Wireless Monitoring Devices Research Articles

Continuous Wireless Monitoring Device Passes Test in First Hospital Use

Susan Sempeles is a freelance healthcarewriter based in Pennsylvania. The author declares no conflicts of interest.

Effects of Home-based Exercise Training with Wireless Monitoring on the Left Ventricular Function of Acute Coronary Syndrome Patients

[Purpose] While recent studies have reported that cardiac rehabilitation is an effective treatment, there have been few studies of its effects in rehabilitation for acute coronary syndrome (ACS). Therefore, the purpose of this study was to identify the effects of a home-based exercise training using a wireless electrocardiogram (ECG) monitoring device on ACS patients. [Subjects] Fifty ACS patients were randomly divided into a experimental group of 25 patients and a control group of 25 patients. [Methods] The experimental group received education on the training before discharge from hospital and started home-based exercise training two weeks after discharge from hospital. The control group received conventional treatments. The left ventricular function was measured in both groups before the intervention at and 12 weeks, at the end of the intervention. [Results] Both the experimental group and the control group showed significant improvements in the left ventricular ejection fraction and number of regional wall motion abnormalities. In the comparison of the two groups, the experimental group showed a significantly greater decline in regional wall motion abnormalities than the control group. [Conclusion] Home-based exercise training implemented with a wireless monitoring device was effective at improving the left ventricular function of ACS patients.

The Impact of an Online Social Network With Wireless Monitoring Devices on Physical Activity and Weight Loss

Online social networks (OSNs) are a new, promising approach for catalyzing health-related behavior change. To date, the empirical evidence on their impact has been limited. Using a randomized trial, we assessed the impact of a health-oriented OSN with accelerometer and scales on participant's physical activity, weight, and clinical indicators. A sample of 349 PeaceHealth Oregon employees and family members were randomized to the iWell OSN or a control group and followed for 6 months in 2010-2011. The iWell OSN enabled participants to connect with "friends," make public postings, view contacts' postings, set goals, download the number of their steps from an accelerometer and their weight from a scale, view trends in physical activity and weight, and compete against others in physical activity. Both control and intervention participants received traditional education material on diet and physical activity. Laboratory data on weight and clinical indicators (triglycerides, high-density lipoprotein, or low-density lipoprotein), and self-reported data on physical activity, were collected at baseline, 3 months, and 6 months. At 6 months, the intervention group increased leisure walking minutes by 164% compared with 47% in the control group. The intervention group also lost more weight than the controls (5.2 pounds compared with 1.5 pounds). There were no observed significant differences in vigorous exercise or clinical indicators between the 2 groups. Among intervention participants, greater OSN use, as measured by number of private messages sent, was associated with a greater increase in leisure walking and greater weight reduction over the study period. The study provides evidence that interventions using OSNs can successfully promote increases in physical activity and weight loss.

Optimal End-of-Life Management in Closed-Loop Supply Chains Using RFID and Sensors

Wireless communication and monitoring devices, namely, radio frequency identification (RFID) tags and sensors, capture and store dynamic life-cycle information during the economic life of the products. RFID tags deliver this information to a computer system when the products are returned to disassembly centers in a closed loop supply chain (CLSC) system. By means of this technology, content of each product and component conditions are known without disassembly and inspection. Life cycle information also makes it possible to estimate the remaining life of the components and enables the fulfillment of remaining lifetime-based demands. This paper presents an Advanced Repair-to-Order and Disassembly-to-Order (ARTODTO) model. ARTODTO model deals with the products that are embedded with sensors and RFID tags. The goal of the proposed model is to determine how to process each and every end-of-life product (EOLP) on hand to meet used product and component demands as well as recycled material demand. The model considers disassembly, repair, and recycling options for each EOLP in order to satisfy material and remaining-life-time-based (sophisticated) component/product demands and minimize the total cost. Outside component procurement option is also assumed to be available.

Assessment for Predicting Parturition in Mares Based on Prepartum Temperature Changes Using a Digital Rectal Thermometer and Microchip Transponder Thermometry Device

The purpose of this study was to observe the changes in body temperature before parturition using a wireless temperature monitoring device (WTMD) and to evaluate the usefulness of body temperature measurements using a digital rectal thermometer (DRT) and a microchip transponder thermometry device (MTTD) for predicting parturition in mares. The body temperatures using a WTMD at 0 hr and -1 hr were significantly different from those at the same time on Days 1-5 (P<0.01). The temperature differences between the morning of Day 0 and at -3 hr, -2 hr, -1 hr and 0 hr using the DRT and MTTD showed a significant drop compared with the temperature differences between the morning and evening of Days 1-5 (P<0.05). Furthermore, when the cutoff value of the temperature differences between the morning and other times was set to ≤0, the sensitivities of the DRT and MTTD in the evening of Day 0 and at -3 hr were 43% and 100% and 71% and 86%, respectively. The results suggested that monitoring the body temperature differences between morning and within 3 hr before the time of parturition is a valuable method for predicting parturition in mares. Conversely, this method would be more useful in predicting parturition when used in combination with other observations such as the mammary gland size and waxing of the teat ends because it has nearly a 20% probability of false-positive results prior to the day of parturition.

Genomic Information as a Behavioral Health Intervention: Can it Work?

