Virtual checkups can be done using wearable technology that allows users to monitor health parameters like blood pressure, oxygen levels, blood glucose etc.
'Health Apps' can Prove to be Beneficial in Improving Your Health and Well-Being
The fact that mobile health technologies had not been fully studied did not mean that they were not effective.
The fact that mobile health technologies had not been fully studied did not mean that they were not effective.
‘Tech-savvy startups and others are introducing new ways to treat pain and monitor health issues at the Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas.
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French-based health group VisioMed introduced its Bewell Connect health management suite, which includes a smartphone app that communicates with its connected blood pressure and glucose monitor, thermometer and blood oxygen sensor. "If I have all these indicators I can get a pretty good assessment of your health. This is like a personal virtual checkup," said Benjamin Pennequin, research director for the group.
But the app goes further: If you have symptoms such as chest pain or shortness of breath, it poses a series of questions and delivers potential diagnoses, and allows the user to share the data with a physician.
How Health Apps on Smartphones can Revolutionize Healthcare Practice
An individual's genetic information could be put to even better use if it was linked to app-fueled, electronic health record systems, argue healthcare experts.
An individual's genetic information could be put to even better use if it was linked to app-fueled, electronic health record systems, argue healthcare experts.
A hand-held connected device unveiled by Las Vegas-based startup MedWand allows consumers to measure temperature, heart rate, oxygen levels and includes a camera to examine the throat and inner ear to enable doctors to perform an exam online.
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Mental Health Apps May Lead to Over-Diagnoses and Increase the Number of Check-Ups
Apps can never understand nuances of questions about progression and intensity, which are only possible with face-to-face interactions.
Apps can never understand nuances of questions about progression and intensity, which are only possible with face-to-face interactions.
"If you're just Skyping your doctor, it's just medical chat. With this we can get a picture of your tonsils, we can take your temperature. It's much more precise," MacNeish said.
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Young US Citizens are Not Using Health Apps: Online Survey
Researchers from New York University's Langone Medical Center found that health apps are a new fad among US citizens, especially youngsters.
Researchers from New York University's Langone Medical Center found that health apps are a new fad among US citizens, especially youngsters.
MedWand has been cleared by the US Food and Drug Administration and he said insurance companies are generally positive because a telemedicine exam costs less than one in a doctor's office.
"The patient saves a lot of time and so does the doctor," he said.
Continuous monitoring
Putting more health data in consumers' hands is a big theme at CES.
US-based medical device maker Omron unveiled its wrist-worn blood pressure sensor which delivers information to a smartphone.
"Most people only get their blood pressure checked at the doctor's office once or twice a year.This is continuous monitoring. If there is something wrong with your heart, you really want to listen," said chief operating officer Ranndy Kellogg.
Tech-savvy startups and others are introducing new ways to treat pain, in some cases taking techniques which have been around for decades and adapting them for smartphones and connected wearables.
NeuroMetrix debuted its Quell leg band, which blocks pain signals to the brain, and is an alternative to drugs for people suffering from debilitating pain related to diabetes or other ailments. It recently received approval from the Food and Drug Administration.
NeuroMetrix founder Shai Gozani, a medical doctor who also has a PhD in neurobiology, said the device "triggers your brain to upgrade its pain modulation" by acting on the opioid receptors in the same manner as opiates -- but without drugs.
Hacking pain
While Quell is a device which treats pain anywhere in the body from a single band, iTens offers a smartphone-controled patch which attaches to specific muscles to treat pain, using technology known as TENS, or transcutaneous elenctical neuromuscular stimulation.
The technology has been around for decades in hospital settings but is only now hitting the consumer market with smartphone technology and sensor-embedded devices.
"The electrical impulse intercepts the pain signal before it reaches the brain," said iTens spokesman Scott Overton, showing the device on the CES floor.
Tech innovators have found other paths to effectively hack into the body's neural pathways for therapy.
Biotrak Health showcased a headband to help users control muscle tension that often leads to migraines and other kinds of pain.
The Halo headband "alerts you when you are tense and allows you to control your own tension," said spokesman Adam Kirell.
A wrist-worn device meanwhile from ReliefBand technologies takes aim at nausea associated with motion and morning sickness. The device, which looks like a wristwatch, acts on the P6 or median nerve -- the same technique used in centuries-old treatment from acupuncture.
Source-AFP
