Driving an iPhone with a wheelchair joystick: Christchurch, New Zealand-based Dynamic Controls developed a system by which wheelchair users can control their iPhone using the chair’s joystick. Additionally, the iPhone can display important information about the wheelchair, such as the battery charge state, speed, seat adjustment, and heading direction, according to the company.
Apple
Weekly Wireless Roundup: World’s first standalone iPhone attachment medical device
World’s first standalone iPhone attachment medical device: At the ongoing meeting of Association for the Study of Diabetes in Stockholm, Sweden, Sanofi-aventis unveiled the world’s first attachment to Apple’s (NSDQ:AAPL) iPhone and iPod Touch that is a standalone medical device. Developers Sanofi-aventis and AgaMatrix dubbed their plug-in glucose monitor iBGStar.
Weekly Wireless Roundup: GE and MedHelp create iPhone app for mothers-to-be
GE Healthymagination and MedHelp create iPhone app for mothers to be: GE and MedHelp, an online health community site, teamed up to create the Apple (NSDQ:AAPL) iPhone application "I’m Expecting" for expectant mothers. The app helps the moms-to-be track their pregnancy and become acquainted with what’s coming up. Users can track pregnancy symptoms for sharing information with a doctor and utilize other features, such as tracking their baby bump with photos and get tips on how to alleviate pregnancy-related discomfort.
Weekly Wireless Roundup: Monitor your baby with wireless pajamas
Monitor your baby with wireless pajamas: McLean, Va.-based Exmovere claims to have developed baby clothing, called Exmobaby, that can monitor a child’s heart rate, “emotional state,” and level of activity, and relay that information wirelessly to a computer or cell phone. Paranoid parents will be able to keep a virtual eye on their kids 24/7, and maybe worries about SIDS and infant sleep apnea can be diminished. An initial production of 1,000 units will be made available in 2011 to select customers.
Weekly Wireless Roundup: GPS-enabled inhalers for rural sufferers of asthma
GPS-enabled asthma inhalers: Asthma is looked upon as primarily an urban problem probably exacerbated by air pollution from cars and heavy industry. According to Centers for Disease Control research, however, it turns out that asthma is just as common in rural areas. To identify triggers that cause asthma attacks, a research study is currently underway that uses GPS-enabled inhalers to record when and where patients used the device. Collecting enough information over a substantial enough amount of time may help researchers spot which locations and environmental factors trigger asthmatic reactions.
Weekly Wireless Roundup: Nuance Communications releases mobile medical search app
Nuance Communications releases mobile medical search app: Nuance released its Dragon Medical Mobile Search iPhone application today in Apple’s app store. The smartphone app shows medical reference and web-based information simultaneously from a variety search engines, including IMO, Medline, Drugs.mobi, Medscape and Google. The app also uses voice-search functionality, providing doctors with an almost hands-free interface.
Weekly Wireless Roundup: Are docs slaves to their mobile devices?
Are docs slaves to their mobile devices?: Digital tools are commandeering doctors’ personal lives, writes Chicago cardiac electro-physiologist Dr. Westby Fisher, who blogs at Dr. Wes, and docs are partly to blame.
Fisher writes that as society moves into an era of healthcare delivery in which millions more need physicians’ and other healthcare providers’ time, we’re seeing “a powerful force emerge — a subtle marketing of limitless physician availability facilitated by the advance of the electronic medical record, social media and smart phones.”
Weekly Wireless Roundup: AirStrip iPhone app lands FDA clearance for remote patient monitoring
AirStrip iPhone app lands U.S. Food & Drug Administration clearance for remote patient monitoring: AirStrip Technologies of San Antonio, Texas received 510(k) clearance from the FDA to market company’s ‘Remote Patient Monitoring’ solutions, including AirStrip RPM Critical Care and AirStrip RPM Cardiology. The RPM products allow virtual real-time monitoring of vital signs, critical waveform data and other clinical parameters, according to the company (PDF).
Weekly Wireless Roundup: Apple files for iPhone heart monitor patent
Apple files patent for iPhone embedded heart monitor: Apple filed a patent for a seamlessly embedded heart monitor in what looks like an iPhone or iPod touch. The main purpose of the integration appears to be for authorization purposes. Using specific algorithms, an EKG tracing can be used to identify individuals. The patent also states that the embedded monitor can be used to predict a user’s mood, a feature of which we’re a bit skeptical.
Weekly Wireless Roundup: Is Apple iPad the device healthcare has waited for?
Apple iPad: The device healthcare has waited for? Apple unveiled a tablet device, which looks like a giant iPhone, called the iPad. While Apple CEO Steve Jobs and his team of presenters at Apple’s iPad launch event did’t mention the healthcare vertical as a key market for the iPad, it looks to be just that. The device holds promise as a new point-of-care tool for healthcare workers and as a personal health device for patients…
Weekly Wireless Roundup: Startups launch and rumors swirl ahead of CES
Startups launch and rumors swirl ahead of CES The International 2010 Consumer Electronics Show kicked off this week with a flurry of news, but come Saturday a portion of the CE industry’s attention will be focused on connected health devices and services at the Digital Health Summit co-located at the event. Wireless health companies have already begun making news in the New Year, including Wellcore, the Mayo Clinic, GE Healthcare and Intel and Apple.