MOBILE DEVICES, APPS, AND WEARABLES

FOR HEALTHCARE

COMPILED BY HOWIE BAUM

WHAT IS MOBILE HEALTH TECHNOLOGY?

It is Medical and public health practice supported by mobile

devices, such as smartphones, tablets and other mobile devices to
deliver health care and preventive health services.

According to a recent survey, 83 percent of physicians in the U.S.

already use mobile health technology or mHealth to provide patient
care.

INTERESTING STATISTIC: 35% OF CONSUMERS USE MOBILE APPS

ON THEIR SMART PHONES TO SCHEDULE APPOINTMENTS.
 WHAT KINDS OF MOBILE WEARABLE DEVICES CAN BE USED
TO IMPROVE A PERSON’S HEALTH AND/OR A MEDICAL
CONDITION ?

There are 2 main types of these devices - those used for

health conscious consumers and those for medical reasons.

1. For health wearables, there are the commercially sold health

wearables like FitBit, that track the users every day activities,
exercise levels and vital statistics, as well as smart phone apps,
and Chatbots, such as Alexa on the Amazon Echo and Dot, Siri,
Cortana, etc.
MEDICAL DEVICES

2) The other types are for those who need medical monitoring or
assistance like wearable glucose or heart rate monitors.
Hutchinson Technology Inc.
Pulse oximeter is a noninvasive device used for has received European
monitoring a person’s blood oxygen regulatory approval for the
saturation (SO2). InSpectra StO2 Spot Check
(model 300) device. The
In its most common application mode, a sensor company’s tissue oxygen
device is placed on thin part of the patient body, saturation (StO2) technology
which is usually a fingertip or earlobe in adults allows direct measurement of
and in case of infants it is placed across a foot. oxygen saturation.
The pulse oximeter displays the percentage of
blood that is loaded with oxygen.
MOBILE / PORTABLE DEVICES – This is a
general term for any type of smaller portable
computer or Smartphone that has a touch
screen on it.

Some mobile devices—like tablets, e-readers,

and smartphones—are powerful enough to do
many of the same things you can do with a
desktop or laptop computer.

TABLET COMPUTERS usually come in two

sizes – 7 or 10 inch, as measured on a diagonal
on the screen, as shown:

The most obvious difference is that tablet

computers have optional keyboards, but don’t
have a CD/DVD drive, or touchpads.

Instead, the entire screen is touch-sensitive,

allowing you to type on a virtual keyboard and
use your finger or a stylus as a mouse pointer.

12
 THE TERM APP STANDS FOR AN APPLICATION

AN APP IS A COMPUTER SOFTWARE PACKAGE OR PROGRAM THAT

PERFORMS A SPECIFIC FUNCTION DIRECTLY FOR AN END USER

Health and medical apps are application programs that offer health-related
services for smartphones, tablet PCs, Wearable watches, etc.

Because they’re accessible to patients both at home and on-the-go, health

apps are a part of the movement towards mobile health (mHealth)
programs in health care.
Medical and Health apps for
smart phones and/or tablets,
can be found mainly on the
Apple or Android websites,
which are located in the
“Cloud”.

APPLE: For Apple smart

phones, tablets, or the Apple
Watch, all apps can be found
at the Apple iTunes Appstore
at
https://itunes.apple.com/us/
genre/mac/id39?mt=12

LAST YEAR THERE WERE

47,526 APPLE HEALTHCARE
APPS !!
THE ANDROID OPERATING
SYSTEM IS A PRODUCT OF
GOOGLE AND ALL OF THE
REGULAR, HEALTH, AND
MEDICAL APPS ARE AVAILABLE
AT THE GOOGLE PLAY STORE.

Last year there was a total of

2.6 million apps on there !!

In early 2018, there were 51,533

Android Healthcare apps !!

To go there on the Internet, the link

to go to the Google Playstore for all
of their apps is
https://play.google.com/store/apps

To just get the Medical & Health info,

go to:

https://play.google.com/store/searc
h?q=medical+and+health+apps
NON-MEDICAL APPS:

General Health and Fitness Apps: These apps constitute almost 75

percent of MMAs (Managed Medical Assistance) found on app stores.

These are related to nutrition, health tracking, fitness, and weight loss,
and work with wearable technology devices such as a “FitBit”, Smart
Watch, and other types of health monitors.
MEDICAL APPS

Depending upon how they work, MMAs (Mobile Medical Apps) can
be broadly divided into 4 categories:

1) Chronic Care Management Apps: These include apps to manage

blood pressure, cancer care, diabetes care, breathing issues, mental health,
and other illnesses.
2) Medication Management
Apps: These apps help in
keeping track of medicine intake,
such as Insulin, to ensure proper
dosing at required intervals.

