Low Resolution Cameras to Measure Vitals

Medical technology may soon make an appearance in your bathroom mirror, on your cell phone, or even your laptop.  Graduate students at the Harvard-MIT Health Sciences and Technology program have created software that measures variations of brightness on the skin due to blood flow to estimate heart rate with computer imaging only.

Future applications for the device may include recording of respiration rates, blood-oxygen levels, and even blood pressure.  Best of all, the software requires a low resolution camera, so the practical applications in the digital age are limitless.

This article interested me for several reasons.  First, mounds of medical data that could prove useful in preventative medicine as well as diagnosis can be done in real time and on demand from a distance.  This could be anything from analyzing trends in one’s vitals that signal the onset of an illness to emergency situations where using a cell phone camera could provide data essential to the administration of care.

Second, individuals with conditions that require frequent monitoring of blood pressure or vitals could readily have access to the information in a quick, effortless manner.  The accumulation of data could be analyzed to provide better care, and also help doctors makes decisions based on greater information.

Ultimately, it would appear that aspects of medicine are soon to be personalized and present in everyday life.  So when it comes to blood pressure, yes, there may soon be an “app” for that.

Source:

http://www.popsci.com/science/article/2010-10/low-cost-low-res-cameras-could-soon-continuously-monitor-your-vital-signs