Tech Eye for the Older Guy (and Gal!)

Honda Motor Co., Ltd. will showcase an experimental model of a walking assist device which could support walking for the elderly and other people with weakened leg muscles, at the International Trade Fair on Barrier Free Equipments & Rehabilitation for the Elderly & the Disabled (BARRIER FREE 2008).

The cooperative control technology utilized for this device is a unique Honda innovation achieved through the cumulative study of human walking just as the research and development of technologies was conducted for Honda’s advanced humanoid robot, ASIMO. Applying cooperative control based on the information obtained from hip angle sensors, the motors provide optimal assistance based on a command from the control CPU. With this assist, the user’s stride will be lengthened compared to the user’s normal stride without the device and therefore the ease of walking is achieved.

Additional information and photos available here.

Longfellah International has just launched an FDA-approved alternative to needles at the dentist, using simple medical-grade cryogenic saline filled mouthpiece that numbs the gums. This is the first major dentistry pain management development since Novocain was introduced 100 years ago. gumEase has no after effects from the needle intrusion into the gums or “numb tongue” from the anesthesia half life wearing off throughout the day.

The device, called gumEase, was approved by the FDA in November, 2007 and is just now being distributed in the U.S. It’s a cryoanesthetic dental mouthpiece that cools the maxillofacial nerve fibers in your mouth without giving you the cold sensitivity to your teeth. It works for extractions, fillings, crowns, cleaning, braces adjustments, and even root canals.

Visit the website at http://www.longfellah.com/

At CTIA 2009 this week, there were scores of new phone introductions, but only one new introduction for the Silvers. Clarity, makers of phones catering to those with hearing loss, introduced its new ClarityLife, a cell phone designed for the senior population.

ClarityLife is not the first phone designed for seniors, but it offers a testimonial to the growing number of phones catering to those who want to be able to safely and easily make a cell phone call. Following in the steps of Jitterbug and the UTStarcom Coupe, the phone has a large bright display with easy to see buttons and controls. It’s sold as an unlocked GSM phone so you can use it with providers of GSM services. Clarity and The EAR Foundation recently announced a survey documenting seniors’ fears regarding their loss of independence. It’s worth a read, and provides evidence that boomers are not taking advantage of new technologies to help their aging parents achieve a more independent quality of life.

The phone will ship by the end of the month. Stay tuned for more detail.

Starry Night Sleep Technology from Leggett & Platt, will be the first bed to incorporate diagnostic and entertainment technologies to create an intelligent, intuitive and comfortable sleep environment. Starry Night is the equivalent of having a home theater and a sleep clinic in the bedroom with diagnostic tools to measure body movements and surround sound to pump up the volume.

Click here to learn more about the bed.

Visit the Starry Night website.

The Giraffe is a remote-controlled mobile video conferencing platform. Use the Giraffe whenever you want to communicate with far away people in a way that makes them feel like you are right there with them.

The Giraffe robot is composed of a video screen and camera mounted on an adjustable height robotic base. The Giraffe user operates the robot to maintain a presence at a remote location. Using the robot, the user can see and hear far away people, and the far away people can also see and hear the user. The user can move the Giraffe device from afar using the client application.

Software that runs on a standard PC and webcam, the client application connects the user to the distant Giraffe through the Internet. The client makes it easy to move the Giraffe so that the user can interact with anyone at anytime, anywhere in the remote location.

Using this software, an authorized user can log into a Giraffe anywhere in the world and interact with the people at the Giraffe’s distant location. By remotely controlling the device’s powered wheels the user can navigate through the distant location, seeing, being seen, and speaking with others wherever they may be.

The emWave Personal Stress Reliever is an entertaining stress relief technology to help you balance your emotions, mind and body. Stress creates incoherence in our heart rhythms. However, when we are in a state of high heart rhythm coherence the nervous system, heart, hormonal and immune systems are working efficiently and we feel good emotionally. The emWave Personal Stress Reliever helps you reduce your emotional stress by displaying your level of heart rhythm coherence in real time. But emWave does more than just display coherence levels. It guides you toward stress relief by training you to shift into a coherent, high performance state.

Using colorful LED displays, audio feedback, the emWave breathing pacer and an instructional stress relief technique on how to generate positive emotions will improve your coherence level — sharpening your ability to reduce stress and increase vitality, mental clarity and emotional balance.

The emWave Personal Stress Reliever also comes with the Coherence Coachâ„¢ CD, an entertaining stress relief software application that teaches HeartMath’s Quick Coherence® technique for stress relief and increasing performance. Step-by-step, through narration, animations and music, the Coherence Coach gives you the stress relief training to increase coherence levels while using your emWave.

The emWave Personal Stress Reliever provides a handheld, portable and convenient way to reduce stress, balance emotions and increase performance anytime, anywhere. It is especially useful when preparing for highly stressful meetings, for improving sleep, to improve athletic performance, to overcome the effects of stress associated with health issues or to recover quickly from stressful situations.

Remote Monitoring on the Move

Effortless, uninterrupted vital signs monitoring. Anytime, anywhere. That´s the key to Aerotel´s MDKeeper - an innovative remote wireless monitoring solution for mobile-health and home-care applications. With MDKeeper, the elderly or chronically ill can maintain a normal lifestyle without being confined to their homes or making frequent visits to their doctor.

Powerful Wearable eHealth System

MDKeeperâ„¢ integrates unique, powerful biosensors into a lightweight wearable device. It monitors multiple vital signs (such as pulse rate, 1-lead ECG and blood oxygen saturation level) without discomforting its users, even when they are on the move.

