Human 'Check Engine’ Lights Not Far Away

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A University of Alberta computing scientist thinks the future of health care looks like the blinking check engine light on the dashboard of your car.

 

A University of Alberta computing scientist thinks the future of health care looks like the blinking check engine light on the dashboard of your car.

“There’s a whole bunch of sensors that say, hey, go to the garage, something’s wrong,” said Pierre Boulanger. “I could see that with humans.”

He has developed two products that could help take patients down that road. One is MEDBike, a biking system that remotely monitors blood pressure, oxygen levels and heart activity in recovering cardiac patients. The other is MEDRoad, a cloud-based tele-monitoring system that allows patient health to be observed without the need to go to a hospital or clinic.

With Canada’s aging population and number of remote communities, machine learning and virtual technology could be key to cutting rising health-care expenses and improving lives, Boulanger said. Continuous monitoring could help detect diseases earlier and virtual clinics could provide high-quality care at a fraction of the cost.

 

Continue reading at University of Alberta.

Image via Sean Townsend.