Taking Control of Personal Healthcare
Introduction
Personal Medical Monitoring Devices
Personal Health Record (PHR)Keeping
Related Sites
Medical Device Workshop: June 3, 2004
The increased availability
of low-priced, small consumer electronics has created a surge in the
supply and demand for all types of personal electronic devices. In
recent years, this wave has extended to the personal medical market,
creating opportunities for individuals to manage their health in ways
previously not possible. This site explores some of these devices,
namely those intended for personal medical monitoring, disease
management, and personal health record-keeping. First, however, a brief
explanation of these devices/records and a statement of this site’s
scope are in order.
Personal medical monitoring devices are becoming more and more
visible and capable, as devices become smaller, cheaper, and more
technologically advanced. People go running with heart-rate and
blood-pressure monitors, weight themselves on advanced scales, measure
their temperature with digital thermometers, and walk around with
pedometers. As of this writing, few of these devices are truly
integrated with a PC or an Internet experience, but this is gradually
changing. As these devices become truly ubiquitous, the
possibilities for fully integrated healthcare become tangible. A
future in which every heartbeat is sensed, timed, logged, and analyzed
by laypeople and healthcare professionals alike is not far off, and with
it will come dramatic the health benefits and serious privacy
challenges.
Disease-monitoring devices are used to monitor a patient's medical illness/condition over time. Often these devices track test readings specific to the patient's disease, and allow the patient to manually add other relevant information, such as dietary changes, exercise, medications taken, etc. Although there are several devices for monitoring diseases, few are intended for home use, and even fewer have a chip or computerized/digital interface which allow for interaction with the user. In actuality, the home digital market is dominated by diabetes-related and asthma-related devices. Mention will be made of cancer and Alzheimer “devices”, but only briefly, as these currently do not meet the definition of home digital devices.
Personal health record-keeping devices are computer/Internet-based
record-management systems that individuals use to keep track of their
personal health conditions. This differs greatly from previous
record-keeping systems, which were entirely physician-entered and
hospital-maintained. However, personal records can more readily reflect
changes in the patient’s daily routine, subtle changes in chronic
conditions, etc., and so are an important aspect of the emerging field
of home health care.
The scope of this paper includes commercial websites (for an overview of
what is currently available on the market), and academic and industrial
research as available through the online libraries of the University of
Maryland in College Park. Each section also includes the author’s
suggestions for future directions for industry and research.
This site is a project of the graduate students of CMSC434 at the University of Maryland. Visit the course website for an extensive list of Medical Device-related links.