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Mobile health monitoring has taken a big leap in recent years, mainly thanks to smart watches and smart bracelets. We talk about five new ways to technologically monitor your health
Electronic tattoo
Blood pressure is one of the most important indicators of heart health. For decades, blood pressure has been measured using cuff-based devices. Smartwatches are not well suited for blood pressure monitoring due to the fact that they slip on the wrist and can be far from the arteries. Researchers at the University of Texas at Austin and Texas A&M University have come up with a revolutionary new way: they have developed an electronic graphene tattoo that can be worn comfortably on the wrist for several hours. It provides continuous blood pressure measurements with a level of accuracy that exceeds nearly all options available on the market.
“Blood pressure is the most important vital sign that can be measured, but methods for passively measuring it outside the clinic, without a cuff, are very limited. Graphene tattoo is weightless, imperceptible. You put it on and forget about it,” said Deji Akinwande, professor in the Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering at the University of Texas at Austin and one of the project leaders.
Akinvande and his colleagues created a tattoo consisting of 12 almost invisible graphene strips arranged in two rows along the two main arteries of the forearm. The outer strips of each row send small electrical signals deep into the tissues of the arm, and the inner strips can then determine the body’s response.
Tattoos can continuously measure blood pressure with “class A” accuracy in accordance with international standards – the highest possible level of accuracy for a medical device.
Continuous monitoring of electronic tattoo allows you to measure blood pressure in any situation: during severe stress, during sleep, exercise. It can take thousands of measurements, which is more than any other device at the moment.
Biosymbiotic device that does not require charging
University of Arizona engineers have developed a new type of tracker called a “biosymbiotic device”. The devices are 3D printed, based on a scan of the user’s body, and can run continuously without recharging.
“We are introducing a completely new concept of adapting the device directly to the person and using wireless power transmission so that the device can work 24/7 without the need for recharging,” said Philippe Gutruf, Associate Professor of the Department of Biomedical Engineering.
The devices consist of a 3D printed thermoplastic polyurethane mesh. The mesh design allows for wearing on the body without the use of adhesives. The device stays in place even when exercising in extreme heat.
In addition, the custom design allows precise control of the location of the sensor. This makes it possible to place sensors in physiologically significant places. For example, to measure temperature, the device can be attached to the armpit, and to control muscle load – on the biceps.
The biosymbiotic device is powered by a wireless system with a range of several meters. The device also includes a small power storage unit so that it will function even if the owner moves out of range of the system.
Eye pressure lenses
Glaucoma is an irreversible disease that leads to blindness if not treated promptly. Swiss technology company Sensimed has created wearable sensors in smart contact lenses that are designed to help prevent glaucoma and start therapy on time.
A microsensor embedded in a disposable silicone contact lens is able to detect changes in intraocular pressure. The ophthalmologist, as a rule, can obtain information about this parameter only at a specific point in time when the patient is in the office. Smart lenses are worn for 24 hours, which allows you to receive important information about all points of the daily cycle.
Understanding how the eye behaves over the course of 24 hours can also help guide treatment choices and allow doctors to assess whether treatment is working as it should or whether more aggressive therapy should be initiated.
Smartphone camera as a stress tracker
With biofeedback, machine learning and an easy-to-use interface, Welltory, a New York-based smartphone app, helps manage stress and well-being.
The ideological inspirer of the project was Alexander Lyskovsky, who worked for Alawar Entertainment (an international developer, distributor and publisher of video games) for a long time. According to Alexander himself, after 35 years he began to feel worse, so it became necessary to understand his health – and at the same time answer popular questions: how to improve well-being, how to experience less stress, how to sleep less, but more efficiently.
The main function of Welltory (available in the free version of the app) is measuring stress and energy levels, which can be done on an iOS or Android phone using the camera. Using the same technology as most pulse oximeters, the app uses the phone’s camera to look at blood vessels in the user’s index finger and measure heart rate variability. Heart rate variability indicates the difference in the intervals between heartbeats.
Through the app, people can see how certain lifestyle changes, such as morning meditation, working from home, or changing their diet, affect their stress and energy levels. This helps you optimize your lifestyle and choose those coping practices that actually work.
All-in-one skin lab
UC San Diego engineers have developed an elastic skin patch that can continuously monitor blood pressure and heart rate, as well as measure glucose, lactate, alcohol or caffeine levels. This is the first wearable device that simultaneously captures cardiovascular signals and several biochemical parameters in the human body.
“The novelty here is that we take completely different sensors and combine them together on one small postage stamp-sized platform. With this wearable device, we can collect a lot of information and do it in a non-invasive way without causing discomfort or interrupting daily activities,” said Joseph Wang, professor of nanoengineering at the University of California, San Diego and co-author of the study.
The patch is a thin sheet of elastic polymers and is equipped with a blood pressure sensor and two chemical sensors – one measures levels of lactate (a biomarker of exercise), caffeine and alcohol in sweat, and the other measures glucose levels in tissue fluid.
Such a device can be used to detect the onset of sepsis, which is characterized by a sudden drop in blood pressure and a rapid increase in lactate levels. The patch could also be a convenient alternative for patients in intensive care units, including infants, who need constant monitoring of blood pressure and other vital signs. These procedures now involve inserting catheters deep into a patient’s arteries and tying them to multiple hospital monitors.
During the tests, the subjects wore the device around their neck while performing various combinations of the following tasks: exercising on an exercise bike; eating foods high in sugar; drinking alcohol and coffee. The monitoring results exactly matched the measurements obtained with conventional medical devices.
The team is already working on a new version with even more sensors. The current work also includes downsizing the blood pressure sensor electronics.