GE develops wireless sensing platform for neonatal and home health
monitoring
15 March 2009
GE Global Research, the technology development arm of GE (NYSE: GE),
has announced that it has adapted its sensors for home security into an
innovative, intelligent wireless medical sensing platform. If
successful, this new platform could dramatically improve neonatal and
home patient monitoring.
GE researchers have developed sophisticated signal processing
algorithms for a wireless sensor that can classify different types of
motion and closely monitor a person’s breathing and heart rate.
This type of sensor could have advantages in monitoring premature
babies in a neonatal intensive care unit (NICU). Premature infants have
very sensitive and fragile skin, which can make it difficult to directly
attach sensors to them. GE’s new sensor could wirelessly monitor an
infant’s movements, including breathing and heart rate. Similarly, this
sensor could be installed in a home for elder care or other outpatient
monitoring.
The research is being done through a grant from the National
Institute of Justice’s (NIJ) Sensors and Surveillance Group, which is
leading a program to develop new security sensing solutions that can
more effectively monitor prisoners in correctional facilities.
Jeffrey Ashe, an electrical engineer at GE Global Research and the
Principal Investigator on the sensing project, said, “We have
essentially built a more sophisticated brain for an existing GE sensor
that can tell whether someone is moving or motionless and whether an
individual is breathing or not breathing. One of the most promising
applications of this new technology could be in neonatal infant health
monitoring. We have seen considerable interest from the medical
community in having this type of wireless sensing capability to monitor
the well-being of infants under intensive care.”
Ashe added, “GE’s sensing technology could enable new applications in
elder and outpatient care as well by enabling remote monitoring of the
health and well-being of a patient and loved one.”
GE’s wireless sensing research is all part of the company’s Early
Health initiative, which is focused on enabling earlier diagnosis and
more effective treatments of disease and other health-related issues.
It is also focused on making care more patient focused by providing
more opportunities to bring care to the patient. The hope is to spot
symptoms or potential problems at earlier stages, perhaps even before
the patient realizes a health issue exists. Having a sensing platform
that can wirelessly track a person’s vital signs in the home is just the
kind of tool that can help create this type of care environment.
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