CIMIT blog

Automatic Building Mapping Could Help Emergency Responders: A prototype sensor array that can be worn on the chest automatically maps the wearer’s environment, recognizing movement between floors

MIT News Office (September 24, 2012) — MIT researchers have built a wearable sensor system that automatically creates a digital map of the environment through which the wearer is moving. The prototype system, described in a paper slated for the Intelligent Robots and Systems conference in Portugal next month, is envisioned as a tool to help emergency responders coordinate disaster response.



In experiments conducted on the MIT campus, a graduate student wearing the sensor system wandered the halls, and the sensors wirelessly relayed data to a laptop in a distant conference room. Observers in the conference room were able to track the student’s progress on a map that sprang into being as he moved.

Connected to the array of sensors is a handheld pushbutton device that the wearer can use to annotate the map. In the prototype system, depressing the button simply designates a particular location as a point of interest. But the researchers envision that emergency responders could use a similar system to add voice or text tags to the map — indicating, say, structural damage or a toxic spill.

Read full story at http://web.mit.edu/newsoffice/2012/automatic-building-mapping-0924.html >>

Recommendations from mHealth Task Force: Accelerating the adoption and use of mobile healthcare technologies

Monday, September 24, 2012
2:00 p.m. - 4:00 p.m.

WATCH LIVE NOW >>

Earlier this year, the FCC convened a summit with industry leaders to discuss opportunities to accelerate the adoption and use of mobile health care technologies. Since then, participants have formed the “mHealth Task Force” to develop recommendations for industry and government action to harness the potential of mobile devices to improve health outcomes and lower costs of care.

Join ITIF for a panel discussion about the mHealth Task Force, their findings and recommendations. The Task Force, led by Co-chairs Julian Goldman, Robert Jarrin and Douglas Trauner will detail the work performed by the Task Force to identify barriers and opportunities related to mobile health, wireless health and e-Care technologies. They will address how the FCC plays a vital role in helping to change America’s healthcare system through access to broadband while enabling the adoption and proliferation of mHealth. The Co-chairs will discuss the Final Recommendations by the Task Force and how the FCC should continue to play a leadership role to promote innovation, avoid regulatory duplication and build upon existing programs to expand broadband access for healthcare while supporting RF safety, reliability and interoperability of mHealth Technologies. FCC Chairman Julius Genachowski will deliver opening remarks and the three Co-chairs will serve on a panel moderated by Rob Atkinson.

Download the findings and recommendations (PDF) >>

PANEL PARTICIPANTS:

Julius Genachowski VIEW BIO Chairman, Federal Communications Commission Presenter

Julian Goldman VIEW BIO | VIEW PRESENTATION Medical Director of Biomedical Engineering, Partners Healthcare System Presenter

Robert Jarrin VIEW BIO | VIEW PRESENTATION Senior Director of Government Affairs, Qualcomm Presenter

Douglas Trauner VIEW BIO | VIEW PRESENTATION CEO, Health Analytic Services, Inc (TheCarrot.com) Presenter

Robert D. Atkinson VIEW BIO President,Information Technology and Innovation Foundation Moderator

Building Cyborg Tissues: Bioengineering meets nanoelectronics

vectorblog.org (August 30, 2012) — A biomaterials researcher at Boston Children’s Hospital’s and collaborators at Harvard and MIT have built, in essence, cyborg tissues. Imagine, for instance, bioengineered cyborg blood vessels that could sense glucose levels and activate an implanted insulin pump, or nanoscale pacemakers coupled to nanoscale defibrillators within artificial heart tissue.

Read full story on vectorblog.org >>

Merging Tissue and Electronics: New tissue scaffold could be used for implantable therapeutic devices

web.mit.edu (August 27, 2012) — A team of researchers from MIT, Harvard University and Boston Children’s Hospital has now added a new element to tissue scaffolds: electronic sensors. These sensors, made of silicon nanowires, could be used to monitor electrical activity in the tissue surrounding the scaffold, control drug release or screen drug candidates for their effects on the beating of heart tissue.

Read full story on web.mit.edu >>

FDA approves ingestible sensor that transmits patient data to doctors

cbsnews.com (August 1, 2012) — Digestible sensors that can report medication adherence and vital signs have been approved by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA). The ingestible sensor, which was already been approved for use in Europe in 2011, can transmit information about the patient to medical professionals and help them customize care.

Read full story on cbsnews.com >>

New App Streamlines and Improves Emergency Care

It may seem like just a smartphone application, but BEAPPER, a real-time alert and communication platform, has been making waves in the Emergency Department (ED) at Boston Children’s Hospital, which sees an average of 150 patients per day. The app sends Twitter-like alerts when beds become available, when orders have been placed and when lab results are back, reducing waiting time for families. Physicians working together can view each others’ profiles, and can quickly check on their patients’ status without having to sit down at a computer and log in. Read more at vectorblog.org >>

Dartmouth Student Develops Biometric Bracelet: A device that measures its wearer's unique electric impedance could make medical procedures more convenient

A computer science student at Dartmouth College in New Hampshire has created a working prototype of a biometric bracelet that can identify who's wearing it and send medical information right to the patient's medical record. Read more at masshightech.com >>

Online Submission Process Open for 2012 Prize for Primary Healthcare

Prize for Primary Healthcare Contact: cimitprize@partners.org

About the Prize

The Prize for Primary Healthcare is an annual national competition encouraging engineering students to develop creative technological innovations with great potential to catalyze and support improved delivery of care at the frontlines of medicine. It is open to graduate and undergraduate students enrolled in accredited engineering programs.

Technologies of particular interest are ones that could improve access to medical care, leverage the skill of caregivers, automate routine tasks, increase workflow efficiency, support patients managing chronic disease, increase compliance with care protocols, reduce medical error, or augment the physician-patient relationship.

Prize Awards

• First Prize: $150,000
• Second Prize: $100,000
• Third Prize: $50,000
• Ten Finalists: $10,000 each

Timeline for Award Process

• January 2, 2011: Submission process opens
• January 16, 2012: Pre-proposals due
• February 15, 2012: Ten finalists selected & $10,000 distributed to each
• June 3, 2012: Full proposals due from 10 finalists
• July 2, 2012: Top three winners announced & major awards distributed

RFA Supporting Documents and Instructions

• Instructions for Online Submission of Letter of Intent
• Request for Applications (RFA) Letter of Intent Guidelines
• Student Prize Coversheet
• Full Proposal Evaluation Criteria
• Full Proposal Guidelines
• Frequently Asked Questions

This Prize for Primary Healthcare competition is sponsored by the Gelfand Family Charitable Trust. CIMIT is a non-profit consortium of Boston teaching hospitals and engineering schools.

More Physicians Embrace Web-Based Health Solutions

CNBC.com (November 22, 2011) — The house call is back...with a high-tech spin.

In a bid to accommodate the aging population and the increasingly hectic lifestyles of their patients, physicians are embracing a broad spectrum of Web-based software solutions that are bringing healthcare services into the home.

From real time videoconferencing to secure online chats, telehealth is not only changing the way care gets delivered, but helping to improve medical outcomes by making care more accessible to patients who lack easy access, according to Ronald Dixon, a practicing general internist and director of the Center for Integration of Medicine and Innovative Technology, CIMIT, in Boston.

Dixon says all ten doctors in his practice are currently testing the software as part of the Virtual Practice Pilot program at Massachusetts General Hospital, which is studying the effectiveness of live office visits versus videoconferencing patient encounters.

Read full story at CNBC.com >>