Mobile Device Technology and Wearables Advance Health Care
When a relative of mine had a pacemaker implanted about five years ago, he was of course very happy it would keep him alive. But he, like many others, found it burdensome. After spending what felt like an eternity in various doctors’ offices when he had it inserted, he was required to go back regularly to have the device monitored to make sure it was functioning properly,
Thanks to advancements not just in the medical field but also in mobile technology and the recent focus on wearable technology, pacemakers and other heart monitoring equipment are hardly cumbersome anymore. Mobile health has become incredibly cost effective—and amazingly cool.
It wasn’t long ago that simply being able to access a patient’s medical records from a mobile device was considered advanced technology. But today, we as patients couldn’t imagine that ability not existing. What’s impressive in today’s standards is more along the lines of what’s being done at the University of California San Francisco, not coincidentally right in one of the US’ mobile app hubs.
UCSF’s Leland Kim details how the school’s new project that uses data-collecting mobile apps and wearables doesn’t just make doctors’ lives easier, it aims to help cut down on the number of costly and time-consuming patient visits.
The study allows participants to submit data via a secure online survey and uses smartphone technology to measure a participant’s heart rate, blood pressure and pulse rate. The information is sent back to researchers, who can make recommendations to help prevent or treat heart disease.
When it comes to health, time is of the essence, especially when dealing with serious medical matters like heart attacks and strokes. And this is where mobile’s ability to send valuable real-time data truly shines. Jeffrey Olgin, MD and one of the heads of UCSF’s mobile health focus, states that current technology does not just allow doctors to track the existence of heart disease but to be able to predict its very occurrence.
While headline grabbing software advancements seem to come every day, cures for major diseases do not. Although mobile health technology is growing, the willingness of patients to trust and use new and unfamiliar options will impact the speed of how quickly these developments make the news.
