A study published in the January issue of The Annals of Neurology reports that vibrating insoles allow diabetics with numb feet and stroke victims with uncertain balance to stand quietly without swaying and losing their balance.
The author of this commentary on The Application Home Initiative (TAHI) conference (last November?) thinks so. The article also flags up that THAI is setting up working groups focusing on key areas.
Two Japanese telecare-related stories.
In cases of poor blood circulation, imagine having socks with built-in pressure sensors that would alert you to put your feet up for a while. And bandages that warn of the beginnings of an infection and identify the responsible bacterium and the appropriate antibiotic needed to treat it.
The evolution of ‘telecarers’ and the ‘cyber divide’ worries many policy makers. People with lower educational achievement or income have worse health. They also make less use of the internet. If more healthcare services are shifted to new media, will health inequalities worsen?
Greater technological empowerment is the key to living arrangements for older people in the not-too-distant future. US article with ‘assisted living guru’ Craig L. Smith
The Finnish company combines RFID and cellular phone technology to help make sure Alzheimer’s patients take the drugs they need. Cool.
The accessibility of websites, software, digital TV and 3G phones could become a legal requirement across the EU if plans announced today by the European Commission fail to improve accessibility for elderly and disabled people within two years.
By the end of 2005, public procurement rules may also change, to demand that authorities award contracts only to bidders providing accessible services.
NASA’s conducting clinical tests on the ground version of its system for monitoring astronauts.
“Most people in the [healthcare] system work with tools from the 1990s. They need our help…The system has to change.” said Louis Burns, vice president and general manager of Intel’s digital health group.