Scientific wellness is a term that Dr. Leroy Hood uses to describe where he thinks the future of health care lies. Dr. Hood is President and Co-Founder of the Institute for Systems Biology, an organization that is on the leading edge of looking at ways of combining large sets of personal health data, genomic indicators [...]
Let’s talk about non-invasive monitoring, body-worn sensors and what the future of medical devices might look like. A recent story in Medical Device and Diagnostic Industry (MDDI) reports that Fitbit is collaborating with several other companies to bring glucose monitoring capability to a smartwatch. That is hard to do. Many companies have been hoping to [...]
An article in the New England Journal of Medicine reports on a study of why people abandon the use of wearable activity tracking devices. The study was done by the Center for Body Computing at the University of Southern California (USC). In the medical/healthcare industry, there has been interest in wearable technology since its advent. [...]
This post was initially going to be about the increasing prevalence of home diagnostic devices. One recent device is from Athelas. The device can analyze blood from a finger-prick droplet. It is meant to be used at home to allow patients to monitor changes in disease progression or to catch at the earliest stage whether [...]
Keep it simple. The small details are extremely important. Using distinct contrast - in color, or value (light/dark) - is the best way to call attention to what’s most important. Understand that one size does not fit all. What seems intuitive to one might not seem intuitive to another, for various reasons. Understand that, no [...]
In this article from Medgadget, Matt Loper tells how a particular human psychological trait is the key to an app that encourages compliance with medical treatment regimens. Wellth is the app that Loper’s company has created. It encourages adherence not by giving something as a reward for correct behavior, but rather by taking something away [...]
The product design process focuses heavily on the interaction between the user and the product: how the product is perceived aesthetically, what cues it provides that tell the user how to operate it, how it needs to be manipulated, what safety features it needs, how it might be used inappropriately. Another factor that should be [...]
Tiny computing devices are being incorporated into the human experience in thousands of ways. Along with that, sensor technology is progressing rapidly. This trend will provide significant opportunity in the design of medical devices. With the wearable sensors that are available today, along with their associated apps, we are just scratching the surface of what [...]
I am seeing a lot of stories in the medical press about new developments in diagnostic devices and point-of-care analytical systems. New microfluidic devices seem to be announced regularly. Imagine a future whereby you could deposit a small sample of your own blood or urine onto a microfluidic slide, insert it into a reader attached [...]
The PocketECG system from MEDICALgorithmics is a good example of where medical device design is headed. The PocketECG is essentially a Holter monitor combined with a physical activity tracker. What is significant is that, with data being collected on both heart rhythm and physical activity, it allows correlates to be established that can provide a [...]
