IEEE Spectrum October, 2011 - 61

"health-e-home." This comprehensive health
monitoring and treatment system will evolve
from technology that today helps family mem-
bers monitor aging relatives. For example,
motion sensors installed in the home by com-
panies like WellAware can track a resident's
daily activity levels. These sensing systems do
far more than detect a sudden fall. They monitor
ordinary tasks like getting out of bed, opening
the refrigerator, and walking around the house
and can spot any changes that can signal a prob-
lem. For instance, an elderly person who starts
to sleep later each day, doesn't leave home, and
eats less frequently may be developing complica-
tions from medications, a worsening of conges-
tive heart failure, or depression.
It's not a big leap, then, to imagine augment-
ing such technology in a few years with a smart
medicine cabinet, capable of tracking medications,
warning about potential interactions, reordering
prescriptions, and checking expiration dates. It
could also interact with other devices, like the cal-
endar on your smartphone (to remind you that you
have an upcoming trip, so you'd better stock up on
your prescriptions) or your refrigerator (to remind
you not to drink grapefruit juice because you're tak-
ing Lipitor). The benefits could be huge. The New
England Healthcare Institute estimates that the
cost of drug-related complications, including fail-

ure to take medications as directed, is as much as $290 billion annually-
or 12 percent of total health care expenditures in the United States.
While a smart medicine cabinet can check that the right medicines
are moving on and off the shelves as scheduled, it can't tell if the patient is
actually consuming them. In the future, wireless technology integrated
into medications will be able to confirm that the patient has ingested
the medicine. Proteus Biomedical, based in California, has developed
digestible computer chips with built-in wireless transmitters. These
"ingestible event markers" are made from ingredients similar to those
that bind vitamins into pills. Digestive fluids in the stomach activate the
devices, which then create ultralow-power signals that can be picked
up by a tiny recorder inserted under the skin or worn as a small adhe-
sive skin patch. The recorder notes the date and time of the pill's activa-
tion along with other information, such as the type of drug, dose, and
place of manufacture. It also takes a snapshot of the patient's heart rate,
respiratory rate, and other physiological measurements. The detector
then sends the information to a server that can combine it with data
from other sensors, such as those that measure blood pressure, weight,
and blood glucose, as well as information entered by the patient, such
as changes in symptoms. Ultimately, such technology could be used to
tailor medications to the individual.
Of course, these devices don't work alone: Somewhere the data need
to be interpreted, as in the VA's telehealth program, by medical profes-
sionals. Eventually, though, as health sensors become commonplace in
people's homes and in the community, the onslaught of data will quickly
overwhelm clinicians, so we will have to create smart systems that auto-
matically interpret and act on the data they gather. These systems will be
faster and more accurate than human clinicians at spotting anomalies
and better at identifying those cases that require human consultation.

The difference between
success and failure
can be your choice
of tools.
From
energy generation
to
final conversion

Flux

Electromagnetic & Thermal FE Analysis

InCa3D

Conductor Impedance Simulation

Portunus

Mechatronic System Simulation

For Europe & the Middle East
www.cedrat.com
spectrum.ieee.org

Electromagnetic Motor Modelling
Thermal Motor Modelling
Power Systems Simulation

SPEED

Motor-CAD

PSCAD

For the Americas & Asia
www.magsoft-flux.com
octobEr 2011 * iEEE SpEctrum * NA

61
http://www.cedrat.com http://www.magsoft-flux.com http://spectrum.ieee.org
Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of IEEE Spectrum October, 2011