Real-Time Transmission and Analysis

Using its proprietary integrated expert system, MDKeeper stores and analyzes patient data. The data is transmitted, either in real-time or on a daily basis, to a remote medical center for further analysis and care, via its built-in wireless modem.

Easy Integration with External Systems

MDKeeper can communicate with remote hospital information systems, integrating its data into existing and emerging telehealth applications, electronic patient records (EPR) and other online data analysis and clinical decision support systems.

CrossLoop
Simple Secure Screen Sharing

• Connect Any Two PCs on Earth
• Simple, Easy-To-Use Interface
• Available in 21 LanguagesNew!
• Works through Firewalls and NAT
• Secure Screen Sharing in under Sixty Seconds

CrossLoop is a FREE secure screen sharing utility designed for people of all technical skill levels. CrossLoop extends the boundaries of VNC’s traditional screen sharing by enabling non-technical users to get connected from anywhere on the Internet in seconds without changing any firewall or router settings. It only takes a few minutes to setup and no signup is required.

March 5-6, 2007, Hyatt Regency Chicago
Register early, as this event will fill up quickly! www.boomersummit.com

How to Win in the $2-trillion Per Year Boomer Market
Attend the conference for the newest insights around innovation, distribution and interactive marketing in the profitable boomer marketplace.

If you are a brand manager, corporate strategist, VC, entrepreneur or a nonprofit executive responsible for growing boomer business, this Summit is for you. You’ll meet and network with the top thought leaders, analysts and media serving and covering the boomer marketplace.

A must-read book by Dr. Mary Furlong, founder of SeniorNet and ThirdAge. Quoting the editorial review on Amazon:

Seasoned digital-marketing strategist Furlong explores the breadth and depth of the baby-boomer market.
Boomers make up 25% of the population, own 77% of the country’s financial assets and are looking at greater discretionary income as they go about retiring the word “retire.” They are now marching well into middle age and their marketplace desires are morphing, explains Furlong in this broad and thoughtful book. The author sees them as representing hundreds of market segments: Boomers have concerns and interests including health, investing, entertainment and travel, sexuality, entrepreneurship and technology, religion and spirituality and a vast array of philanthropic and social commitments. The title’s silver may mean hair color, but the gold represents wisdom as well as wealth, “and how they will transform their financial worth into good works.” Still, Furlong has profit-oriented business advice to tender, giving dozens of examples of how the boomers’ interests can be met, particularly by Internet-savvy businesspeople, from software that helps sharpen memory to dealing with loneliness to safe sex to civic engagement.

Engineers from the Bath Institute of Medical Engineering have designed special sensors that can wirelessly ‘talk’ to devices in response to the behaviour of the resident. The smart house uses a series of sensors to monitor the occupant’s behaviour and responds to problem situations by activating a series of support devices, such as automatic lighting. The system is able to respond to many different situations without having to contact care staff, often just using simple voice prompts.The hope is that everyday tasks would almost take care of themselves, allowing dementia patients to continue with their lives as normally as possible.

• Learn more about the Gloucester Smart House project

Thomas Crapper meets Flash Gordon.

Health checks from your doctor could be replaced by visits to the bathroom thanks to a smart toilet. The “Intelligence Toilet” system, developed by Toto in cooperation with homebuilder Daiwa House Industry, starts at $3,500. While the user sits on the toilet, the built-in urine analyzer gauges the sugar level. Another device built into a counter beside the toilet bowl measures blood pressure. The monitoring does not stop there. After the user gets off the toilet, a scale built into the floor measures their weight, while body fat is measured by a device built into the sink basin after the user washes their hands. Once results are taken, they are transferred to a home network, and analyzed on a computer spreadsheet. Advice about diet and exercise is then dispensed, without any human intervention. Integrating all these instruments in a single place does away with the fuss of having to set up and operate separate devices whenever a person needs a health check.

Protect your possessions with your personal homing device

• Lost your keys?
• Misplaced your mobile?
• Worried about valuables, pets, or children going astray?

Find with Loc8tor
Your own personal locator uses a unique combination of audio and visual cues to guide you to your lost item from up to an incredible 183 metres / 600 feet away.

Find and Protect with Loc8tor Plus
Use Loc8tor to either search or set an invisible safety zone around your loved ones or valuables. If any of them move beyond the boundary you set, the vibrating alarm is activated and the item identified

HearPod Hearing Aids announced the introduction of HearPod Directional Mic Open Fitting hearing aid. This behind the ear aid is designed to cater to the hearing industry’s hottest trends — directional microphones, open fitting and cosmetically discrete design. Directional microphones improve the wearer’s ability to understand speech by focusing correction on voices in front of the wearer while reducing noises from behind. Open fitting means the hearing aid allows the equalization of pressure inside the ear canal, thereby eliminating the annoying “barrel” sound so common with many hearing aids.

HearPod also offers the two state-of-the art features that shoppers expect from high-end hearing aids: Adaptive feedback control, which eliminates annoying “whistling” sound common with many hearing aids, and adaptive noise control, which automatically reduces background noise to make conversations clear.

Gentle Computing, LLC announced the recent release of GentleMouse, a software program that eliminates the need to click the mouse. GentleMouse introduces a novel computer input method that replaces physical clicking, pressing and scrolling of mouse buttons with a gentle movement of the mouse pointer into a small, transparent Trigger Window that briefly becomes visible whenever you move and stop the mouse. In addition, GentleMouse enables a user to perform many common commands such as cut, copy, and paste by moving the mouse pointer into the corresponding Trigger Window.

GentleMouse can be of great benefit to users suffering from repetitive strain Injuries such as Carpal Tunnel Syndrome, arthritis or other physical disabilities. GentleMouse may also help prevent clicking related injuries.

What’s wrong with clicking?

