A laser device can monitor vital signs such as your heartbeat, breathing rate, and muscle activity from up to a metre away. The device is intended for hospital patients or those with chronic diseases who need close monitoring at home. What鈥檚 more, it works through your clothes.
鈥淣o wires 鈥� everything is non-contact 鈥� continuously measuring different biomedical parameters with a single sensor,鈥� says Zeev Zalevsky who developed the SmartHealth Mod with his team at ContinUse Biometrics, based in Tel Aviv, Israel.
SmartHealth Mod picks up on the tiny vibrations our bodies emit. It uses a laser that illuminates a person鈥檚 chest and a camera fitted with special optics that analyses the backscattered light. When the patient鈥檚 heartbeat or breathing makes the body move, however imperceptibly, the light pattern changes and is picked up by the camera.
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Remote monitoring
With the addition of an , the device can also estimate the levels of glucose in a patient鈥檚 blood. The magnetic field interferes with the polarisation of the light which is then detectable in the way it scatters.
Zalevsky says the device can monitor people as far as 400 metres away if using higher quality lasers and cameras. The firm is also working with Motorola to integrate the technology into a standard smartphone. It was presented at in Greece last month.
鈥淚t opens up a vast variety of possibilities in the area of remote physiological monitoring,鈥� says Antti Vehkaoja from Tampere University of Technology in Finland. He says it could be used for patient monitoring in hospitals to catch any possible complications early.
ContinUse Biometrics is carrying out clinical trials at the Meir Hospital in Israel and they are in the process of starting another at a hospital outside Israel. The technology could be used to assess the driver鈥檚 condition to prevent car accidents, Zalevsky says. 鈥淔or instance, if the driver is tired or ill, the car will let them know and will stop before an accident is made,鈥� he says聽.
He expects the product to hit the market at the end of 2018.
