The use of computers to keep aging brains alert is a new project at IBM-Israel, which has announced a collaboration with European Union partners. The three-year HERMES Cognitive Care for Active Aging project will be based on audio and visual processing and reasoning. A combination of home-based and mobile device-based systems are planned to help older people combat the natural reduction in cognitive capabilities; special focus will be put on developing a comfortable interface for older people with little or no computer experience. More interesting details in this item from the Jerusalem post.

It’s interesting when two stories come in at the same time, unrelated except that they are tapping into the zeitgeist. Here is an example of this phenomenon. The first item is about the use of mobile phones in telehealth around the world and, if you think it is a bit ‘far out’ still, read the second item – Nokia planning to get into the ’smart home’ arena, including health monitoring.

1. Lives of a cell

2. Nokia develops a smart home platform to offer consumers new ways to control their homes with a mobile device

And, in a slightly difference vein, this story, just in:

Text message surgery saves Congolese boy

This Guardian article, reporting on Edinburgh following Croydon’s example of setting up ‘virtual wards’ of people being cared for at home, is slow to get going but read on to where it gets into some of the detail. It’s a service that arises from a distinctly different culture to the ‘Doctor will see you now’ item below this. Read it here. And oh, someone has just realised the model could be applied to social care…

[Additional information following the above post, this month's sponsor, Project E-vita, pointed out that a client of theirs, Medihome, has been providing this kind of service for some NHS hospitals in London and South East England for a number of years. The NHS Department of Innovation and Improvement made a video about Medihome and Project E-vita as an example of an innovative way of delivering care to people. Medihome use the Project E-vita system to collect data about patients in their own home using MACIC, a PDA-based system that synchronises with the master record held on Project E-vita. Hospital consultants can then access patients' records and monitor their progress. Nurses even take images of wounds healing and upload these for observation. Medihome provides two distinct services to NHS hospitals: 'early discharge', saving costs on hospital occupancy, and an 'alternative admission' service where patients that might be admitted through the emergency department are intercepted and assessed for treatment in their own home.

There are three excellent videos showing the system in use that are accessible from the Medihome home page.

Websites: Medihome and Project Evita]

Could new web-based medical applications, coupled with the next generation of Bluetooth consumer medical devices, change personal medical care? That’s the question in a White Paper written by by Nick Hunn, Advanced Technology Director of Laird Technologies Wireless Systems “a global leader in the design and manufacture of systems for wireless and other advanced electronics and supplier of wireless technology to the medical market”.

Actually, I’m bound to like any report that begins:

“We’ve all heard about eHealth, whether it goes under that name or the equally popular aliases of telehealth or remote healthcare. For the last decade it’s been touted as the saviour of our healthcare systems, whether they be public or private, by letting patients take care of their own wellbeing and reducing costs for healthcare providers. Far from delivering that promise, it’s spawned a culture of pilots and trial.”

There are lots of other parts I’d like to quote, but here’s two:

“Current consumer medical device manufacturers have little understanding of web applications, or how to change their products into connected devices. Their expertise is in selling boxes that they can forget about.”

“One of the biggest opportunities could be for the UK’s National Health Service to grasp the role of international healthcare provider and make NHS a global brand, but it’s unlikely that will happen.”

This item on the Laird Technologies website has a download link for the four-page paper Trust me, I’m not a doctor – The changing nature of healthcare.

VivoMetrics LifeShirt is described as “a continuous, integrated and wearable remote patient monitoring (RPM) system” and it is being used by Concordia University (Montreal, Canada) to learn more about lifestyle factors that may put children at risk for developing cardiovascular diseases as they grow older. Press release.

Well, kind of. ‘Intelligent’ monitoring of movements by analysing GPS signals from phones and satellite navigation units in cars is now possible. So it can reduce your blood pressure by helping you avoid jams? BBC News item. Thanks to a smart-thinking reader.

Audio report on a brainstorming session at Kaiser Permanente’s Innovative Learning Network conference. Worth the six-and-a-half minutes it will take you to listen to it.

Mention of the Nintendo Wii Fit in the report reminds me that we had a news round-up item on this in April: Wiimarkable: Can it evolve into a telehealth device? And I think the answer to that question is becoming clearer: it can, through the games box acting as a hub. It would also reduce the ‘boredom factor’ that must set in if you have to make and report ‘vital signs’ every day.

One of the best moments from this astounding 12 minute video from CBS 60 Minutes. It’s not telehealth – yet – but definitely one for the Pointers to the Future category. (Plays after the advert.)

Video in original article (Harnessing The Power Of The Brain) context.

“Although the secure transport of patient information is fundamental to telehealth, it is just the sprawling back-end of a technology ecosystem that is only as good as the sensors themselves.” Read the rest of the article Beyond Simple Telehealth to find out more… [Annoying popup advert alert - just close it to read the article]

A new product launched by the Dutch TechMedic company and ‘adopted’ by the communications provider T-mobile, the Dyna-Vision is a “small and portable device, with the dimensions of a PDA…monitors up-to 10 clinical parameters through non-invasive sensors attached to the skin. The measurements include 12-lead ECG, Heart Rate, Heart Rate Variability, RR-times, Respiration, Plethysmogram, Oxygen Saturation and some derived parameters…equipped with an internal GPRS module which automatically transmits the recordings to the secure Dyna-Vision server. Physicians can connect to this server with a computer to analyze the recordings or to monitor real-time vital signs of the patient.” according to the press release.