According to a 2003 Forrester Research study, The Wide Range of Abilities and Its Impact on Computer Technology, commissioned by Microsoft, more than one quarter (43.7 million) of working-age adults have a mild to severe dexterity difficulty or impairment, defined as having pain in the hands, arm or wrist some or most of the time. The Forrester report also states that the U.S. population is aging, and as the number of older PC users increases, so will the number of impairments.

Using mouse-clicks for input has become ingrained into the way we interact with computers. There are estimates that a user may click the mouse thousands of times every day. But for users with hand, wrist or arm impairments, the action of clicking the mouse can be difficult, painful, or impossible. These conditions include arthritis, complications resulting from stroke, Parkinson’s disease, other musculoskeletal conditions, and repetitive strain injuries such as Carpel Tunnel Syndrome.

Mouse clicking itself is believed to be associated with the onset of repetitive strain injuries (RSI) such as Carpal Tunnel Syndrome. Clicking-related pain is a common complaint among PC users, and a new study by the Mayo Clinic released November 9th for the first time points to a potential link between repetitive trauma and Carpal Tunnel Syndrome.

The broader economic cost of RSI is telling: the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics reports that data-entry workers missed an average of five days of work due to repetitive strain injury in 2002, the most recent year statistics were available.

Presto is a combination of the Presto Service and HP Printing Mailbox

It allows you to send email, photos, and content to people who don’t have a computer or internet connection. You can send email just like you do today from your regular email account and the Presto Service automatically transforms it into beautiful layouts for printing. The HP Printing Mailbox then prints when you want, on your schedule—up to several times a day.

After signing up for the Presto Service, simply plug the HP Printing Mailbox into an existing phone line and AC power outlet, and you’re ready to go. No new phone line required.

Step 1. Family and friends send email and digital photos like they usually do from their computers and mobile phones.

Step 2. The Presto Service converts these messages into beautiful, ready-to-print layouts from the HP Printing Mailbox.

Step 3. The HP Printing Mailbox automatically prints messages when you want, on your schedule—several times a day.

Microsoft Corp.’s Windows operating system offers several ways for people with disabilities to tweak the software. There’s a screen magnifier for the vision impaired, for example, and ways for people with limited dexterity to use the keyboard instead of the mouse. Microsoft Windows Vista includes built-in accessibility settings and programs that make it easier for computer users to see, hear, and use their computers. The accessibility settings and programs in Windows Vista are particularly helpful to people with visual difficulties, hearing loss, pain in their hands or arms, or reasoning and cognitive issues.

Major accessibility improvements in Windows Vista are the Ease of Access Center and state-of-the-art speech recognition and magnification capabilities including:

• Make Things on the Screen Larger with Microsoft Magnifier
• Hear Text Read Aloud with Microsoft Narrator
• Speech Recognition Interact with Your PC with Your Voice
• Compatibility with Assistive Technology Products

IBM’s software research labs in the United Kingdom have developed a system to send location-specific alerts to the cell phones of hearing-impaired people at airports, workplaces, railway stations, and other locations.

Code-named LAMA, or Location Aware Messaging for Accessibility, the system can send alerts in a range of formats, including images and handset vibrations. LAMA makes use of Bluetooth and GPRS (general packet radio service) technologies, and can be adapted to work with Wi-Fi and GSM (global system for mobile communications) networks.

When a user enters a location running LAMA, the mobile phone recognizes the system and provides a list of messaging services it can offer. Users can be automatically alerted to public address announcements, which are converted into a user’s preferred format.

The system would help the hearing impaired receive critical information, such as emergency alerts, fire alarms, and security and safety instructions, in the form of text messages, said Sara Basson, program director, human ability, at IBM Research.

IBM believes the LAMA technology can help more than people with disabilities. Environments where the system could be used include sports events to announce the location of stadium facilities, and scores and substitutions; or at shopping centers to broadcast customer information, public announcements, and in-store promotions.

With the Philips Telemonitoring Services, care managers can remotely monitor patients’ vital signs data and send them short surveys about their health status. This combination of objective data and subjective responses enables the clinician to make more timely care decisions and helps prevent unnecessary hospitalizations.

Every day, patients take their own vital signs measurements as prescribed by their doctor: weight, blood pressure, pulse, glucose level, blood oxygen level, and/or ECG rhythm. They also answer survey questions sent by their care manager, which may include general health assessment questions and/or targeted follow-up questions, and enter self-reported data as directed. The information is then automatically transmitted through an ordinary phone line via modem to a secure server running a database and the Clinical Review Software. Clinicians can track daily patient measurements, store and retrieve historical data, and generate reports - promoting faster follow-up and intervention.

Philips Medical Systems Introduces the Motiva Interactive Healthcare Platform

Remote patient management and personalized education delivered through a patient’s home television,

The Motiva interactive healthcare platform uses broadband television, along with home vital sign measurement devices, to connect patients to their healthcare providers and medical support system. Our goal is to turn the home TV into the patient’s own personal healthcare channel or “virtual health coach.”

With Motiva, care providers will be able to customize the experience for each patient and deliver personalized, engaging, media-rich content, including:

• Educational material delivered as video-on-demand, with topics relevant to the patient’s healthcare needs
• Timely reminders to take medications or review content prior to doctor’s appointments
• Actionable feedback about vital signs measurements to help patients track progress toward personal goals
• Motivational messages from caregivers to help encourage healthy lifestyle choices for diet and exercise
• Health related surveys that test for patient comprehension and compliance, as well as provide subjective information to the remote caregiver
• Connection to friends & family will enable the patient’s informal care network to better support their day-to-day healthcare needs (planned as a future enhancement)

The patient will access their personalized content via an easy-to-use interactive television interface, delivered via a cable TV connection, standard set top box, and special remote control designed for older users. A nurse care manager, using the Motiva clinical information system, will monitor the patient’s condition and is alerted if follow-up is necessary.

