Android Elektorcardioscope - Elektor

Android Elektorcardioscope - Elektor 4 September 2013

http://www.elektor.com/news/android-elektorcardioscope-now-available.2554671.lynkx?referer=rss

Beginning in our July/August double sized edition of Elektor, we published the first of our three part project on building an electrocardioscope that uses an Android tablet or smartphone as a wireless terminal for viewing the electrocardiograms. The project involves skillfully combining a small PIC interface to control an analog input stage with a great deal of software.

Making use of technology first invented by Willem Einthoven, we’ve developed an application that’s instructive, fascinating and potentially useful to everyone. Traditionally, electrocardioscopes are cumbersome, frail machines energized from conventional AC power outlets. Being able to perform your own electrocardiograms allows you to monitor the mechanical function (and possible dysfunctions) of a heart. An excellent tool for anyone interested in monitoring their personal health or developing a greater understanding of human biology or cardiology.

In anticipation for the final installment of this project, we’ve released an ECG interface in the form of a ready-to-use module which only requires the addition of four electrodes and an Android application (for smartphone or tablet). As it uses Bluetooth communication, there’s no physical connection between this terminal and its interface.

Technical Specifications:

‧ Interface for Android phones or tablets with Bluetooth

‧ Simultaneous or individual scrolling display of the three standard leads (DI, DII, and DIII) and the three enhanced leads (aVR, aVL, and aVF)

‧ Adapts automatically to screen resolution

‧ Measures and displays cardiac rhythm

‧ Audible heartbeat indication

‧ Scrolling speeds: 250/125/62.5 and 31.25 pixels per second

‧ Display gain: ×1 ×1.2 ×1.5 ×2 ×3 and ×10

‧ Full-scale sensitivity: 3.2 mV. 10-bit conversion

‧ Sampling frequency: 2 kHz

‧ Common-mode rejection: > 100 dB

‧ Max. contact voltage: ± 150 mV

‧ Auto-adaptive alignment time constant

‧ Frequency response: 0.005 Hz to 170 Hz

‧ Dynamic trace memory: 10 minutes

‧ ECG recording in flash memory (10 min)

‧ Periodic injection of 1 mV/2 Hz calibration signal

‧ Powered by 2 no. 1.5 V primary or 1.2 V rechargeable cells

‧ Constant display of battery voltage

‧ Current consumption: 50 mA (standby: <4 μA)

‧ Battery life: 15 hours (1 Ah cells)

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Android ElektorCardioscope (1) Wireless, button-free: Bluetooth & touch screen Published in issue 439, July/August 2013

http://www.elektor.com/magazines/2013/july-047-august/android-elektorcardioscope-(1).2494375.lynkx

The title says it all—this article describes an electrocardioscope you can build yourself, using an Android tablet or smartphone as a wireless terminal for viewing the electrocardiograms. The project involves skillfully combining a small PIC interface to control an analog input stage with a great deal of software.

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Android Elektorcardioscope (2) Wireless, button-free: Bluetooth & touch screen Published in issue 441, September 2013

http://www.elektor.com/magazines/2013/september/android-elektorcardioscope-(2).2538209.lynkx

Following on from the description of the hardware for our new ECG interface on tablets or Android smartphones in the July & August 2013 double edition, we're coming back now to the PIC functions and how the program runs, before looking at the Android application. Without going into too much detail though—we’re just going to say enough about this to encourage readers to get hold of the code and have a go at development under Android.

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Android Elektorcardioscope (120107-91) Ready assembled board

http://www.elektor.com/products/kits-modules/modules-(-91)/120107-91-android-elektorcardioscope.2494031.lynkx

This article describes an electrocardioscope you can build yourself, using an Android tablet or smartphone as a wireless terminal for viewing the electrocardiograms. The project involves skillfully combining a small PIC interface to control an analog input stage with a great deal of software.

Our ECG interface is available in the form of a ready-to-use module to which you just have to add four electrodes and an Android application for smartphone or tablet; there’s no physical connection between this terminal and the interface, as it uses Bluetooth communication! As you’d expect for a modern device, this one has only very few adjustments (three presets in all) or controls (3 buttons). Clearly, it’s the software that does all the work.

Technical Specifications:

...

Elektor / 120107-91

Price : 97.84 EUR 

Specifications : Height : 58.420 Width : 101.850  Published on : July 2013


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Mobile diagnostics by smartphone and image analysis for detecting antibiotic resistance - Sep 19, 2013 Source: Fraunhofer

http://www.research-in-germany.de/dachportal/en/Infoservice/News/2013/09/2013-09-19-mobile-diagnostics.html

Fraunhofer FIT demonstrates a mobile wireless system that monitors the health of elderly people in their own homes, using miniature sensors, and also a novel optical system for detecting antibiotic resistance, which can determine in just two hours if bacteria react to a specific antibiotic.

At BIOTECHNICA 2013, Fraunhofer FIT demonstrates the first system that integrates three different sensors in one platform. A nano potentiostat measures biochemical information in a patient's assay, e.g. glucose, lactate or cholesterol levels. A fluorescence sensor is used to detect color-marked biomarkers. A SpO2 sensor monitors heart rate and arterial oxygen saturation. A smartphone app processes the data from the three sensors and transfers them to a server. For secure data communication, a Bluetooth connection with a specifically developed protocol is used.

"Our aim was to integrate, in one mobile device, several miniature sensors that measure relevant diagnostic parameters and communicate their data wirelessly", says Professor Harald Mathis, head of the department 'Biomolecular Optical Systems' of the Fraunhofer Institute for Applied Information Technology FIT. As devices that measure biometrical data do not use standardized protocols, we developed a sensor platform that takes the data from the different sensors, processes them and sends them to a smartphone. The smartphone can then transmit the data to the patient's physician.

The system was developed by Fraunhofer FIT in cooperation with Charité and T-Systems Deutschland in the BMBF/EU-funded project Nanoelectronics for Mobile AAL Systems – MAS.

Fraunhofer FIT's second exhibit is an image analysis system for bacteria diagnostics. Antibiotic resistance is a growing threat to our health. Many antibiotics are losing their effectiveness. Unfortunately, there are no universal flash tests for antibiotic resistance. FIT's new system uses an optical process that can determine in just about two hours if bacteria react to a specific antibiotic.

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