This item reminds me that Cambridge Wireless had a Special Interest Group meeting hosted by Mircrosoft Research last week to explore “the exciting hypothesis that a new lifestyle revolution in wireless personal video devices is fast opening up, with the mobile phone supremely placed to be the device of choice for consumption of all forms of video on the go.” Some of the industry’s heavy-hitters attended including Sagentia, Qualcomm, TTP Group, Motorola, T-Mobile, and Alcatel Lucent.

Don’t think it’s not coming…

On Monday, Telecare Aware flagged up that the large companies comprising Dossia have joined the Continua Alliance. The implication was that by pushing for consumer-initiated change their presence will further strengthen the world-wide standard-setting role that the Alliance is carving out. On top of that, it was announced yesterday that Google Health, which has been a contributing member for some time, is going to play a more active part. [Reminder re Google Health - a video in Telecare Aware, May 2008 or put 'Google' in the search box above.]

According to the press release, the presence of Dossia and Google in the Alliance will “bring a depth of knowledge, breadth of resources, and unique perspective to the Alliance and will help Continua to ensure that current and future Personal Health Record/Personal Health System applications can be used across a wide array of Continua-certified devices.”

Jerry Lin, Product Manager for Google Health is reported as saying “Our work with Continua will help us continue to develop integration with various home monitoring devices to ensure that data can be uploaded from these devices and securely stored in Google Health.” [That translates as 'Being part of Continua will help us play catch up with, and attempt to overtake, Microsoft Health Vault for direct telehealth device input.']

First public demonstration of interoperability

The above announcement has been timed to build anticipation for the first public demonstration of interoperability by Continua members A&D Medical, Cambridge Consultants, Cypak, FitLinxx, Google Health, IBM, Intel, Nonin Medical, Oracle, Partners, Philips, Roche Diagnostics, University Health Network and the National Health Service (NHS) [! Probably about five people in the NHS will know about this.]

The demonstration will take place on October 27, 2008 at the Partners Center for Connected Health’s 5th annual Connected Health Symposium in Boston, Massachusetts and will consist of devices and software in home and professional settings that support Continua’s Version One Guidelines and share a common interface.

It is expected that audience members will see the benefits of real-time information sharing, including improved data for diagnostics and treatment, time and cost savings, and an improved patient experience.

New Executive Director in January

Finally for this bumper announcement from Continua, Charles ‘Chuck’ Parker will become the Alliance’s new Executive Director in January. He is a healthcare professional with more than 20 years’ experience in the industry, most recently as Chief Technology Officer and Senior Vice President of Business Development and Marketing at Masspro, a healthcare quality performance improvement organisation. Chuck will guide new initiatives for growth, financial stability and services to members, and become the public face of the Alliance.

Download the Continua Alliance’s press release. (If only to see how the official version differs from mine.)

Don’t give up after the first paragraph of this article, it has possible implications for telecare. And don’t underestimate the company, just because the guy in the photo looks like a young geek. His company, Bug Labs has raised about $4 million from firms including Union Square Ventures and is up to 20 employees. Bugs That Obey You, from Forbes. (Skip the ‘Welcome’ screen.)

The full title of this item is A Second Life for eHealth: Prospects for the Use of 3-D Virtual Worlds in Clinical Psychology. (If you are not up to speed with what Second Life is, read this Wikipedia entry.)

The article (Gorini A, Gaggioli A, Vigna C, Riva G A Second Life for eHealth: Prospects for the Use of 3-D Virtual Worlds in Clinical Psychology J Med Internet Res 2008;10(3):e21) concludes that, owing to the anonymity such encounters offer people seeking help “…3-D virtual worlds, used as an adjunct to face-to-face settings, may represent a valid opportunity for the future developments in eHealth. Our hope is that the present paper will stimulate a discussion within the research community about the potential, the limitations, and the risks that this emerging medium offers for cybertherapy applications.”

Just because the consultation between client/patient and the health professional is entirely mediated by technology, I’m not at all sure whether it is appropriate to construe this as telecare, even in its broadest sense: hence the ‘terminology’ category tag.

This is one for when you have time to read and ponder.

The ‘Growth Partnership Company’ (consultancy) Frost & Sullivan, seem to think so. They have awarded Noninvasive Medical Technologies, Inc. their annual Award for Healthcare Innovation for, amongst other things, a device that measures directly the fluid status of the chest. It’s called the ZOE fluid status monitor and is a lightweight, simple-to-use device that measures thoracic base impedance. The less the impedance to an electrical current means that there is more fluid, providing for an objective measurement parameter of fluid levels in the body rather than relying on the proxy of weight gain as is mostly used at present. F&S press release.

The Health Service Journal has published a long and interesting item about Birmingham OwnHealth, the service developed by NHS Direct and Pfizer which will, no doubt, form the basis of the national developments they are planning. (See Watch out NHS – they’ll get you directly!).

What caught my attention was that Birmingham East and North PCT “has agreed to scale up OwnHealth from 2,000 members now to 11,000 by March 2009 and 27,000 by 2012.” Read the article here.