3) Personal Health Record

Apps: These applications allow
patients to make appointments
for regular care or consultations,
and store their medical
conditions data, history,
allergies, etc.

4) Women’s Health Apps:

This segment includes apps for
pregnancy, fertility,
breastfeeding, etc.
The most popular categories of health and wellness apps include:

 Sports and fitness activity tracking

 Diet and nutrition

 Weight loss coaching

 Pharmacy

 Sleep cycle analysis

 Stress reduction and relaxation

 Meditation

 Medical advice and Patient & Caregiver communities

 Menstrual period tracking

 Pregnancy

 Hospital selection and Physician appointment management

THERE IS A RANGE OF GOOD
OPTIONS A DIET APP CAN
PROVIDE:

• Healthy Food Suggestions

• Water Consumption

• Food Logger

• Carbs Control/Weight loss

• Diet Planning

• Shopping List Organizers

• Calorie counter based on

physical activity & food
intake.

• How to hire a Nutritionist or

a Dietitian
THE TOP CATEGORIES OF
MHEALTH APPS AS DEFINED BY
DOWNLOADS COMPLETED ARE:

Weight loss (50 million)

Exercise (26.5 million)

Women’s health (10.5 million)

Sleep & meditation (8 million)

Pregnancy (7.5 million)

Tools & instruments (6 million)

Others (18 million)

According to Research and

Markets, the global market for
mobile health applications is
currently valued at
approximately $28.32 billion
and is expected to reach
$102.35 billion by 2023.
APPLICATIONS FOR WEARABLE DEVICES:

 A headband and software platform for brain injury detection or sleep

evaluations

 A wristband that monitors blood oxygen wirelessly

 Smart patches for remote monitoring and home diagnosis

 A tattoo-like plastic patch that can monitor vital signs

 A smart contact lens or skin patch sensor that analyzes sweat,

to monitor the user’s blood sugar levels.

 A wearable that will help patients with Parkinson’s disease by

providing deep brain stimulation, a common method of treatment
typically requiring heavy physician involvement.
 A SINGLE-CHIP ENCRYPTED WIRELESS 12-LEAD ECG
SMART SHIRT FOR CONTINUOUS HEALTH MONITORING
 Not on a wearable but on a small device) A very small drop
of blood is analyzed and data is sent to the device for results.

Feeling a sense of touch such as a vibration or force as

part of interacting with a electronic devices.
A small Eastern Indian Company Is Building A Medical Diagnostic
Lab In Your Pocket

The Inito clips onto your phone and lets you measure fertility levels.

In the future, its makers say they will test for thyroid, cholesterol and
much more.
A MEMS (microelectromechanical system) is a miniature machine that
has both mechanical and electronic components.

The physical dimension of a MEMS can range from several

millimeters to less than one micrometer, a dimension many
times smaller than the width of a human hair.

The MEMS shown below, at right, is actually a disposable, wearable

insulin pump for managing diabetes.

The chip is a stack of 3 layers bonded together: a silicon on insulator (SOI)

plate with micro-machined pump structures and two silicon cover plates with
through-holes. A piezoelectric actuator on the chip moves the membrane in a
reciprocating movement to compress and decompress fluid in the pumping
chamber.
This annulus resonator gyroscope,
designed and made in Georgia Tech
cleanroom facilities, is a mere 800
microns across yet measures
rotation around two in-plane axes
— pitch and roll.

A similar design being developed

measures rotation around all three
axes — yaw, pitch, and roll — using
a single tiny device.
HEALTH CARE PROVIDERS USE MOBILE HEALTH TECHNOLOGY TO:

 Access clinical information (e.g., through mobile health apps and

mobile-enabled EHRs)

 Collaborate with care teams (e.g., with secure text messaging)

 Communicate with patients (e.g., through patient portals)

 Offer real-time monitoring of patients, and provide health care

remotely, also called telemedicine.

