21 nov 2009

Toumaz Sensium Digital Plaster Goes on Trial

Toumaz Sensium Digital Plaster Goes on Trial
Toumaz Technology out of Ab
ingdon, UK has announced it partnered with the Imperial College London to perform a clinical trial on the company's "Digital Plaster" vital signs monitor. The technology, which we covered in the past (see flashbacks below), allows for continuous monitoring and wireless transmission of temperature, heart and respiratory rates to help speed up workflow and get rid of some of the cables.

The focus of the trial will be to verify that the physiological data acquired by the digital plaster system within a clinical setting is equivalent to that acquired using current gold-standard monitors in use in hospitals – equipment that is often bulky, expensive and fixed, such that patient mobility is impaired. The Sensium digital plaster is wireless and unobtrusive, meaning that patients can remain ambulatory in hospital while still being monitored. This flexibility allows continuous vital sign monitoring to be extended to patients who would not normally be monitored, thereby offering the potential to increase patient safety. The Sensium digital plaster is a disposable device with a working lifetime of several days, after which the plaster is disposed of in the appropriate waste receptacle.

The trial is being conducted in three phases, an initial phase with non-patient volunteers followed by two patient study groups: patients recovering from surgery, and patients with specific medical conditions in the general wards.

The Sensium digital plaster is targeted for use in clinical monitoring applications such as acute care, general ward environments, tele-care, chronic disease monitoring, and in care home settings. For all these applications, disposability provides convenience, simplicity and patient comfort while ensuring infection control is maintained to the highest standards. Powered by thin batteries, body-worn Sensium-enabled monitors deliver clinical-quality data and intelligently integrate it into an electronic medical record via a network built on Toumaz’s power-optimised wireless operating and networking system, Nano Sensor Protocol (NSP).

A Central Nervous System for Earth: HP’s Ambitious Sensor Network

A Central Nervous System for Earth: HP’s Ambitious Sensor Network

HP Labs has joined the race to build an infrastructure for the emerging Internet of Things. The giant computing and IT services company has announced a project that aims to be a “Central Nervous System for the Earth” (CeNSE). It’s a research and development program to build a planetwide sensing network, using billions of “tiny, cheap, tough and exquisitely sensitive detectors.”

The technology behind this is based on nano-sensing research done by HP Labs. The sensors are similar to RFID chips, but in this case they are tiny accelerometers which detect motion and vibrations.

More info here.

6LoWPAN

6LoWPAN: The Wireless Embedded Internet

By Zach Shelby and Carsten Bormann

Published by John Wiley & Sons, Inc.

We have just published the world’s first book on 6LoWPAN together with Carsten Bormann, co-chair of the IETF 6lowpan working group.

This book gives the complete picture of 6LoWPAN technology in one place, including deployment examples and implementation aspects. It is aimed at experts in the field, engineering students and lecturers. An accompanying web-site is available including course material, Contiki coding exercises, an author blog and other 6LoWPAN information.