Sensatex to Test Novel Sensor Technology
According to Health Data Management, Sensatex is looking for beta testers for its SmartShirt System.
Sensatex is using technology developed at the Georgia Institute of Technology to weave tiny conductive fibers into the cotton
fabric of a shirt to enable monitoring of physiological activity. Funded by DARPA for the 21st Century Land Warrior Program, the technology allows sensing, monitoring, and information processing devices to be networked together within a fabric.
The
conductive fiber collects data on a wearer's movement, heart rate and
respiration rate in real time. The shirt, minus the snap-on device, is
washable, according to the Bethesda, Md.-based vendor.
company envisions the shirt being used to remotely monitor home-based
patients, first responders, hazardous materials workers and soldiers.
It also can be used to monitor signs of fatigue in truck drivers and to
support athletic training.
Field testing is planned for later this year. Parties interested in testing the technology can send an e-mail to Robert Kalik, CEO at
Sensatex, at rkalik@sensetex.com.
Pictured right is an example of sensors distributed throughout a knit shirt.
Philips Launches Motiva in U.S.
Philips has announced the commercial launch of their remote monitoring system Motiva for the U.S. market (press release). The system is designed around the patient's home television, abut also requires a broadband connection and set to box.
Motiva supports daily vital signs monitoring for high-acuity
patients using wireless devices installed in the home. The current
product includes Bluetooth-enabled weight measurement, while future
Motiva releases are expected to incorporate blood pressure and glucose
measurement.
For every patient, Motiva monitors ongoing health status, usage
patterns and regularly queries patients about changes in their
knowledge, motivation and confidence levels — insights nurses can use
to adapt care plans and gauge impact on long-term behavior.
The requirement for a broadband connection will limit deployment to urban and suburban areas, and the set top box suggests an expensive installation. No mention was made about Philips distribution strategy.
Like weight loss and addiction treatment programs, there is probably
not one “best” approach to chronic disease management. In a comment to a past post,
David Williams noted that many of the chronically ill don't want to be
continuously reminded about their illness – making daily interaction
with your own reality TV show about your chronic disease less then
compelling. I would also expect this approach to be well accepted by
some patients; time will tell who they are and proportion of the
patient population they represent.
Pictured right is the Bluetooth enabled non-invasive blood pressure recorder.
Medtronic to Expand Wireless Sensor Offering
Medrtonic announced a new clinical trial to determine the safety and efficacy of an implantable cardioverter defibrillator (ICD) combined with a sensor that continuously records pressure inside the heart, potentially alerting
physicians to potential heart-failure complications before they worsen.
(press release).
both the traditional ICD's ability to restore normal heart rhythm
following a dangerously fast heartbeat and the first-ever real-time
tracking of pressure inside the heart, body temperature, patient
activity and heart rate 24 hours a day. Patients implanted with a
Chronicle ICD will transmit that information from home, using a
standard phone line, to their physicians who view the recorded data
from a secure Web site in their office and then potentially make
changes to patients' medications or diet.
Along with their competitors, Medtronic is working to leverage implants as sensor platforms for chronic disease management. The first logical target is congestive heart failure.
rhythm and disease management technologies, both investigational and
FDA approved, which monitor patients' heart functions and allow
cardiologists to make immediate care decisions based on this
information. Some of Medtronic's pioneering devices include the
following:
— Concerto(TM) AT Cardiac Resynchronization
Therapy-Defibrillator. Medtronic's Concerto(TM) CRT-D with Atrial
Therapies (AT) is an investigational heart-failure management device
designed to automatically and wirelessly delivers information from a
patient's device to the physician's office.
— OptiVol(TM)
Fluid Status Monitoring. Available in select Medtronic CRT-D devices,
this diagnostic feature helps manage and detect worsening heart failure
by measuring the pulmonary fluid build-up in the thoracic (lungs and
heart) cavity.
— Reveal(R) Insertable Loop Recorder. The
world's only implantable cardiac monitor that captures and stores the
heart's rate and rhythm to determine if fainting, dizziness,
palpitations or unexplained seizure-like episodes are related to a
heart-rhythm problem.
— Medtronic CareLink(R) Network. An
Internet-based heart-monitoring system that enables patients with
implantable devices to transmit data from their device, while at home
or traveling, to their physician using a portable monitor that is
connected to a standard telephone line.
With a cost of $25.8 billion in 2004 and more than a million hospital admissions per year, congestive heart failure is an attractive target for medical device vendors. Any meaningful reduction in admissions could result in significant reductions in health care costs. A key to success will be the end to end connectivity – something that's simple and unobtrusive for patients, and conveys meaningful data and alarms to clinicians.
