Philips snags $300M loan for R&D: Philips has attained a EURO 200 million loan (about $300 million) from the European Investment Bank for research and development for healthcare ICT projects in Europe: Image-guided intervention, clinician support tools and home healthcare. The loan is for 10 years and is provided under the Risk-Sharing Finance Facility (RSFF). More
USA Today lists WiFi weight scale at top of holiday gift-buying guide: "A ribbon-wrapped scale? No one wants that. Just try giving your spouse the Withings Wi-Fi Body Scale ($159 at withings.net) and see how delighted he or she is. (It has a wireless connection that can post a person's weight to a personal website or, worse, Twitter it to the world.)" More
The Korea Times published a feature on uHealthcare (ubiquitous healthcare, similar to mHealth): "Micro-technologies offer the possibility of small size, but also of intelligent, active devices, working with low energy, wireless and non-invasive or minimally-invasive techniques. Wearable devices are particularly user friendly and combine sensors, circuits, supply, display and wireless transmission in a single box, which is very convenient for common physical activities. Healthcare smart clothes make contact with 90% of the skin and offer many possibilities for the location of sensors... Healthcare smart homes are designed to improve the patient's living conditions and to avoid the cost of long hospitalization. Exo-sensors are used for measurement of the activity and behavior of the patient. The field of applications is very large. For example, it could be used for continuous monitoring of elderly populations, professional and military activities, athlete performance and conditions, and people with disabilities." More
NC academics develop smart inhaler: Two professors at North Carolina State University in Raleigh have created a prototype smart inhaler system for people with asthma: The device aims to modulate "the patient’s inhalation waveform and then [release] a controlled drug-air stream which targets specific lung sites." More
