Global Positioning System Function Research Articles

Development of a walking aid with remote electrocardiogram measurement and global positioning system function

ABSTRACT The aging population has become one of the major issues in the world and in Taiwan. Among many aging diseases, heart disease and dementia are the main problems that affect the daily lives of the elderly and their family members. In this study, we have developed a smart walking aid with remote electrocardiogram (ECG) measurement and global positioning system (GPS) functions. The hardware of the walking aid consists of a brass column sensor with a self-developed ECG sensing circuit, a location module comprising a GPS and antenna, and a wireless transmission module with a microprocessor control unit and a Wi-Fi module. The software includes two parts: a self-developed ECG program for identifying arrhythmia with a human–machine interface to display the results and a self-developed location program integrated with Google Maps. The smart walking aid we have developed in this study was aiming to help family members or medical staff to monitor the physical conditions of their elderly family or patients who suffer from heart disease or dementia and identify their location when they experience disorientation.

Use of Mobile Devices, Social Media, and Crowdsourcing as Digital Strategies to Improve Emergency Cardiovascular Care: A Scientific Statement From the American Heart Association.

Cardiac arrest, acute myocardial infarction (AMI), and stroke affect millions of people in the United States annually.1 Despite significant advances in medical treatments for these conditions, they remain a major public health problem and a leading cause of morbidity and mortality.1 A critical common element in optimizing care and outcomes for these conditions is the timely recognition of symptoms and initiation of treatment. For example, rapid initiation of cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR) is associated with improved survival from cardiac arrest.2 Similarly, early recognition and presentation after onset of symptoms of AMI and ischemic stroke enable implementation of critical therapies such as primary angioplasty and thrombolysis, which are known to improve outcomes.1 Indeed, the “Chain of Survival” for emergency cardiovascular and cerebrovascular care (ECCC) starts with prompt identification of the condition and early activation of the healthcare system to rapidly initiate care.3 Unfortunately, despite national efforts that include public education initiatives and clinical practice guideline recommendations from entities such as the American Heart Association (AHA), major gaps remain in the timely identification of symptoms and initiation of ECCC.4–6 As one example, studies of out-of-hospital cardiac arrest (OHCA) have consistently noted delays in the initiation of bystander CPR.7 For AMI, there have been advances in the provision of timely primary angioplasty for ST-segment elevation myocardial infarction (STEMI), as reflected by significant improvements in door-to-balloon times.8 However, the time from patient symptom onset to seeking care for possible myocardial infarction has not improved significantly.9,10 Similarly, for stroke, there continue to be advances in door-to-needle times, but stroke symptom recognition and seeking of treatment by patients and their families remain a major barrier to timely stroke care.11–16 Public and clinician education efforts alone are not sufficient to reduce gaps …