Category Archives: Health

Withings Smart Body Analyzer

CES 2013, Health, , , , , ,
Withings Smart Body Analyzer Scale
Withings Smart Body Analyzer Scale

At CES Unveiled, Jamie Davis, the Podmedic got a chance to talk to the folks at Withings about their Smart Body Analyzer scale. According to Alexis it’s not just your ordinary bathroom scale.

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This new home scale was awarded a CES 2013 Innovations Award. This scale measures not just your weight, BMI and body fat but also your heart rate and home air quality (carbon dioxide levels) and temperature. The device also connects wirelessly via WiFi or Bluetooth with an app on your mobile device to track all the data.

Home Air Quality Monitoring

Because it monitors air quality in your home, Alexis at Withings recommends you place the scale in your bedroom so you can test the carbon dioxide levels and temperature in your room while you sleep. With today’s homes sealed tight against the weather, it’s important to make sure you can vent air to the outside often enough to ensure high enough oxygen to carbon dioxide levels.

The Withings Smart Body Analyzer will be available for purchase by the end of March and is expected to be priced at $149.00

Video by Jamie Davis, the Podmedic from Health Tech Weekly (HTWeekly.com).

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LifeProof Protects Your iPhone or iPad Anywhere

CES 2013, Health, Mobile, , , , , ,

Life Proof Mobile Cases

You’re bleeding all over your nurse’s iPad but it’s not a problem because she’s got a LifeProof case on that mobile device. Join Health Tech Weekly host Jamie Davis, the Podmedic as he chats with LifeProof CEO, Gary Rayner, in their booth at CES 2013 last week.

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Protect Your Devices From Life

LifeProof is all about the things that happen in your life and making sure you don’t have to worry about your expensive mobile devices during those life events. The LifeProof cases make your device waterproof, dirt proof, snow proof and shock proof to military specifications so that when you’re on the job, you don’t have to worry about dropping your iPad or iPhone to the floor or in a dirty medical environment.

LifeProof Tactical Case

Any spills or cross contamination on your device can be wiped or washed off and disinfected just as you would any other piece of equipment and the functionality and features of the tablet or phone are completely undiminished. The LifeProof cases also have available accessories like hand straps and shoulder straps as well as stands and mounts for use in the hospital or ambulance environments.

Features Similar Cases Lack

Many similar cases that advertise being waterproof are very bulky but the slim design of the LifeProof case and the way it seals directly to the glass face of the device makes it similar in weight and profile to most standard cases. It’s more of a conversion for your mobile device than a case. The rubber bumpers and gaskets are completely bonded to the case body leaving no gaps in which pathogens can hide.

The LifeProof cases are currently available for iPhone 5, iPhone 4/4s, 3rd or 4th generation iPad, and the 4th generation iPod Touch. There will be a Samsung Galaxy S III case coming soon.

Find LifeProof cases at Amazon.com or other popular retailers. Prices begin at $79.95.

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Video by Jamie Davis, the Podmedic from Health Tech Weekly (HTWeekly.com).

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Vitallink Keeping the Elderly Connected

CES 2012, Health

VitallinkDid you know that there are 78 million baby boomers in the US and over 1 billion world wide. That the fastest growing age group are adults over the age of 85. Many of these adults are separated from their children and grandchildren and live alone often in isolation. A coalition called AgeTek was created to try to solve this problem. One of the members of this coalition is Vitallink.

Vitallink is a system that is installed on the older persons computer and it allows them to use applications such as Skype, or check the weather or answer email with a touch of a button. To answer email the elderly person can either type the answer as you would normally, or they can speak the reply. The use of video applications such as Skype are important because they allow the caregiver or relative to see their parent or grandparent. Seeing someone can tell you a lot more about their condition then a simple call. Elderly people are often reluctant to bother their off-spring because they don’t want to be a burden. Besides which would be better having grandma read a story over the phone to her grandchild or having grandma read the story through video chat, where the child can see and interact with their grandma. I know which method I would choose. The subscription for Vitallink is only $5.00 a month.

The two hardest groups to sell the product to is the elderly adult who are often computer phobic and the person who does the purchasing for the big box company who often are young and don’t recognize the elderly as an important market. Once the elderly adult uses the Vitallink technology for just a short time they are almost always sold on it. Unfortunately it takes a lot more time and effort to try to convince the young sales person of its necessity.

Interview by Andy McCaskey of SDR News and Dave Lee from Waves of Tech

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Nothing But Nets – A surprising visit to our booth

CES 2012, Health,

Todd and Steve get a surprise visit from a funny bug with a serious message. Even though it was Friday afternoon, and everyone was a bit punchy (including the tricaster operator in the studio) they managed to get the word out on this very important issue.

Nothing but Nets is a charity that sends mosquito nets to people in Africa. In Africa 1000’s of people die of mosquito-born illness. Nothing but nets will send a long-lasting, insecticide-treated bed net, distribute it, and educate communities on its use, all for $10. 100 percent of every $10 contribution to cover the costs.

