If you’ve ever been to the hospital, you probably are famiiar with the holter monitor, a device for measuring electrical activity in the nervous system. And you probably also know what holters tend to look like: a bunch of unsightly and uncomfortable plastic patches and wires attached to a bulky, beeping screen. The alternative could come in the form of a system being developed by researchers at Carlos III University in Madrid that uses a tank top instead of rubber suckers, and dispenses with the wires in favor of, well, a completely wireless set-up.
Not only is the tank top less intrusive and more comfortable than traditional biomonitoring systems, say the researchers, it also is just a fraction of the cost. Alongside the washable T-shirt, whch contains a series of electrodes that measure and record bioelectrical activity, the system also includes a removable thermometer and accelerometer that measures temperature and movement, and a separate positioning device that allows doctors and nurses to keep track of where patients are.
Another post on wireless monitoring. It was quite a day fo posts on simplifying Health Care: Science Times in this morning's NYT talked about a drastic reduction in the cost of CPAPs by implementing simpler alternatives and Mashable posted on using phones for health care in Africa.
