Health Monitoring Systems

by Dean Morris

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Overview

With the aging baby boomer generation, many medical personal have seen more need for personal in home care systems. With in care systems, medical personal can easily monitor patient health while they are home. This frees up space in hospitals and rest homes, while still allowing for continuous care of the elderly. Because of this need, technology in this field has expanded greatly, and now has even hospital grade care systems available for use in personal residence. Although this technology has increased, a fully automated system is far from reality. Most of the systems available still call for personel to visit individuals for regular checkups or in time of emergency.



Complex Monitoring Systems

Complex systems are those that add a friendly interface while regularly checking many different readings. The most widely used system is the MedicAlert® Health Enhancement System¹. This system monitors many different areas, from weight and blood pressure, to glucose level. Each device is a small, 2lb. device that is linked to a central area by standard phone line. At the central area, care givers look at the information given, and those areas that do not meet predefined limits are highlighted. These highlights allow for caregivers to quickly see which patients should be visited to make sure they are in good health. Anytime which no information is given at a regular time, the system automatically calls a caregiver to visit. It should be noted, that this is still not an emergency device, simply one for continuous care. Below of some screenshots of the information the caregiver is shown.


Also, a movie was created to illustrate the device, how it works, and the its usefulness: MedicAlert Video



Individual Monitoring Systems

Individual systems are smaller in scale to complex systems, which allow for specific readings. These devices are normally placed on the patients body someplace, and wireless networks send the data to caregivers. Since only one condition is looked for, the data is normally more specific to the patients need, and so is the caregiver. Many devices are used to monitor health, such as heart beats and blood pressure, but also for sleep habits as well. Individual Monitoring Systems Inc,² has created and sells many useful individual health monitoring systems. These small devices are worn on the body of the patient and give immediate feedback of everything from blood pressure and sleep cycles, to body movement and steps. Each device is easy to use and read, and helps keep patients active and healthy.



Emergency Response Systems

Emergency response systems are those that give immediate results. These devices are created for instant alerts, and cover things such as falling or wandering. Emergency Caller is a company that sells many of these devices for in home use, and even to larger facilities such as retirement homes.³ These systems are very specialized, but allow for instant alerts. The wandering prevention device for instant, allows for a small transmitter to be worn as a bracelet or necklace. This transmitter sends out a signal to a reciever through walls and other objects. When the signal is a preset distance or more away from the reciever, an alarm is sounded to alert anyone in the home that the patient has left the area. This is ideal for those that wander off on their own, and helps keep track of those patients so they do not injure themselves or get lost with no one knowing where they are. Larger recievers can keep track of up to 40 different people, which allows for rest homes to monitor many different patients at once. Other emergency devices include one button boxes that instantly call for help, used for those that fall or suffer sudden conditions such as a stroke. All emergency systems are very useful for making sure that quick response is alerted in many potentially fatal cases, and is highly recommended by physicians to be used by those who, be it age or certain medical condition, are unable to adequatly take care of themselves.



Hospital Systems vs. Home Care Systems

Although these systems are mainly used by individuals for in home care, many of the systems are also widely used in hospital environments. As stated, many of the emergency response systems are valuable to have around in a retirement home, and even some of the smaller individual devices allow for quick checkups. The complex systems, such as the MedicAlert are an FDA class II device. These devices have been approved by the FDA to be used in hospitals, and are indeed used in hospital environments to help caregivers manage the many patients they recieve. As the technology grows, its quite possible to eventually see more automated systems, ones that not only alert, but can also help the patient as caregivers arrive. Some that even for go the whole personal visits could eventually arrive. These may seem futuristic and far fetched, but so was a device that can tell someone 100 or so miles away that your grandmother has fallen off her chair.



References:

¹ http://www.medicalert.org/HES/
² http://www.imsystems.net/
³ http://www.emergencycaller.com/index.html