The Motiva platform can be tailored to address a wide range of chronic diseases and acuity levels and will offer a scalable solution for remote patient care - ranging from cost-effective patient education and self-management tools to clinical monitoring with home measurement devices. Healthcare providers benefit from gains in clinical productivity and that patients are empowered to become more active participants in managing their disease - through their home television.

The Online Medicine Cabinet, a prototype developed by Accenture that demonstrates how technology will enable us to take more control over our own healthcare. It combines sensors with the power of the Internet and embedded computers to create a “situated portal”—a smart appliance that continuously monitors the needs of people and responds with appropriate, individualized services.

By using a camera and face-recognition software, the cabinet can identify different persons in a household, and their special needs. For example, if an individual suffers from allergies or asthma, the Online Medicine Cabinet will provide information such as the day’s pollen count, and remind that person to take their medicine. Sensors on prescription bottle labels allow the cabinet to identify each drug and alert consumers if they have taken the wrong bottle—or if it’s the right bottle at the wrong time. This is vital, because at present, nearly one third of all hospital visits result from consumers not following their doctor’s orders or taking the wrong medication.

The Online Medicine Cabinet also enables consumers to monitor vital signs, such as blood pressure, heart rate and cholesterol levels, and immediately share this information with their doctor via the Internet. The cabinet also provides a trend chart, so individuals can track their progress. If the chart indicates a problem tendency, the system will suggest that the user make an appointment with their doctor. Naturally, appointments can be made via the cabinet’s Internet connection. This will cut down on routine doctor visits, saving time and money for consumers, doctors and insurance companies.

The Online Wardrobe, a prototype developed by technology researchers at Accenture, showcases a new technology-enabled channel through which consumers and businesses can interact with each other. The Online Wardrobe uses sensors, tagging and tracking technologies to keep track of the clothing you already own, and helps you buy coordinating items, either online or in physical stores. With the Online Wardrobe, consumers can selectively reveal the contents of their wardrobe to their favorite merchants. In return, they receive personalized offerings and timely reminders about products of interest. And since the wardrobe is in the consumer’s home, businesses can more easily deliver products and services to where their customers live, rather than having to lure them to their stores or Web sites to make a sale.

How does this work in practice? At home, the Online Wardrobe recognizes your new purchases through sensors and tags; and provides you with a list of matching items, as well as suggestions for other clothing you might want to purchase online or from a local store. If you want to buy a dress shirt, just pull out a pair of pants and a jacket with which you would wear the new shirt. The wardrobe uses the selected pants and jacket as the constraints to search online stores, returning a list of shirts that match best. When you’re getting ready for the day, your wardrobe can look up what’s on your schedule, and suggest appropriate attire to wear.

At the mall, just swipe your smart card at a clothing retailer’s kiosk, and you’ll have instant access to your virtual wardrobe. The retailer can now assist you more effectively, by considering your entire wardrobe and offering suggestions for complete, matching outfits. If you like a particular product but don’t want to buy right there, you can always put it on to your wishlist, which you can revisit later, either from home or even another store.

The Elite Care Technologies system is a network of interoperable hardware and software for real-time resident monitoring, reporting, data modeling and decision support.

• Collects and compiles real-time data from multiple sources including non-intrusive sensors and devices; health and demographic data; care plans and activity reports; senior care plans and demographics; assistance call; and physiological data. The ECT system also easily integrates data from existing devices and systems.
• Features a powerful software infrastructure, powered by Thetus, to enable the fusion, automation, search, and modeling of data. Data modeling enables comprehensive analysis of trends and patterns, leading to improved care and proactive prevention of costly or dangerous conditions and events.
• The Knowledge Base integrates, filters, and automates, relates and delivers information tailored to a variety of audiences including residents, staff, and family. Smart home technology assists in minimizing unsafe and uncomfortable conditions and in providing aids and cues.
• Family, staff and other members of the senior’s care network can check in from anywhere using any web-enabled device to monitor condition and care.

Introducing the Portable Health Profile^TM — the Digital Medical/Identification/Emergency Profile for You and Your Family Members

The Portable Health Profile software from Critical Access, Inc. includes all of the necessary forms and information that you need to fully document, organize, store, update, and retrieve you and your family’s complete care information, including:

• Medical History
• Current Conditions
• Medications/Prescriptions
• Allergies
• Immunizations
• Family History
• Expense Reports
• Emergency Contacts
• ID Information
• Insurance Information
• Pictures/Images
• Fingerprints
• Living Will

The mini-CD’s and USB Flash Drive containing your Portable Health Profile can be read by virtually any computer.

• Print out copies of individual forms from any computer.
• Burn the information to a mini-CD that easily fits into your wallet.
• Download your Portable Health Profile onto our waterproof USB Flash Drive to wear or carry with you wherever you go!

The Viterion 100 TeleHealth Monitor is designed for homecare use by patients following an acute episode that required hospitalization. Small, flexible, and extremely simple to use, the monitor provides homecare agencies with an effective tool to supplement in-home visits with frequent monitoring and communications with the patient.

Easy vital sign measurement capabilities including:

• Measure blood pressure
• Measure blood oxygen
• Measure blood sugar
• Measure weight
• Record temperature
• Record peak flow

The Viterion 500 TeleHealth Monitor provides the widest selection of vital sign device options.