You can donate by going to www.nothingbutnets.net

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Adventure Cameras by Contour

CES 2012, Health,

Contour Contour came by the TPN.TV booth at CES this year and showed some great action sports cameras; the Contour Roam, the Contour GPS and the Contour Plus. Theses cameras are great for filming while hiking, snow boarding, biking, skiing and other action sports. They all use a micro sd card up to 32 Gb. You can get up to eight hours of video at 1080p and up to twelve hours at 780p. They all take removable lithium batteries which run for about three hours of video taping . They also adjust the white balance and the exposure to create crisp clear videos. These cameras are waterproof up to 1 meter. With the water proof case you can go down to 60 meters, great for scuba diving or snorkeling. All three cameras can connect by USB cable. Both the Contour Roam and the Contour GPS have an internal microphone only.

The Contour Plus includes the internal microphone but it also has a mic cable out jack, this along with the ability to connect a HDMI cable adds live streaming capability. Now you can live stream your adventures directly to Ustream using the Cerevo Live Shell. Now instead of telling other people about your adventures, they can watch them as they are happening. You can control the camera on the Contour GPS and Contour Plus thru the Contour Mobile App on the iPhone or an Android phone The Contour GPS and the Contour Plus both have GPS included so now you can map your adventures. The Contour Roam at $199 is the newest phone and should be available soon. The Contour GPS and the Contour Plus are available now and are $299 and $499 respectively. Not only does Contour offer great action cameras but they also have some great mounts, including ones that allow you to mount camera directly to your helmet, pole, roll bar, surfboard and many other objects. So if you are into adventure sports and filming, Contour has everything you need and want.

Interview by Todd Cochrane of Geek News Central and Don Baine The Gadget Professor of Geek News Central

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Careverge Takes A Social Approach To Health

CES 2012, Health,

Careverge logoThe fast pace of modern Western life doesn’t lend itself to a healthy lifestyle and many of us struggle to keep on top of the weight and exercise regularly, including myself. Careverge can help as a one-stop health and well-being site that brings together fitness, health and support in one place. Careverge’s Henry de Phillips talks to Jamie Davies of the and the Nursing Show about what the site can offer.

Careverge’s approach is to create a social networking environment to encourage good health behaviours rather than to simply sell a product or a plan. The site brings networking, gaming and recommendations together so that within only a few moments of starting to use the site, the individual is given personalised suggestions on reading and possible activities. The focus of Careverge is to encourage people to health through fun while providing quality health information and support to reach their goals.

Careverge is free to use for consumers.

Interview by Jamie Davies of the and the Nursing Show.

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LifeStation Web managed Pill box

CES 2012, Health,

From the CES 2012 floor, Jamie Davis from Promed Network talks with David from LifeStation about their new web enabled pill box for people on daily medications. The pill box had compartments for up to 4 doses a day and once full holds a week’s worth of pills. The pillbox doors flash when it’s time for that dose and if after a time, the door isn’t opened it starts beeping. If the person still doesn’t take their meds, it sends and email, text and automated phone call to the patient and their care giver. In tests, the pill box got a medication compliance of up to 92% (which is very good)

For more information go to or lifestation.com

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Intouch Remote Health Monitoring

CES 2012, Health,

Intouch Health InTouch Health along with Verizon had developed the RP Express and the RP 7 Mobile Robot and other similar devices to allow doctors to access their patients from remote locations. The RP Express is a mobile device for an individual to carry in the field. The RP 7 Mobile Robot is made for hospitals or other medical facilities. Both devices allow you to plug in medical instruments including EKGs, Ultrasound equipment and other devices directly into the machine allowing doctors to take and read vital signs from anywhere in the world. The video and audio are in real time and work over the Verizon 4G network, or wifi. (I am not sure what happens if the 4G or wifi networks are not available, hopefully there is a solution to that problem.) The doctor can control the RP 7 Mobile Robot and the RP Express from any computer that has the control station installed on it. The RP 7 robot allows for 178 degree field of view.

These devices are FDA cleared for connection to diagnostic medical devices on wifi. They are still going through the approval process for the 4G version. They hope to have those versions available for hospitals later this year. It is nice to know that now people in remote areas have a way to get access to the medical care, including the specialist that they need.

Interviewed by Jamie Davis of and the Tech Podcast Network

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Basis Wearable Health Monitoring

CES 2012, Health,

Todd talked to Jeff from Basis at the digital experience event at CES 2012 about their new product for health monitoring.

Basis is coming this spring with a wrist wearable health monitoring system to help you keep track of your overall activity level. Different from the heart monitors you would wear for working out, this new system will track your heart rate, temperature, perspiration, sleep and activity level as you go about your daily life. It will take that information and upload it to Basis’ cloud service and give you all the data along with some recommendations of things you need to do to get into better overall health.

The device and service will be available in early 2012 for $199. This includes a lifetime membership to the cloud service.

For more information, go to www.mybasis.com

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