Consumer technology is the focus of a new study exploring how the latest innovations could revolutionise the medical sector.<\/p>\n
Engineers at the University of New South Wales (UNSW) have received a $322,800 Australian Research Council Discovery grant, which will help assess the various ways that wearable devices can boost health care provision.<\/p>\n
Currently, wearables are commonly used to track health and fitness, collecting information such as heart rate, exercise levels and sleep quality. Nike , Jawbone UP and Fitbit are just some of the devices popular among sports enthusiasts, with Google and Apple also beginning to enter the space.<\/p>\n
Associate Professor Vijay Sivaraman from UNSW's School of Electrical Engineering and Telecommunications department said medical practitioners could put fitness data to much better use.<\/p>\n
For example, doctors can track patients more effectively at home and optimise the diagnostic process. The technology is also expected to help insurance providers gauge the fitness levels of policyholders.<\/p>\n
"Health care costs are ballooning in much of the western world, increasing the burden on primary care delivery, and exacerbating the occurrence of acute events requiring hospital care," he explained.<\/p>\n
"A significant opportunity exists to curtail these growing demands on our health care system by engaging patients in at-home medical management using emerging wireless sensor technology."<\/p>\n
The three-year project will examine ways of making consumer devices secure enough to feed information into the health care system without being compromised by malware and other external threats.<\/p>\n
UNSW engineers hope to develop ultra-lightweight algorithms and mechanisms that can be used with existing wearable technology to ensure data integrity with minimal adjustments. <\/p>\n
"Secure, non-intrusive medical monitoring can offer quality-of-life for millions of patients with chronic conditions or age-related illnesses, while providing critical data for health care providers at [a] dramatically reduced cost," Mr Sivaraman stated.<\/p>\n
Designing or manufacturing for the Consumer Technology industry? Contact us<\/a> at SOLIDWORKS to see how we can help inspire engineering innovation and improve every aspect of your product development.<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"