When determining how patients will best use the monitor, the healthcare provider has a comprehensive array of flexible and customizable tools to choose from. Viterion 500 TeleHealth Monitor comes equipped with a blood pressure sensor and digital camera, and accommodates a wide range of peripherals that accurately:

• Measure blood pressure
• Measure blood sugar
• Measure Blood Oxygen (SpO2)
• Measure temperature
• Measure weight
• Record peak flow
• Record stethoscope sounds
• Take ECG’s

With the Viterion 500 TeleHealth Monitor, the healthcare provider gets connected to an advanced turnkey ViterionNET TeleHealthCare Network. Both healthcare provider and patient have at their fingertips a wide range of unique, innovative, and customizable communications features.

The ViterionNET TeleHealthCare Network incorporates multiple access levels for clinicians, nurses, case managers and administrators that enables healthcare providers to monitor and communicate with their patients, and between themselves, anytime, anywhere. And it’s structured to make it as easy as possible to implement for both the healthcare provider and patient.

LG has released in Korea the Bio-Sensor embedded KP8400 “Diabetes Cellphone” that doubles as a blood test for diabetics. The phone includes a tester into which users can place a blood test drop on a strip, place the strip in a special reader on the phone, and get insulin and blood readings on the phone display. Readings can then be uploaded to an online database for retrieval later on, or automatically send the results via text messaging to caregivers, who can reply back with recommendations for insulin dose levels or other advice.

Future versions of the bio-sensor family of cellphones may include:

• Diet phone - Pedometer (Body Fat monitor)
• Stress phone - Stress monitor
• EKG phone - EKG Sensor
• Beauty Phone - Skin care sensor

The Honeywell HomMed Health Monitoring System monitors individuals and their loved ones, chronically ill patients and the average working adult with a chronic, manageable disease all within the comfort of their own homes. The Sentry and Genesis monitors and Central Station software are FDA Class II medical devices. A variety of medical device peripherals and attachments allow building a solution regardless of the disease state or health need.

The system has two main components. The telemonitoring unit is placed in the user’s home or clinical environment and collects and transmits health status information from the user. The Central Station receives the data and presents it to clinical personnel for monitoring and tracking. Monitor engages automatically and a friendly voice and easy-to-use interface guide the patient through the monitoring process up to four times daily or when directed. A manual button allows in-home measurements to be taken when desired. The HomMed software is an information collection and management system that allows user health information to be easily and quickly analyzed. The software has the capability to track and trend user data, record and view nursing/physician notes, log patient contacts and generate printed or faxed reports. Data is transmitted via standard phone line.

Often times, the best and most effective way to treat an illness or a disease is through prescribed medications. One can only hope he or she will follow the prescribed drug doses and routines. Although people do their best to follow doctor’s orders, sometimes age, failing eye sight or memory, possibly even language barriers, make it too difficult for them to manage their medications safely and effectively. Rex-The Talking Prescription Bottle can provide you with an inexpensive and easy way to help your patients take their medications property.

Rex-The Talking Prescription Bottle is fully automated through text-to-speech technology, allowing pharmacists to electronically record the label information to the pill bottle in a natural sounding computer generated voice using the pharmacy’s current software and data. As the pharmacist sends the label information to the printer, the label information is recorded into the base of the bottle.

Rex and the accompanying technology assists pharmacies by allowing the dosage instructions and other critical information to be read “out-loud” to patients in addition to providing the instructions on the standard label.

Email without a computer. Celery® is a simple device and service that allows people to be included™ in email without having to own or operate a computer.

Sending an email with Celery is just like writing a letter. The only difference is that with Celery, you drop it in Celery’s slot instead of an envelope. Press two buttons and in a flash, it’s in the recipient’s email inbox. When an email, photo or document is sent to a Celery® user, it automatically prints out on standard paper in photo quality color. Celery works using your existing phone line. No additional hardware or software needs to be installed. Setup is a cinch and only takes a few minutes. Celery can be setup anywhere in the United States and is capable of sending and receiving email with anyone anywhere in the world.

Patch Wireless Holter Monitor

Telzuit flagship product, the Patch Wireless Holter Monitor is a full 12-lead, wireless holter monitor, which measures, records, and transmits physiological signals associated with a patient’s cardiovascular system. The Patch is attached to a patient’s chest and consists of six (6) electrodes that are imbedded in a disposable bandage-like strip. The Patch utilizes the EASI lead placement to capture electrical impulses of the patient’s heart and transmits this information via Bluetooth to the patients Patch PDA. The PDA receives, records, and stores the electrical activity of the patient’s heart. Every two (2) to four (4) hours, the recorded information is sent through cellular telephone towers, frame relay systems and switching stations. Ultimately, the recorded heart activity information is received by our monitoring station and then evaluated by a medical professional.

The Holter procedure typically lasts between 24-48 hours. Once the session is over, the patient simply disposes of the Patch and returns the PDA to their physician.

Patch Wireless Event Monitor

The Patch Wireless Event Monitor emulates the exact same technology as the Patch Wireless Holter Monitor. Event Monitoring is another method to capture a patient’s cardiac data and is primarily used when symptoms of an abnormal heart rhythm occur infrequently. The Patch Wireless Event monitor can be used for a longer period time than a Holter monitor and so is more likely to record an abnormal heart rhythm that occurs infrequently. An event monitoring procedure can last anywhere from 2-4 weeks, according to the prescribing physicians instructions. So a patient simply peels off the old patch and reapplies a new one for each day of continous monitoring. Once the session over, the patient simply disposes of the Patch and returns the PDA to their physician.

