. The device opens new possibilities for personal health monitoring.
Scientists at Queen’s University Belfast have invented a tiny indicator that changes colour if a patient’s wound shows early signs of infection.
Progress in miniaturising sensor technology has opened up new possibilities for monitoring vital signs outside the hospital environment. A subset of wearables are the so-called hearables – in-ear devices that are well suited for long-term monitoring as they are non-invasive, inconspicuous and easy to fasten. Hearables offer two major benefits: their proximity to the torso and vascular system of…
To detect wound complications as soon as they happen, a team of researchers has invented a smart suture that is battery-free and can wirelessly sense and transmit information from deep surgical sites.
Wearables are a trend in respiratory care and many products are being developed to monitor patients remotely. But how much can these tools really help clinicians? An Italian expert discussed current solutions and challenges to their development.
Remote monitoring devices and pacemakers supporting patients with conditions such as heart failure could be vulnerable to cyberattack, according to a leading cardiology expert.
Researchers have developed an ultra-thin wireless device, called osseosurface electronic, that grows to the surface of bone and could someday help physicians monitor bone health and healing over long periods.
A research team led by Professor Lim Chwee Teck from the National University of Singapore’s (NUS) Department of Biomedical Engineering and Institute for Health Innovation & Technology (iHealthtech), in collaboration with clinical partners from Singapore General Hospital, has developed a smart wearable sensor that can conduct real-time, point-of-care assessment of chronic wounds wirelessly…
Triage HF Plus, highlighted in the BCS conference session ‘Digital Innovation in Cardiology - What's new?’ is a digital heart failure care project that uses a customised algorithm to detect early signs of deterioration in patients with implanted devices. During her presentation ‘Digital solutions to identify worsening heart failure’, consultant cardiologist Dr Fozia Ahmed discussed the…
Artificial intelligence (AI) will fundamentally change medicine and healthcare: Diagnostic patient data, e.g. from ECG, EEG or X-ray images, can be analyzed with the help of machine learning, so that diseases can be detected at a very early stage based on subtle changes. However, implanting AI within the human body is still a major technical challenge. TU Dresden scientists at the Chair of…
Remote 24-hour monitoring for cancer patients receiving chemotherapy helps to better manage side effects and improve quality of life, finds a study published by The BMJ. The researchers say remote monitoring can provide a safe, secure, and “real time” system that optimises symptom management and supports patients to remain at home - and is particularly relevant in the context of the Covid-19…
Medical monitoring tech company Umana Medical announced a collaboration with the Preventive Cardiology and Medical Prevention, Center of Cardiology at the University Medical Center Mainz and Bayer AG on a clinical study (MyoMobile study) to explore a novel real-time remote cardiac monitoring device in patients with heart failure.
Nanoelectronics and digital technologies company Imec presents a proof-of-concept for determining arterial stiffness, a risk marker for cardiovascular diseases such as stroke and heart failure, and monitoring blood pressure. Imec’s approach uses an ultrasound sensor to measure the central pulse wave velocity. Measuring pulse wave velocity closer to the heart is also a more reliable proxy for…
Researchers at RMIT University in Australia have developed smart wound dressings with built-in nanosensors that glow to alert patients when a wound is not healing properly. The multifunctional, antimicrobial dressings feature fluorescent sensors that glow brightly under UV light if infection starts to set in and can be used to monitor healing progress.
People with long Covid could be monitored with the aid of a ground-breaking mobile phone app and clinical website. The system has been developed to help NHS rehabilitation teams manage the large number of people suffering from the debilitating effects of the illness. Patients will also be able to use the app to track their recovery. The app will initially be available to patients in 27 NHS trusts…
Activity monitors via phones and bracelets help to assess exercise but experts question which device may really stimulate activity in cardiovascular patients, and which might be best for research?
Thin-film electrodes developed at Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory (LLNL) have been used in human patients at the University of California, San Francisco, generating never-before-seen recordings of brain activity in the hippocampus, a region responsible for memory and other cognitive functions. In a study published in the journal Nature Communications, surgeons at UCSF placed the flexible…
A new research project will embrace the combination of 5G telecommunications technology and AI to offer continuous remote monitoring to seriously ill heart failure patients, for example those with Left Ventricular Assist Devices (LVADs).
A new photonics device currently in development aims to reduce unnecessary disabilities by improving the instant, real-time monitoring of newborn babies with harmless light particles.
From swallowing pills to injecting insulin, patients frequently administer their own medication. But they don’t always get it right. Improper adherence to doctors’ orders is commonplace, accounting for thousands of deaths and billions of dollars in medical costs annually. Researchers at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) have developed a system to reduce those numbers for some…
Smart speakers, such as Amazon Echo and Google Home, have proven adept at monitoring certain health care issues at home. For example, researchers at the University of Washington have shown that these devices can detect cardiac arrests or monitor babies breathing. But what about tracking something even smaller: the minute motion of individual heartbeats in a person sitting in front of a smart…
Working in intensive care units poses special challenges for healthcare workers. They have to safely and reliably detect whether the condition of their seriously ill patients is deteriorating in a life-threatening way, and they have to do so under great time pressure because every minute counts. The stress level increases even more when the patients are children and adolescents. In paediatric…