IoT device measures brain waves to deliver music and videos on tablet to lessen pain
A hospital in Las Vegas is trialling an Internet of Things-enabled headband that helps in the pain relief of patients. The device detects brainwave patterns of patients and then uses that data to supply music and videos to distract them from their discomfort.
Southern Hills Hospital in Nevada is conducting a six-month pilot until April 2016.
The technology is called AccendoWave, an application that wirelessly listens to a patient’s brain waves to help them feel more comfortable and express their feelings of discomfort during their hospital stay.
The patient wears a headband and earbuds that interact and communicate with the handheld tablet. AccendoWave detects, monitors and reports discomfort through proprietary wireless computing technology embedded in an electroencephalography (EEG) system. The headband has several sensors and transmits data to the tablet via Bluetooth.
The discomfort is then tracked to see how a patient is feeling. To help distract patients from discomfort, a wide variety of diversionary video and audio content is available. The technology will provide a data point about the patient’s pain or discomfort that a nurse or physician can use to make a patient feel more comfortable.
The technology is provided to patients during their hospital stay if they so choose to use the technology. The information gathered by AccendoWave is not a part of a patient’s medical record. AccendoWave has been implement in collaboration with AT&T, which provides the connectivity and Samsung, with the Korean hardware manufacturer providing a Samsung Tab 4 8.0 tablet for content playback.
Steve Burger, area vice president (VP) of business development & connected health, Internet of Things (IoT), AT&T, said AccendoWave’s work with Southern Hills Hospital is a “great example of how the Internet of Things can improve life through connectivity.”
Manish Tandon, executive vice president (VP) of healthcare, insurance and life Sciences at Infosys told Internet of Business that as data, algorithms and automation play a greater role in healthcare, connecting technology with people will open the door to the future of connected care.
“In a patient-centric ecosystem to better peoples’ health and wellbeing, the healthcare and life sciences industries are advancing the speed at which technology, such as wearables and personalised medicine, are pervading care,” he said.
Manfred Kube, head of M2M segment and offer marketing, Gemalto, told Internet of Business that Healthcare professionals across the globe are turning to wireless technology to improve healthcare practices as they struggle to overcome the challenges faced by national healthcare systems.
“Increasingly, delivery of healthcare through mobile technologies (mHealth) and innovative applications, such as remote wireless health monitoring, have a vital role to play in the development of new healthcare strategies aimed at improving access to and continuity of healthcare – while also helping to keep costs down at the same time,” he said.