Individuals can now obtain their personal genomic information via direct-to-consumer genetic testing, but what, if any, impact will this have on their lifestyle and health? A recent longitudinal cohort study of individuals who underwent consumer genome scanning found minimal impacts of testing on risk-reducing lifestyle behaviors, such as diet and exercise. These results raise an important question: is personal genomic information likely to beneficially impact public health through motivation of lifestyle behavioral change? In this article, we review the literature on lifestyle behavioral change in response to genetic testing for common disease susceptibility variants. We find that only a few studies have been carried out, and that those that have been done have yielded little evidence to suggest that the mere provision of genetic information alone results in widespread changes in lifestyle health behaviors. We suggest that further study of this issue is needed, in particular studies that examine response to multiplex testing for multiple genetic markers and conditions. This will be critical as we anticipate the wide availability of whole-genome sequencing and more comprehensive phenotyping of individuals. We also note that while simple communication of genomic information and disease susceptibility may be sufficient to catalyze lifestyle changes in some highly motivated groups of individuals, for others, additional strategies may be required to prompt changes, including more sophisticated means of risk communication (e.g., in the context of social norm feedback) either alone or in combination with other promising interventions (e.g., real-time wireless health monitoring devices).

Wireless Environmental Monitoring Device

This wireless environmental monitoring device is based on the principle of binary Amplitude Shift Keying (2ASK). Under the control of ultra-low-power single-chip microcomputer MSP430F449, the device can detect the temperature an light around it. The detect system consists of monitoring terminal, detecting nodes and coupling coils. In the mode of UART asynchronous communication, the device can realize the function of wireless data transmission with the carrier of 8MHz. Monitoring terminal and detecting nodes are both applied on the same transceiver circuit. The transmitter achieves 2ASK modulation by using the keying method. The receiver achieves 2ASK demodulation by using the envelope detection method. Detection nodes are battery powered.It can preset code, detecting the ambient temperature and light, and then transmit the message automatically. The absolute error of measured temperature is below 2°C, and the absolute error of power consumption is below 0.2W. Monitoring terminal uses one single power supply. It can communication with the detecting nodes directly, and display the node number and the detected information. In the condition of detecting delay is below 2S and detecting range D + D is above 50cm, the supply power of the monitoring terminal ≤ 0.5W. The whole system has simple circuit, low power consumption and multifunction.

Development of wireless bruxism monitoring device based on pressure-sensitive polymer composite

A wireless pressure sensing bite-guard has been developed for monitoring the progress of bruxism (teeth grinding during sleep); as well as protecting the teeth from damages. For sensing the pressure effectively in the restricted space and hostile environment, a pressure-sensitive polymer composite has been fabricated and encapsulated into a conventional bite-guard which is safe for in situ applications. The device is anticipated to give real-time data through wireless data transmission and to have a long working life (weeks). A microcontroller-based electronic circuit has been built in-house for data collection and transmission. A low power approach is configured to increase the working life of the device. This device is a useful tool for understanding and treating bruxism.

Preliminary development of a wearable device for dynamic pressure measurement in garments

During activity, the body’s limbs experience significant anthropometrical changes as muscles and tendons exert force for motion and stability. This dynamic motion is of interest to sports compression garment manufacturers who seek to enhance sports performance through gradient compression garment design. Existing devices for measuring garment pressure are generally not well suited to dynamic pressure measurement during sports activities due to limited portability, memory, communication and power capacity. A wearable wireless monitoring device was constructed, which included six 18 mm diameter low profile pressure sensors that were placed on the body at various positions, e.g. on the calf, thigh, and buttocks regions, to sense garment pressure in the range of 5–50 mmHg. The accuracy and precision of the wearable dynamic pressure monitoring device was explored using a series of step changes in pressure effected through the placement of a series of known masses. Similar tests were also conducted with the Kikuhime ™ and PicoPress ™ for comparison. Further tests to explore the performance of the wearable dynamic pressure monitoring device to monitor changes in pressure between a subject and garment during various activities were also performed. The performance of the wearable dynamic pressure monitoring device is discussed in terms of portability, dynamic response, accuracy, precision, resolution and general utility. It was generally found to be acceptable for further field studies. Wireless dynamic pressure monitoring devices represent a tool that could be utilised to help further understand and characterise dynamic compression in various sports activities. Such a device would enable functional testing and provide valuable information on dynamic compression values and the physiological efficacy of gradient compression garment design.

Potential Impact of Advanced Clinical Information Technology on Cancer Care in 2015

New clinical information technologies now sporadically available will soon be in routine clinical use, bringing many changes to all phases of the cancer care continuum. For example, new technologies such as: (1) The next generation Internet; (2) Real-time clinical decision support systems; (3) Off-line, population-based systems; (4) Large, integrated, individual patient-level phenotypic and genotypic databases with intelligent data mining capabilities; (5) Wireless, invasive and non-invasive physiologic monitoring devices; (6) Natural Language Processing (NLP) systems; and (7) Mathematical models of complex biological systems all have the potential to impact significantly the provision of cancer care throughout its continuum. While new information management and communication techniques and technologies will reduce many of the inefficiencies and inaccuracies of our present systems, there will be an equal, and potentially far more dangerous, set of unintended consequences. Informatics investigators, cancer specialists, and health system administrators must focus on the study of what is working and what is not, as well as, on development and testing of the new clinical information management and communication technologies, if we are to be ready for the future.