The NuMetrex Heart Rate Monitoring Sports Bra uses unique textiles to sense and respond to the body. Our new sports bra is designed to give women the option to wear a strapless heart rate monitor. Now there’s a direct link between your body and the training information you need to reach your goals. The NuMetrex Heart Rate Monitoring Sports Bra works with the Polar WearLinkâ„¢ Transmitter and compatible* watches. It also connects with most fitness machines like spinning bikes and elliptical trainers with integrated monitoring devices.

The Brain Fitness Program takes a novel, non-invasive approach to improving cognitive function in adults. It engages the brain’s neuroplasticity—its natural ability to change. This enables the program to target the root causes of changes in brain function that occur with age, rather than teaching how to compensate for those changes.

As we grow older, our brains gradually lose speed, accuracy and recording strength for processing information from our senses. This results in a progressive loss of memory and other cognitive abilities. Our global team of scientists have designed the program to:

* Speed up brain function
In every exercise, the sounds and speech begin at a slower pace and gradually speed up, with the aim of reteaching your brain to process information at high speeds.

* Improve accuracy
Our scientists have applied patented technology to algorithmically process the sounds and speech with the goal of helping the brain refine its accuracy.

* Strengthen recording
Several program elements are specifically designed to exercise the brain machinery that accounts for recording strength.

The program targets auditory processing (listening) because so much of the important information we take in each day comes through speech.

The LifeShirt System is the first non-invasive, continuous ambulatory monitoring system that can collect data on pulmonary, cardiac, and other physiologic data, and correlate them over time.

The LifeShirt System gathers data during the subject’s daily routine, providing pharmaceutical and academic researchers a continuous “movie” of the subject’s health in real-life situations (work, school, exercise, sleep), rather than the “snapshot” generated during a typical clinic visit.

The LifeShirt System collects, analyzes and reports on the subject’s pulmonary cardiac and posture data. It also correlates data collected by optional peripheral devices that measure blood pressure, blood oxygen saturation, EEG, EOG, periodic leg movement, core body temperature, skin temperature, end tidal CO2, and cough.

The LifeShirt System features an enhanced, ambulatory version of respiratory inductive plethysmography (RIP), the gold standard for respiratory monitoring. RIP is used in more than 1,000 hospital intensive care units worldwide. It is ideal for monitoring accurate tidal volume of all subjects, including those who are unable to use spirometers due to age or other factors.

The LifeShirt System is available in adult and pediatric (ages 5-17) sizes and is used in clinical trials and research. It is available as a prescription medical device and is not sold directly to consumers

RI-MAN is the world’s first robot designed for lifting and carrying humans. A variety of sensors, including flexible tactile sensor sheets, provide RI-MAN with a sense of vision, hearing, touch, and smell. These senses help RI-MAN perform tasks such as locating people who are calling out to it, responding to spoken commands, carefully lifting those who need lifting, and checking the sanitary condition of the person it is carrying. RI-MAN is able to integrate a wide range of sensory data to adapt to changes in the environment.

Researchers plan to increase the weight of the practice dolls over time, with the aim of achieving the ability to lift human adults in 5 years. Researchers will continue working to upgrade RI-MAN’s sensors and data processing skills to improve adaptability. The aim is to create a robot with the physical power needed for heavy lifting and the reasoning skills needed for operating in places like people’s homes. RIKEN says that with these skills, RI-MAN can be put to work in nursing and rehabilitation, in furniture moving, or in any other job that requires muscle.

“We’re hoping that through future study it will eventually be able to care for elderly people or work in rehabilitation,” said Toshiharu Mukai, one of the research team leaders.

“In the future, we would like to develop a capacity to detect a human’s health condition through his breath,” Mukai said.

BiM Active from Bones in Motion is a modestly priced monthly service (currently $9.99 per month) uses your GPS-enabled “smart” cell phone as a virtual coach. Software is downloaded and installed on the phone. As you engage in an outdoor activity such as walking, running, or biking, your speed, distance, route and calories burned is wirelessly recorded in real-time, consolidated and viewable on the phone. When you complete the activity, a single click uploads the data to your password protected personal website on the BiM Active Online (www.bimactive.com) portal. A personal dashboard displays both summaries and details of your activities which are tabulated and mapped, news, and messages from other portal members. You can share this info by publishing the information to the publicly accessible area within the portal or to a pre-designated external personal blog.

YackPack is an Internet service that helps families, clubs and workgroups communicate with each other. YackPack integrates a unique visual interface with asynchronous voice messaging, bundled together in a private network. YackPack will sell subscriptions to its service as well as resell its platform through strategic partnerships.

The service is so simple that 3-year-old children have been using YackPack in field trials to connect with their grandparents. Parents worried about online predators have appreciated the safety of YackPack’s private groups, which exclude anyone not invited into the circle. In the business arena, project teams have used YackPack to unify their work efforts, avoiding misunderstandings that often occur with email.

by Susan Ayers Walker:

For weeks leading up to New Years Day we having been hearing the dreaded prediction over and over — “Starting in 2006 … Boomers Turning 60″ Yowee …. It is already Jan 2nd 2006 and Boomers are galloping towards 60 at a rate of one every 19 seconds.

Well … I am one of those damned by fate to be born in 1946. But wait , do not feel sorry for me. I do not feel old - I feel every bit as alive and vital as I was when I was 40. Maybe when I am 80 plus something, if some unexpected medical event does not slow me down first, I might start to feel my age. So by that calculation ….another 20 years of “growing up”. Will 80 be the new 60?

Is there time to prepare for the active aging - future elderly?

NO way … we are all subject to the whim of nature and our genes so aging and old age will be a different process for all of us. However the analyst are correct, given a choice we would prefer to stay out of managed care as long as possible and will look seriously at technology to help us maintain that independence, our health, mobility and quality of life.

Time is of the essence…We need to start upgrading the systems for aging as they exist today.

