The Health Techzone saw a whirlwind of new innovations this week, particularly in the field of wearable. These news articles are a taste of new ways that wearable tech is helping patients to control their healthcare.
Could silver actually be more valuable than gold? It could be, thanks to the growth of wearable tech for medical applications. Silver nanowires are making it possible for a variety of wearable innovations, such as prosthetics that humans can manipulate and robots with an actual sense of touch. Dr. Yong Zhu, an associate professor at North Carolina State University and a Ph.D. student, Shanshan Yao, have co-authored a paper about stretchable sensors that they've created based around silver nanowire structures.
In addition to monitoring motion, these stretchable sensors can map pressure distributions on curvilinear surfaces, such as human skin. The secret is in the structure. Dr. Zhu's sensors can stretch to 150 percent of their length, which enables them to provide functionality long after less flexible sensors would have broken. Better yet, the sensors cost little to produce, which means faster time-to-market for innovative companies.
In other health-related wearable tech, PreDiabetes Centers revealed that it has started offering Fitbit devices as tools to help patients that are in danger of developing full-blown diabetes. In addition to tracking physical movement stats like the number of steps taken in a day, distance traveled and calories burned, Fitbit transmits stats directly to a patient's doctor.
Doctors at PreDiabetes Centers will know whether patients develop diabetes because of non-adherence or because of other biological factors thanks to Fitbit's reporting capabilities. Also, patients can use the statistics tracked by Fitbit to motivate themselves to keep exercising.
These examples provide you with just a couple of examples of how wearable tech can improve patient care and education. Join HealthTechZone daily in the Health Techzone to catch up on a number of healthcare technology innovations, including the latest developments in wearable tech.
