Andoid phones become heart rate monitors with new app: The developers of Google (NSDQ:GOOG) Android app Instant Heart Rate claim that they can use your phone’s camera to measure your heart rate. When a user places their index finger over the camera lens, the app will be able to detect slight changes in skin color as oxygenated blood passes through with each heart beat, according to the app’s developers. Although commenters at Android and Me report fairly accurate results, MedGadget‘s testors were unable to get consistent readings with the app. Readers who wish to try Instant Heart Rate for themselves can install it by searching for the app in the Android marketplace. 
Review: iPad as a radiology viewer: Dalai’s PACS Blog writer Sam Friedman reviewed Apple’s (NSDQ:AAPL) iPad as a radiology viewer for ADVANCE for Imaging and Radiation Oncology. He covers both the iPad itself, as well as all the radiology viewing applications he could find. The apps include Merge Mobile, OsiriX, iClarity, Mobile MIM and ResolutionMD. Each app was actually a magnified iPhone application, as none of the apps have been adapted specifically for the iPad yet. His overall impression seems positive, although the currently available software only consists of very basic viewers. Friedman’s expectations are high, however, as he does think we are at the very beginning of something revolutionary.
Medical alert bracelets’ promise and challenges: The Wall Street Journal has an article covering the well-known “medical alert bracelet,” and its many modern spin-offs. When a patient comes into the emergency room, they don’t always have the mental faculty to answer important questions about their medical conditions, and family members are often not immediately available. Medical alert bracelet systems help convey critical information about patients quickly so physicians can focus on delivering care and avoiding devastating medical errors. The options available include standard engraved bracelets, pre-loaded flash drives and cards containing login info for websites loaded with a patient’s medical information.
The system is not perfect, however. Most of these medical alert systems cost a decent amount of money and require extra effort either on the patients’ or doctors’ part unless the bracelet is integrated with an electronic medical record system like Kaiser Permanente’s. Another issue is that because there are so many different medical alert systems, doctors and first responders might not know how to access all the information or might not be able to access it quickly enough.
Researchers developing continuous remote monitoring system for epileptic patients: A team of researchers at the University of Chicago Hospitals’ Pediatric Epilepsy Center are working on a system that can monitor epileptic sufferers around the clock. Patients will be able to use their smartphones to record and send data to their doctor for review. The system, which the University of Chicago is co-developing in collaboration with Chicago-based Wave Technology Group, can provide text message alerts to the patient or caregivers about potential upcoming seizures. Additionally, the system will be cheaper and more portable than current EEG monitoring solutions. Wave hopes to attain Food & Drug Administration approval for the system by the end of next year.
A weekly roundup of new developments in wireless medical technology and mHealth, by MedGadget.com.
