From: sleeper75se (sleeper75se_at_yahoo.se)
Date: 2002-02-15 11:04:04
"Remote heartbeat monitor will outperform current technology
Doctors may be able to monitor a patient's heartbeat from a distance
by using a radical new sensor that is currently being developed at
the University of Sussex in Brighton."
The site with the article is down at the moment (I got the cached
version from Google), so I'm posting the whole text here. DON'T
include it if you reply to this post, PLEASE! :)
They won't give up any details as long as patents are pending of
course, but eventually it will be made public I guess. Does anyone
know how long time a patent application takes?
Regards,
Andreas
---------------------------------------
The whole article: www.sussex.ac.uk/press_office/media/media196.shtml
Remote heartbeat monitor will outperform current technology
Doctors may be able to monitor a patient's heartbeat from a distance
by using a radical new sensor that is currently being developed at
the University of Sussex in Brighton.
Although research by Professor Terry Clark and his team is in the
early stages, the device has already been used to monitor a clothed
person's heartbeat from a metre away, without any electrical
connections. Potential applications of the sensor include remote
monitoring of burns victims who cannot be touched.
The researchers present their remarkable new data in the current
issue of Measurement Science and Technology and describe a fresh
approach to the detection of electrical activity in the human body.
They predict that the new approach will lead to radical improvements
in the measurement of electrical activity in the heart (using
electrocardiograms, or ECGs) and brain (using electroencephalograms,
known as EEGs) as well as other parts of the body.
Existing ECGs record the rhythm and activity of the heart via small
adhesive pads on the surface of the skin. The pads are connected to a
machine that picks up and amplifies the electrical signals produced
by each heartbeat and displays them on a screen or print-out.
But the problem with ECGs, says Prof Clark, is that the skin contacts
distort the electrical measurements because they drain the current
slightly. "You get a smaller and distorted signal," he told the New
Scientist, which details the work. "It's best not to make contact
with the skin."
Together with Dr Robert Prance and Dr Christopher Harland, Prof Clark
set about developing a remote, non-contact alternative. The resulting
sensor is a small disc about a centimetre across - although the team
won't say much more about it, preferring to keep the details close to
their chest while patents are pending.
However, Prof Clark is confident about the potential of the new
approach, suggesting that in the near future it may form the basis of
a radically new technology. "We now have the means to access and
detect non-invasively any electrical signal ranging from foetal heart
signals through to EEGs of brain function," he said.
Dr Ary Goldberger, a cardiologist at Harvard Medical School in the
USA, told the New Scientist that the claim needed to be independently
verified, but agreed that the sensor could be the basis of a major
advance in remote medical sensing.
A spokeswoman for the British Heart Foundation was keen to emphasise
the accuracy of the current technology: "The ECG test is a well-
established, quick and simple way of recording the rhythm and
electrical activity of the heart. Patients should be assured that
doctors can gain accurate assessments of the heart's electrical
activity using the established equipment."
But Prof Clark argues: "Given that the basic technology associated
with the measurement of body electrical signals is almost a century
old, it is perhaps not unreasonable to look for innovation in this
area, with the possibility of greatly enhanced performance."
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