For instance…As I am writing this blog I am looking over at a “dumb” home blood pressure monitor on my desk and thinking where is the USB connector to upload my data into a chart that shows me where I am today– too high, too low, or not to worry. More importantly FIX the healthcare system and my doctor’s reimbursements so I can email my blood pressure data or my blood sugar data to the doctor’s office and he will get paid for giving me feed back via email or an instant message as to how to mange my health level and not to make it worse.

And while we are on this topic — WAKE UP insurance companies — give me a coupon to reduce the price of this device so it is more attractive for me to purchase the monitor plus keep my insurance rate low if I use this monitor on a regular basis to help maintain my health level.

Aging — This is a huge topic and I could rant on in many directions , but my day is busy , I have a startup company that needs my attention. So I will end this by saying as I turn 60 I am really the new 40.

And one more thing….I do not know anyone my age or younger who knows how to play shuffle board, just because I will turn 60 this year don’t expect me to learn how …so don’t build anymore shuffleboard courts. In fact give me more tennis courts or a nice 9 hole par 3 for a quick game after work or let me go to the gym and jump on the treadmill at noon because I am not retiring anytime soon.

Fitbug isn’t a diet and it’s not a rigorous workout regime, it’s an online health & wellbeing coach designed for people who know they should be doing more and eating better. It will help you to do more and eat the right amounts of the right food. Fitbug’s all about making small lifestyle changes for great health benefits.

Fitbug membership starts with the ‘Bug’, our unique interactive pedometer. Your ‘Bug’ is the key to the new you - clip it to your waist or stick it in your pocket and it gets to work, accurately calculating the steps you’ve done, calories & grams of fat burned and distance covered.

New Phone Technology Helps Millions with Hearing Loss Hear More Clearly Than Ever Before; Clarity Launches First Digital Signal Processing Technology for Amplified Telephones

Clarity, a division of Plantronics Inc. and a leading supplier of communications products for the Hard of Hearing community, today unveiled Digital Clarity Power, DCP(TM), a digital signal processing technology that will make phone conversations markedly clearer for millions of individuals worldwide.

DCP technology is life-changing for the growing number of people who are hard of hearing and are unable to communicate effectively or clearly by telephone. Up until this point, all standard and amplified telephones have been analog-based, which means they simply transmit whatever sounds are broadcast into a receiver. Some phones have used digital signal processing and digital spread spectrum technology, but not in a way to make calls easier to hear and understand for hard of hearing users. In contrast, DCP enabled telephones can distinguish between background noise and eliminate unwanted sounds from a user’s conversations.

Many people who experience a hearing loss find background noise and unwanted sounds can make normal telephone calls difficult or even impossible to understand. Standard amplified phones may even compound this problem by amplifying static, sudden sounds and other distracting noise.

A computer chip inside a DCP powered phone, in contrast, runs various algorithms to improve listening conditions. For instance, one algorithm eliminates constant noise, such as air conditioning or static, creating a clear sound that is more conducive to conversation.

Presented by the MIT Club of Northern California, the Stanford Center for Longevity, the Hasso Plattner Institute of Design at Stanford, and the SmartSilvers Alliance.

Visionary thinker Dr. Sandy Pentland’s group at MIT is developing LifeWear, systems that create “quality of life” maps by monitoring social networks to proactively enhance our personal and social lives. Using enhanced mobile phone technology, devices can measure the common sense signals that we use to assess each other, such as tone of voice, body language, and patterns of interaction. Learn how this family of emerging technologies could enhance our ability to manage communications and interactions with family, health assessment, care giving, social and work situations.

Details of the event as well as the recording of the event can be found on this page.

Thursday, Nov 3

LifeWear: Can Mobile Systems Enrich Your Social and Healthcare Interactions?

Details on the website

From their website:

Engineered to help prevent cooking fires AND reduce your electricity costs

Each Safe-T-elementâ„¢ consists of an electronically controlled cast iron plate that is installed on top of traditional stovetop burners. A patented controlboard inside the stove continuously monitors the temperature of the Safe-T-elementâ„¢, allowing it to reach a maximum temperature safely below the flashpoint of common household items without sacrificing cooking performance.

As the plate reaches a predetermined cut-off temperature, the sensor sends a signal to the control board, shutting off power to the unit. The sensor continues to monitor the Safe-T-elementâ„¢ and as the temperature falls below a specified point the stovetop is turned back on. Cycling the burners on and off maintains a consistent temperature while considerably reducing energy consumption.

from internetnews.com

IBM Pools Accessibility Tools

IBM is consolidating emerging technologies for people with disabilities under one Web site to promote the use and development of applications that target those users…

The focus is on aging baby boomers, many of whom intend to continue working past their retirement age…

… Five applications created by IBM developers are available on the site now as free downloads:

• Web adaptation technology dynamically adapts a Web page to user requirements with adjustable font, size and page layout. Works with Internet Explorer 5.5 and above.
• Keyboard optimizer monitors keyboard use, looking for patterns, and suggests changes to keyboard layout, key repeating and key delays.
• Shorthand-aided rapid keyboarding is a pen-based input tool for mobile devices using the shorthand sokgraph style.
• Head tracking pointer application uses a Web cam to monitor the head movement of the user, which in turn controls the actions of the mouse pointer.
• Mouse smoothing software is a user-programmable filter to eliminate jerky, abrupt hand movements on the pointer display.

For developers, IBM has also included on the accessibility site the IBM Reflexive User Interface Builder (RIB), an Eclipse-based application and API for developing GUIs based on XML scripts, as well as the aDesigner disability simulator for Web sites.

The site also features a number of documents and online tutorials for developers looking to create applications for those with disabilities.

