iMedicalApps: App Assesses Frailty in Older Patients - But doesn't help interpret results and lacks references

As our population continues to age, providers, patients, and their families will continue to struggle with how best to assess and help frail geriatric patients. The Essential Frailty Toolset (EFT) helps providers tease out the association between frailty and surgical mortality.

Read More

mHealth Data Adds Detail, Meaning to Population Health Programs

Smartphones have long been considered an ideal mHealth tool for personalized medicine, capable of collecting individual data and pushing out targeted reminders and information. Now that data is being used to power population health programs, with strong success.

Read More

LiveWell RERC Releases Amazon Echo Skill That Reads TechWatch and LiveWell News Blogs

LiveWell RERC development staff recently released an Amazon Echo Skill that will read aloud the latest posts from our two blogs, TechWatch and LiveWell News.  The new skill can be installed on the Amazon Alexa app and then utilized on any Amazon Echo product.  The skill taps into the RSS feeds from our blogs and is called the LiveWell News Skill.    Once enabled, saying the command “Alexa, what’s the news”, or “Alexa, what’s my flash briefing,” will allow your Echo to read aloud the latest LiveWell RERC news feeds.  A user will only get information if it has been updated within the past week.  The LiveWell RERC developer of the new skill from Duke University, Leighanne Davis, says “The new skill will make the news feeds more accessible and convenient to a variety of users by providing speech output.”

Read More

Devising new metrics for senior health with the smart home

The U.S. healthcare industry is undergoing seismic changes brought on in large part by a growing greying population. Home­based care and connected aging with smart environments for seniors are gaining traction as pivotal solutions, with the number of skilled nursing homes in the country stagnating for more than a decade. Fortunately many seniors — 90% — prefer to age in place in their own homes.

Read More

Startup aims to improve web access for disabled people

Canada­based startup Essential Accessibility is taking steps to make web browsing and accessing online services easier for people with disabilities, and hopes to build out a substantial business with enterprises worldwide.

Read More

The Wonderful World of Wearables – The Latest Wearable Technology

When most people think about wearable technology, Fitbits and Apple Watches come to mind. While these are devices have been game-changers, the world of wearable technology is so much larger - and it’s getting bigger every day.

Read More

New diabetes tech is coming. But will it make much difference?

Pharma and tech giants are pouring hundreds of millions into diabetes technology, designing gadgets and developing software aimed at helping patients manage a burdensome disease.Pharma and tech giants are pouring hundreds of millions into diabetes technology, designing gadgets and developing software aimed at helping patients manage a burdensome disease.

Read More

CMS Final Rules Cover the Cost of Bone-Anchored Hearing Devices

The Centers for Medicare and  Medicaid Services (CMS) issued a final rule that codifies the Medicare policy guidance when a device is not subject to the hearing aid exclusion. The rule finalizes that certain auditory implants, including cochlear implants, brain stem implants, and osseointegrated (bone-anchored) implants, do not meet the definition of hearing aids that are excluded from coverage.

Read More

How the Apple Watch wants to be the first fitness tracker for people in wheelchairs

It’s nearly impossible to count all of the fitness trackers on the market; there are ones tailored for hard-core runners, stylish designs pegged for women, even ones that alert you when you've been in the sun for too long. But there’s never quite been one developed specifically for those in manual wheelchairs before.

Read More

How tech companies are making their apps more accessible to the disabled

Last football season, Yahoo's Darren Burton did something he'd never done before: He commissioned a fantasy football league. That may not sound like a particularly impressive feat to you, but for Burton, navigating lists of players, stats, and scores is a unique challenge, because he is blind.

Read More

Disabled? There's (more than one) app for that.

Jason DaSilva said after he developed multiple sclerosis about 10 years ago, getting out got more complicated. “There were times that I was finding it impossible just to go out and meet a friend at a bar, or have a date,” he said, speaking in his apartment in Queens, New York. It was hard to figure out where his wheelchair would fit, how many stairs there were, whether there was a bathroom he could use. Sometimes even a phone call ahead couldn’t clarify all his questions.

Read More

Google Home Is Cool, But Catching Up to Amazon Echo Won’t Be Easy

Google Home makes one heck of a first impression: An adorable little Bluetooth speaker, with a hyper-advanced personal assistant that promises to do things Amazon’s Echo can’t even dream of. You can even choose the color.

Read More

The Best Cortana Tricks to Take Control of Your Computer

Oh dear—not still clicking around with a mouse and keyboard are you? What is this, early 2015? Cortana comes baked into Windows 10 now, so you can shout out commands and control your laptop or desktop using your voice instead. Here are some of the neat ways you can make use of it.

Read More

Smart Printed Sensors Monitor Movement Sequences

Wearable technology has caught on to progress health and fitness. Simply worn on the body, smart garments can, for instance, track activity. Sensors in functional clothing could also help optimize exercises by monitoring movement sequences. A novel transparent sensor material developed by Fraunhofer ISC enables movement measuring sensors to be printed onto textiles. The innovative material will be presented on IDTechEX Europe at booth F16 in the Estrel Berlin on 27 and 28 April 2016.

Read More