PATIENTS USE MOBILE HEALTH TECHNOLOGY TO:

 Track their own health data through mHealth apps and devices like the
Fitbit®

 Access their clinical records through mobile-enabled patient portals

 Communicate with their providers (e.g., through HIPAA compliant e-

mail and secure text messaging).
•USES FOR MOBILE DEVICES AND APPS BY HEALTH CARE
PROFESSIONALS

•Information Management
•Write notes
•Dictate notes
•Record audio
•Take photographs
•Organize information and images
•Use e-book reader
•Access cloud service
•Time Management
•Schedule appointments
•Schedule meetings
•Record call schedule
•Communications and Consulting
•Voice calling
•Video calling
•Texting
•E-mail
•Multimedia messaging
•Video conferencing
•Social networking
•Reference and Information Gathering
•Medical textbooks
•Medical journals
•Medical literature
•Literature search portals
•Drug reference guides
•Medical news
•Clinical Decision-Making
•Clinical decision support systems
•Clinical treatment guidelines
•Disease diagnosis aids
•Differential diagnosis aids
•Medical calculators
•Laboratory test ordering
•Laboratory test interpretation
•Medical exams
•Patient Monitoring
•Monitor patient health
•Monitor patient location
•Monitor patient rehabilitation
•Collect clinical data
•Monitor heart function
•Medical Education and Training
•Continuing medical education
•Knowledge assessment tests
•Board exam preparation
•Case studies
•E-learning and teaching
•Surgical simulation
•Skill assessment tests
(CAGR – COMPOUND ANNUAL GROWTH RATE)
NEW APPLICATIONS FOR MOBILE HEALTHCARE DEVICES
 NEW KINDS OF
ELECTRONIC
TATOOS AND
CIRCUITS THAT CAN
BE PUT ON THE
SKIN WHERE
REMOTE
MONITORING IS
NEEDED
 DEVICES FOR HELPING TO REDUCE BACK PAIN

For example, the Valedo wearable is meant for those with lower back pain.

Sensors adhere to the lower back and then transmit data through the app.

The app and interface then gives exercises and instructions to the wearer
of how to treat their back pain.
Bainisha's ultra thin
skin patches allows
back motion to be
measured with high
accuracy.
REDUCING CHRONIC PAIN – Another orthopedic wearable (Quell Relief)
comes in the form of a knee brace which offers all the support and functionality
of a knee brace while using sensors/electrodes to transmit information and
deliver pain medication.

 Quell is always worn on the upper calf and stimulates sensory nerves
 It taps into your body’s natural pain relief response
 Sensory nerves carry neural pulses to your brain
 Neural pulses trigger a natural response that blocks pain signals, leading to
widespread pain relief
 The app works on both iOS (I-phone) and Android devices
 You can control therapy from your smartphone.
 Start and stop therapy sessions as well as adjust the intensity of therapy.
 View detailed therapy and on 8 aspects of your sleep.

https://www.youtube.
com/watch?v=UGMTL
yR74bw
Researchers have developed smart bio-sensitive tattoo ink
capable of monitoring health by changing color to tell an
athlete if she/he is dehydrated or a diabetic if his blood
sugar rises.
 World’s First Non-invasive Continuous Blood
Glucose Monitoring Wearable

The patent-pending multi-sensor device, called

LifeLeaf, non-invasively and continuously monitors:

Heart rate

Blood pressure

Respiration rate

Oxygen saturation.

It monitors and tracks chronic health risks such as:

Diabetes

Cardiac arrhythmia

Congestive heart failure

COPD

Sleep apnoea and hypertension.

GLUCOSE MONITORS
2 Types of Wearable Patches, Use Sweat To Monitor Blood
Glucose Levels and can automatically deliver medication
with microneedles
 EPIDERMAL ELECTRONICS: WEARABLE HEART MONITOR WITH
SPEECH RECOGNITION

There have been many developments of skin-mounted electronics that integrate

electrophysiological sensors such as electrocardiogram (ECG) and EMG
sensors, temperature sensors, strain sensors, and many others.

This device can pick up mechanical waves that spread through tissues and
fluids in the human body that reveal acoustical characteristic signatures,
which helps diagnose cardiovascular diseases. For instance, it can recognize
and record the opening and closing of heart valves, vibrations of the vocal
cords, the contraction of skeletal muscles, and movement in the
gastrointestinal tract.
Hidrate Spark 2.0 Smart Water Bottle - Tracks your Water Intake &
Glows to Remind You to Stay Hydrated

