The Merlin.net network is a remote monitoring system for patients with implantable cardiac devices. It is able to record a patient’s heart rhythms, device therapy and device performance which is automatically sent to a designated clinic or a hospital’s health record.
Created by St. Jude Medical, which is a manuafaturer of medical devices worldwide, the Merlin.net Patient Care Network (PCN) has been upgraded to version 5.0 which comes with some important enhancements for those living in the UK.
Headquartered in St. Paul, Minnesota, St. Jude Medical has four major focus areas that include: cardiac rhythm management, atrial fibrillation, cardiovascular and neuromodulation. The Merlin.net network is an example of how St. Jude Medical adheres to its overall objectives. (read more)
mHealth Research Digest with Tim Bredrup
Pedometers and internet based programs have proven to be beneficial for increasing activity levels in obese and overweight individuals.
To improve upon this concept, researchers in Boston performed a study to see if the addition of a virtual coach would be even more effective than the use of a pedometer and website alone.
A total of 70 participants were recruited from the Boston metropolitan area and assigned to one of two study groups. One group was asked to wear a pedometer and track their step count online.
The other group was asked to do the same, but also met with an online virtual coach that set goals and provided personalized feedback. The virtual coach was computer animated and run from software installed on theresearch participant’s home computer. The statements of the virtual coach were evidence based and developed by an interdisciplinary team using physicians, computer scientists, and exercise trainers. (read more)
The iPads large screen and interactive interface make it an ideal platform for medical imaging.
NeuroRad by RadLynx LLC is a clinical neuroradiology reference designed for a range of healthcare professionals involved in neurological imaging of the brain.
Written and designed by an American Board of Radiology certified Neuroradiologist, NeuroRad aims to improve understanding of neurological imaging and associated pathologies.
We have previously reviewed the NeuroRad Mini for the iPhone, and this is the iPad counterpart.
(read more)
mHealth Research Digest with Tim Bredrup
A variety of body sensor network systems have been proposed to detect health related problems in real time.
However the focus of many of these systems is on the gathering and presentation/storage of data, rather than on autonomous real-time decision making.
A study conducted at Coventry University in the UK focused on the implementation of on-body prediction system for reducing health risks caused by Uncompensable Heat Stress (UHS) such as hyperthermic exhaustion.
It targets the monitoring of Explosive Ordnance Disposal (EOD) operatives during missions through the gathering of physiological data such as multi-point skin temperature, as well as postural information (multi-point body acceleration).
According to previous research, real-time autonomous processing of skin temperature and body acceleration data are both required for the prediction of heat stress.
Data from a total of 26 trials were used to evaluate the accuracy of the UHS prediction system. The study protocol was as follows: (read more)
Kaiser Permanente is one of the largest healthcare organizations in the United States, serving just around 9 million patients. It has also been a leader in healthcare innovation through initiatives like the Kaiser Permanente Information Technology’s Innovation & Advanced Technology Group and Laboratory for Innovation.
Kaiser has now released a mobile portal for patients to access their medical records – medication lists, lab results, and more. Interestingly though, they have released a native Android app only. For iOS, Blackberry, and Windows users, there is instead a web-app.
Through either the web-app or Android native app, patients can now access their medical information from virtually anywhere. The app provides full access to patient information that currently resides on the KP health record system and certainly demonstrates the growing movement to empower patients. In addition though, the release of the Android app first may also reveal a surprising shift in the mobile development landscape.
(read more)
iMedicalApps has launched mHealth (iMedicalApps.com/mhealth), a page dedicated to the use of mobile technologies for direct patient care. This is where you can read about great research being done on the use of mobile technologies for health & wellness, the latest in wireless health devices and about innovative digital health startups.
We will continue to write about mHealth practice and regulatory issues and cover important mHealth conferences, like our comprehensive coverage of the recent mHealth Summit in Washington DC. All articles are written or edited by physicians.
We have some exciting features coming up, such as:
- an exclusive iMedicalApps sneak peak next week at a new wireless device that will change the way endoscopy is done
- fascinating first hand reports by investigators describing their mHealth research
- reports by physicians using remote and telehealth successfully in the care of their patients
- articles on the rapidly evolving legal issues around mobile health and social media
Drop us a line if you have developed a wireless health device and you want our readers to know about it or are starting a digital health company. We want to hear about it. We also love to hear from physicians using mobile and telehealth in caring for their patients and from researchers investigating mHealth technologies. This is a great place to share your stories.
