デジタルヘルス格差是正の可能性を秘めた新しいウェアラブル通信システム(New wearable communication system offers potential to reduce digital health divide)

2023-12-04 アリゾナ大学

A group of university researchers has developed a wearable monitoring device system that can send health data up to 15 miles – much farther than Wi-Fi or Bluetooth systems can – without any significant infrastructure. The device also charges wirelessly.Courtesy of Max Farley and Tucker Stuart

<関連情報>

• https://news.arizona.edu/story/new-wearable-communication-system-offers-potential-reduce-digital-health-divide
• https://www.pnas.org/doi/10.1073/pnas.2307952120

限られた資源環境における生体信号の慢性的な長距離モニタリングのための生物共生プラットフォーム Biosymbiotic platform for chronic long-range monitoring of biosignals in limited resource settings

Tucker Stuart, Max Farley, Julia Amato, Ryan Thien, Jessica Hanna, Aman Bhatia, David Marshall Clausen, and Philipp Gutruf
Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences  Published:December 4, 2023
DOI:https://doi.org/10.1073/pnas.2307952120

Significance

Remote patient monitoring is a critical tool for diagnostics and therapeutics, especially in sparsely populated areas. Wearables with clinical-grade sensing fidelity provide a suitable platform however, are constrained to settings with well-established connectivity drastically limiting dissemination to most vulnerable patient populations. This widens the socioeconomic and geopolitical gap in healthcare, and new technological solutions are required to connect patients in low-resource settings. This work presents a soft, biosymbiotic platform for 3D-printed wearable devices capable of long-range communication (>15 miles) with user interaction-free wireless recharging enabled by antenna schemes that safely enable high-power data and power transmission. Combined, these features enable high-fidelity acquisition of skin temperature and heart rate over weeks seamlessly in low-resource settings.

Abstract

Remote patient monitoring is a critical component of digital medicine, and the COVID-19 pandemic has further highlighted its importance. Wearable sensors aimed at noninvasive extraction and transmission of high-fidelity physiological data provide an avenue toward at-home diagnostics and therapeutics; however, the infrastructure requirements for such devices limit their use to areas with well-established connectivity. This accentuates the socioeconomic and geopolitical gap in digital health technology and points toward a need to provide access in areas that have limited resources. Low-power wide area network (LPWAN) protocols, such as LoRa, may provide an avenue toward connectivity in these settings; however, there has been limited work on realizing wearable devices with this functionality because of power and electromagnetic constraints. In this work, we introduce wearables with electromagnetic, electronic, and mechanical features provided by a biosymbiotic platform to realize high-fidelity biosignals transmission of 15 miles without the need for satellite infrastructure. The platform implements wireless power transfer for interaction-free recharging, enabling long-term and uninterrupted use over weeks without the need for the user to interact with the devices. This work presents demonstration of a continuously wearable device with this long-range capability that has the potential to serve resource-constrained and remote areas, providing equitable access to digital health.