Tracks water intakes and syncs with smartphones (iOS and

Android) via Bluetooth.
Integrates with Fitbit, Apple Watch, and other activity trackers to
adjust your daily water goal to your activity level.
APPS OR APPLICATIONS FOR
HEALTHCARE WEARABLES
TYPES OF BODY AND OTHER MEASUREMENTS
 Barometric altimeter
 Blood Oxygen Level
 Blood Pressure
 Brain Activity – Electro-encephalogram – EEG)
 Cholesterol monitoring with an optical bio-sensor
 Eye Tracking
 Glucose Measurement
 Heart Tracking – Electro-cardiogram – ECG)
 Hydration
 Ingestion (Swallowing a test capsule)
 Location – Global Positioning Satellite – GPS)
 Movement - Accelerometer
 Muscle Activity – (Electro-myography - EMG)
 Posture
 Pulse
 Respiration (Breathing)
 Skin Conduction (amount of sweating)
 Sleep quality
 Temperature
The proliferation of mobile technologies that can measure and gather a
variety of data has increased public interest in using consumer
electronics to take ownership of their personal health and wellness.

Apps, wearables, and sensors can:

 Efficiently gauge physiological and emotional states

 Collect, quantify, and monitor data regarding a user’s day-to-day

behaviors

 Provide timely and patient-centered care to those living at a

distance with chronic disease

 Send patient information over the Internet, to a Doctor or other

Medical Professional

 Used to coordinate care when multiple providers are involved,

reducing costs to the health care system.
CONCERNS TO BE EVALUATED:

In all cases, merely tracking data is not enough to maintain health

behaviors long-term.

The software must incorporate motivational methods important for the

adoption and habituation of health-related behaviors.

Further research is needed to validate their use and long-term impact,

such as:

 Physiological harm

 Breaching of privacy and confidentiality with insecure devices

 How to resolve and minimize any risks.

 Have physicians try devices and study the evidence to support the
use of the Technology
EXAMPLES OF WEARABLES
 THE APPLE SMART WATCH

The Apple Watch Series 4 (right) completely redesigns the health sensor
array on the bottom of the watch to incorporate an ECG (Electro-cardio-
gram) (or EKG) electrode and new optical heart rate sensor.

By adding this feature, the Apple Watch has gone from a smart fitness
tracker to a potentially life-saving medical device that will be able to
warn wearers of abnormal heart rhythms associated with atrial
fibrillation (Afib) and other serious medical conditions.
WHAT ARE THE
SENSORS ON BACK OF
THE APPLE WATCH?

Its sensor, which rests in

the circular back of the
watch, is a tag-team
effort comprised
of infrared
light blasters and green
LEDs.

They work together to

employ a tried and true
(but difficult to
pronounce) technique
called photo-plethys-
mography to give users
an accurate heart
rate reading.
https://www.youtube.c
om/watch?v=uCT4IaFK
_jM
WHAT CAN AN APPLE WATCH DO?

An Apple Watch is a smartwatch that works in conjunction with your iPhone and
other Apple devices to perform a variety of functions.

 You can make calls and send text messages.

 You can use all types of apps including Health and Medical types.
Apple Watches support a variety of apps just like an iPhone, including those
for a photos, music, maps, and a calendar.

 You can consult with Siri.

 An Apple Watch can unlock some newer Mac model computers, so you don’t
need to enter your password every time you start it up.

 You can listen to music.

 You can track your fitness goals.

 You can utilize Apple Pay.

 You can use it as a remote for an Apple TV and other home theater devices.

 You can monitor your car

 You can control smart home features.

 SPO2 IS A
BLOOD
OXYGEN
SATURATION
SENSOR
 Forces Driving the Growth of
Wearable Technology

Internet of things, big data and

Software-Defined Network (SDN)

Consumerization of enterprise IT
Multiple devices ownership,
Improvement of camera technologies
Faster, smaller,
Cloud storage services – expected to
Cheaper hardware exceed 2 billion by 2014
Location Data
Getting 100 times smaller
each decade Reduced IT costs with Cloud Implicit location information,
Computing
Internet traffic information
Capabilities and feature
convergence Device based location service
(GPS)
Easy portability
iOS, Android, Blackberry OS,
By 2020, batteries are Windows Mobile, Symbian
expected to be 2.2x more S60
powerful
 FATbit: how to cheat your fitness tracker

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tjTLOKjB_50
 LADIES AND GENTLEMEN,
I PRESENT TO YOU – FITBARK !!
 BIBLIOGRAPHY

IIPRD Corp. - https://slideplayer.com/slide/12358033/

Wearable Devices: BRAVE IN A WORLD OF RISK Barry Dixon, Vice

President Underwriting Canadian Reinsurance Conference - April
14, 2015