The Washington Post published a feature today on aging in place technologies: "Imagine a 75-year-old receiving wireless medication reminders, straight to his beeping wristband. Or an 80-year-old with a new hip, linked by body sensors to a device embedded in her carpet that tracks her movement patterns in case her mobility worsens." The Washington Post
Telecoms.com has a worthwhile high-level mHealth feature: "Even in South Africa, the most economically advanced country in the African region, an estimated 50 per cent of medical devices are useless... There are no standards and there is nowhere to plug these devices in, because only 20 per cent of Africa has access to a national power grid. These devices are power hungry, they are not green, they are big, they are not mobile, and to solve 90 per cent of the population’s difficulties we have to use mobile. Telecoms.com
WellDoc weighs in on FDA 510(k) reform and wireless health regulation in general: "Working at the convergence of information technology and bio-science offers many challenges. First, a company must discern whether or not regulatory clearance is even necessary," WellDoc CEO Ryan Sysko told InformationWeek. "Unfortunately, determining when a system goes beyond a consumer product to an FDA regulated product or even one requiring prescriptive approval is not black and white. Second, it can be difficult for a small, emerging technology company to employ the appropriate resources to navigate the regulatory process." InformationWeek
Contact lens of the future revisited: Last year we wrote about the potential mobile health platform of the future: the contact lens. The Daily Press has an update on the project's progress in the past few months. Of note: The researchers said possible medical uses for biosensing contact lenses include monitoring glucose, cholesterol, temperature, inflammation, infection or fatigue. The project is funded by National Science Foundation and Microsoft, but major contact lens manufacturers and the video game industry are interested. DailyPress