Source: Wired News (by Kristen Philipkoski) (29 Sep 2005)

Quoting from the article:

Mice discovered accidentally at the Wistar Institute in Pennsylvania have the seemingly miraculous ability to regenerate like a salamander, and even regrow vital organs.

Researchers systematically amputated digits and damaged various organs of the mice, including the heart, liver and brain, most of which grew back.

The results stunned scientists because if such regeneration is possible in this mammal, it might also be possible in humans.

The researchers also made a remarkable second discovery: When cells from the regenerative mice were injected into normal mice, the normal mice adopted the ability to regenerate. And when the special mice bred with normal mice, their offspring inherited souped-up regeneration capabilities.

… “If we identified the molecules that allow mice that don’t regenerate to regenerate … and I think we could be close to doing that, then I think the next step is to consider what these molecules would do in individuals,” said Ellen Heber-Katz, a professor of molecular and cellular oncogenesis at Wistar, located on the University of Pennsylvania campus in Philadelphia (learn about her research)

… If the results can be translated to humans, it would be a dream come true for people who want to live forever. …

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Somewhat off-topic, but it is always interesting to view a possible future through the imagination of gifted writers and film makers. Serenity was a terrific television series a few years ago (currently being rebroadcast on the Sci-Fi cable channel). If the trailers are any indication, it should also be a very entertaining film. I will let you know what I think of it after I attend the film.

About the film

Joss Whedon, the Oscar® - and Emmy - nominated writer/director responsible for the worldwide television phenomena of BUFFY THE VAMPIRE, ANGEL and FIREFLY, now applies his trademark compassion and wit to a small band of galactic outcasts 500 years in the future in his feature film directorial debut, Serenity. The film centers around Captain Malcolm Reynolds, a hardened veteran (on the losing side) of a galactic civil war, who now ekes out a living pulling off small crimes and transport-for-hire aboard his ship, Serenity. He leads a small, eclectic crew who are the closest thing he has left to family –squabbling, insubordinate and undyingly loyal.

Visit the website at http://www.serenitymovie.com for information and trailers. You won’t be disappointed.

High-Tech Clothing Helps Ease Hot Flashes

“Here’s a hot news flash. If you’re desperate to take the heat out of menopause symptoms, try changing your pajamas. New lines of sleepwear, leisurewear and underwear, made of high-tech fabrics designed to help minimize nocturnal temperature fluctuations and dreaded “night sweats” are targeted to baby-boomer women going through that change of life… “

Discover new opportunities for business and investment in the Boomer marketplace

We invite you to join us for an exciting one-day program consisting of experts across a wide range of industries. They all have one thing in common – they invest in or serve the 40+ Boomer consumer.

The Silicon Valley Boomer Venture Summit is an annual event that highlights the key elements from the What’s Next? Boomer Business Summit and $10,000 Business Plan Competition, held this year in Philadelphia.

Learn why lifestage transitions create new markets for products and services

Hear analysts size the market opportunity by segment

Discover the newest research, emerging markets and the new technologies that will be demanded by this growing marketplace

Get the first look at the 2005 $10,000 Boomer Business Plan Competition winners

Who should attend?

* Investors and venture capitalists
* Corporate strategists and brand managers
* Analysts who track segments of the market: AARP, travel, online, healthcare, financial services
* Organizations and foundations that serve the 50+ consumer
* Media that report on the marketplace
* Entrepreneurs who serve this market

Why should you attend?

* Meet the top thought leaders who lead the investments in aging
* Learn how the analysts size the market and where they see the next opportunities
* Understand how new businesses are capitalized
* Gain the market knowledge, resources and the newest research to shape your decision-making
* Learn from industry experts in Technology, Healthcare, Eldercare, Financial Services and Travel
* Hear about the Business Media that covers aging
* Smart Home Exhibit: See the new technologies and products in the Boomer home of 2010
* Meet the 2005 $10,000 Boomer Business Plan Competition’s innovative entrepreneurs
* Meet key policy makers at the White House Conference on Aging Solutions Forum and hear testimony from corporate and venture leaders

June 21, 2005 at Santa Clara University (Santa Clara, California)

Quoting from the article:

San Francisco firm develops software to improve mental agility

… That’s one reason Moskwin is trying out a new software program from San Francisco’s Posit Science Corp. that promises to help stave off and reverse some symptoms of aging, such as memory loss, declining vision and hearing, and reduced motor control.

… Most people know that “use it or lose it” applies to mental agility as much as to physical fitness. Magazines are filled with tips about keeping the mind alert by studying Japanese or taking up ballroom dancing.

But Posit Science says its brain-training program takes a more rigorous approach, backed by scientific research.

Posit co-founder and Chief Scientific Officer Michael Merzenich, a professor of neuroscience at UCSF, has spent more than 30 years researching brain plasticity.

“The brain is just as deserving of a workout as the body,” he said in a presentation to a national conference on aging last month. “The brain needs progressively challenging learning that is intensive, effortful and repetitive. ”

That premise underlies Posit’s approach to cognitive calisthenics.

Posit scientists created exercises to stimulate specific brain functions. Then its video game designers turned them into computer games, complete with a couple of animated coaches to give tips and rewards like amusing pictures when players complete tasks.

The company says one key to brain rejuvenation is that the exercises become more difficult as players progress so they’re always working at a threshold of intensity.

“As we age, things get ‘noisier.’ Information from our senses is less reliable and processed less well,” said Posit co-founder and Chief Executive Officer Jeff Zimman. “The systems in the brain get sluggish. We’re trying to improve the ability to accurately process signals (such as incoming verbal information), increase speed and stimulate the machinery to produce key brain chemicals.”

(end quote)