After you’ve read the articles, Keep the conversation going on the iMedicalApps mHealth Forum. Tell us what you want to see covered or what to change. We welcome all voices – patients, physicians, investors and entrepreneurs.
Finally, we are looking for more great mHealth writers ! If you have a passion for mobile health and want to write for iMedicalApps, please contact us.
Thank you and enjoy.
Felasfa Wodajo, MD
mHealth Editor
It is well recognized that when there is a language barrier between patients and physicians, the quality of care delivered suffers. With the rapid rise of patients for whom Spanish is their primary language, this is becoming an increasingly urgent issue to address.
Ultralingua, Inc. has published the Vox Spanish-English Medical Dictionary and Verbs app ($49.99) to help bridge this gap. The app is available for iPhone, iPod touch, and iPad. Read on to see whether this app can help you take better care of your Spanish-speaking patients.
(read more)
There are a number of companies attempting to disrupt personal fitness using mobile apps to provide an engaging user experience that motivates and informs. One that definitely stands out is Skimble, which has just recently passed the 2 million download milestone and, impressively, has already achieved profitability as a bootstrapped startup.
Skimble was founded out of the idea that people want advice and motivation to help them meet their fitness goals, and many people would love to be able to hire personal trainers to tell them what exercises will be most effective. Skimble was a member of the original Rock Health class and their success is absolutely no fluke.
I have had the pleasure of interacting with a lot of entrepreneurs in the digital health space and I can say without hesitation that Maria Ly and her team at Skimble are among the best of the best. Check out our interview with Maria Ly below and see the video of her recent TEDxUW talk.
(read more)
mHealth Research Digest by Tim Bredrup
Today’s smartphones are now equipped with cameras that can be used to detect changes in heart rate in a person’s finger using a technology called photoplethysmographic (PPG) measurement.
PPG refers to the technology commonly used by a pulse oximeter to capture blood volume change by illuminating the finger with a light-emitting diode.
When the light that is shining on the finger changes as a result of blood moving in and out of the finger, the change can be measured. Recently a team of researchers in South Carolina performed research to determine the validity of an Android-based software program to detect and capture heart rate measurements as a proof of concept for its use, The software was compared them to traditional means of measuring heart rate (ECG and pulse oximeter). (read more)
by: Brian Chau, MS3
Being able to recognize key anatomical landmarks on radiological imagery is important for any medical student or clinician.
NeuroRad Mini is an app available through iTunes for users looking for a mobile reference and review guide to brain images.
NeuroRad Mini, from developer RadLynx, is a clinical MRI brain atlas for iOS devices. It features coronal, sagittal, and axial views of the brain. These are all labeled, allowing for easy viewing and review of important anatomical locations and relationships.
Designed by a senior member of the American Society of Neuroradiology, NeuroRad Mini is a more limited version of the iPad-only app, NeuroRad, also from RadLynx. NeuroRad Mini is designed to be a quick-reference guide to MRI views of the brain, while the iPad version offers more features, due to the limitations of the screen size and processing power of the iPod Touch and iPhone platforms.
(read more)
Those of us lucky enough to own an iPad know how useful they can be in day-to-day life – we use them for electronic medical records, keeping track of literature, organizing notes, scheduling appointments, paying bills…playing Angry Birds.
However, the iPad isn’t just revolutionizing the way we interact with our apps, it’s revolutionizing the way some kids interact with their world. Educational apps are common place in tech-saavy families with young children, but a children’s hospital in Oklahoma has taken apps for kids one step further by incorporating them into their patient’s therapy routines. (read more)
by: Perry W. Payne, Jr., MD/JD/MPP
In what appears to be the largest award offered to the world’s mobile health innovators, the X Prize Foundation and Qualcomm Foundation recently announced the $10 million Qualcomm Tricorder X Prize.
The prize name is inspired by the fictional Star Trek device which was geological, meteorological and biological (hence the name) detection and analysis device.
On the TV show, the Tricorder helped doctors scan patients’ bodies, detect problems and generate diagnoses. The Tricorder X Prize will be awarded to the creator of the best mobile, wireless device that monitors and diagnoses health conditions and fits in the palm of the hand. The foundations are touting the X Prize as “a global competition to revolutionize healthcare.”
What they seek is to address the world’s health care access problem by creating a means for consumers to receive direct medical care without seeing a healthcare professional. (read more)
