Lesson 7 E-Health: Smart Medical Devices
Smart medical devices: are devices that allow real-time analysis and storage of data on people’s health. This way, e-Health medical devices allow you to keep track of your health status on a routine basis.
Functions of Smart Medical Devices
- Obtain and collect information on the smart medical device;
- Automatically transmit the collected information;
- Integrate the information into an electronic database;
- Analyse and display the information in a user-friendly way.
Examples of smart medical devices include: blood pressure monitor, smart pulse oximeter, activity tracker, smart scale
Blood Pressure Monitor
What is it meant for?
- Blood pressure monitors are used to measure your heart rate and blood pressure in real time.
- Blood pressure monitors are used to detect irregularities in our body’s blood pressure. Early detection of these abnormalities helps to prevent complications or serious health consequences.
How is it used?
- Sit in a comfortable position, with your legs and ankles uncrossed and your back supported.
- Elevate your left arm to the level of your heart. Place it on a table or desk and sit still.
- Wrap the cuff around the upper part of your bare arm. The cuff should be smooth and snug. There should be enough room for you to slip one fingertip under the cuff.
- Check the placement of the cuff. The bottom edge of it should be 2-3 cm above the crease of your elbow.
- Turn the power on to start the unit.
- As an automatic model, the cuff will inflate by itself with a push of a button.
- After the cuff inflates, the automatic device will slowly let air out.
- Look at the display screen to get your blood pressure reading. It will show your systolic and diastolic pressures. Write down the measurement in your record. The systolic pressure goes in front of the diastolic pressure. For example, 120/80.
- Press the exhaust button to release all of the air from the cuff.
- If you need to repeat the measurement, wait 2 to 3 minutes before starting..
Smart Pulse Oximeter
What is it meant for?
- The smart pulse oximeter allows us to monitor our blood oxygen levels by assessing the pulse rate and the level of oxygen present in the blood.
How is it used?
- Place the smart pulse oximeter which is shaped like a pincer on your finger so that the built-in sensor can detect the blood flow through your finger.
- Turn on the device and wait to observe your blood oxygen levels on the device’s display.
Activity Tracker
What is it meant for and how is it used?
An activity tracker is a device worn on the wrist in order to monitor and track fitness-related metrics, such as the distance walked or run, calorie consumption, and, in some cases, heartbeat.
An activity tracker can provide you with a number of parameters, such as:
- the time;
- the number of calories you are burning;
- the number of kilometres you have run;
- the number of steps you have taken;
- how you are sleeping at night, measuring the quantity and quality of your sleep.
Smart Scale
What is it meant for and how is it used?
- It is a square-shaped device made of plastic and safety glass. Among the most important functions, this device allows us to measure weight, body mass index (BMI), muscle and bone mass indexes and water level in the body.
- In addition, these devices can be connected to the applications of your mobile devices to keep track of your data and visualize them in graphs.
- To use it, all you have to do is connect the scale and position yourself on the top, following the step-by-step parameters you decide on the mobile app.
