Keruve technology page auto-translated by Google...

(hat tip: Engadget)

Zume Life offers a simple, small, handheld device ("Zuri") to get reminders for and to record health activities: medications, diet, exercise, health metrics and symptoms. A companion Web page shows graphs and tables of the user's health activities. With the user's permission, various caregivers, such as family, friends, coaches and health professionals, can also access this Web site and track the user's health. Most importantly, with life being so busy and stressful as it is, these solutions allow users to keep life in order in an unintrusive way.

So, if you imagine yourself in one of the pictures above, head on to Zume Life's Beta Program application page.

For more info, take a look at ZumeLife company page...

Some of the features from the product page:

Adult and pediatric dosing for FDA-approved and off-label indications

Black box warnings, contraindications, and cautions

Serious and common adverse reactions, and drug interactions organized by clinical category

Pill pictures within the drug monograph showing you and your patients exactly what each drug looks like

Safety and monitoring information, such as pregnancy risk categories, lactation safety ratings, monitoring parameters and therapeutic drug levels

Manufacturer information, approximate retail pricing, and FDA/DEA status

Pharmacology information, including metabolism, excretion (i.e., half-life), drug class, and mechanism of action

Notes section for your personal notes

Press release: Epocrates Drug and Formulary Application on Apple App Store

Product page: Epocrates Rx for iPhone

More about the device:

MEMENTO Memory LifeBook is designed as a "wearable mobile product solution" to serve as a multi-faceted holistic mobile memory aid device as well as providing a security safeguard for elderly individuals with mild-to-moderate dementia. The User-Centered design approach and ergonomic studies are undertaken to devise a product which is effective and meeting the needs and concerns of the target users. The product aims to allow the elderly demented users manage their lives more effectively and efficiently by providing them with the confidence and ability to carry on their day-to-day living independently as normal as possible and for as long as possible by rendering cognitive assistance in various spheres: e.g. maintaining contacts, reminiscence, effecting everyday routine tasks, keeping track of appointments, and keeping close to medication routines among others.

More info on the MEMENTO here...

According to the manufacturer, the product "has a fantastically high satisfaction rating by the patients and as important, their caregivers." We can't wait to try it on:

Patented & Patent Pending Technology for a "leak proof" seal

No glue or skin adhesives required.

The GeeWhiz® is easy to apply -- by one's self or your caregiver

It's also easy to remove

It features a quick connect and disconnect for use at day or night

It has a leak proof seal so you can rest assured

Cannot accidentally be removed

We are skeptical about the last point: if they can pull out central lines and chest tubes, they can definitely pull off an external condom catheter.

Product page: GeeWhiz and Sizing Guide...

Press release: 33 Innovative Products Win Medical Design Excellence Awards...

“Forgetfulness is a huge problem, especially among the elderly, but so is taking the medication at the wrong time, stopping too early or taking the wrong dose,” said Maysam Ghovanloo, assistant professor in the Georgia Institute of Technology’s School of Electrical and Computer Engineering. “Studies show that drug noncompliance costs the country billions of dollars each year as a result of re-hospitalization, complications, disease progression and even death.”

Ghovanloo and graduate student Xueliang Huo have designed a sensor necklace that records the date and time a pill is swallowed, which they hope will increase drug compliance and decrease unnecessary health care costs. The device could also be used to ensure that subjects in clinical drug trials take the study medications as directed by the research team. The details of the proof-of-concept device were published in the December 2007 issue of the IEEE Sensors Journal.

The necklace, called MagneTrace, contains an array of magnetic sensors that could be used to detect when specially-designed medication containing a tiny magnet passes through a person’s esophagus. And for persons who may not want to wear a necklace, MagneTrace sensors can be incorporated into a patch attached to the chest.

The date and time the user swallowed the pill can be recorded on a handheld wireless device, such as a smartphone, carried on the user’s body. The information can then be sent to the patient’s doctor, caregiver or family member over the internet. The device can notify both the patient and the patient’s doctor if the prescribed dosage is not taken at the proper time.

MagneTrace, on the other hand, was designed so that it would have no effect on the body. Multiple strong magnets in the gastrointestinal tract can potentially result in a blockage. However, the magnet used in the pill or capsule is very small – three millimeters in diameter and about one millimeter thick – and coated with a thick indigestible, insoluble polymer coating that prevents absorption of the magnet and prevents magnets from aggregating.

Press release: Sensor Necklace Aims to Increase Drug Compliance...

For the first two months, the music mix includes a noise, which some describe as water in a shower, to cover the tinnitus. In the third month, the shower sound is removed and patients are instructed to turn up the music just loud enough so the tinnitus is audible only during the quiet parts. The idea is the brain will be gradually trained to ignore the tinnitus. After six months, patients use the device as needed.

Cost, which includes the initial fitting and counseling on tinnitus management, ranges from $3,500 to $6,000 for the six-month treatment. It isn't generally covered by insurance.

The FDA approved the use of the device in 2005, and the company published its own study findings as to the effectiveness, but there is yet to be an independent assessment from a third party.

Product page: The Oasis™ device...

More details from the Wall Street Journal...

onePAC prepares a person’s medications by day and dosing time in a sealed, clear plastic packet that is arthritic-approved for easy opening. Each onePAC dose is custom-printed with the person’s name; day and time of dose; medication names, strengths and descriptions; and other details to help them take the right medications at the right time, every time.

Consumers request onePAC from their local pharmacy, so they keep that important care touch point with their local pharmacist. onePAC packaging is filled right at the pharmacy using Parata’s automated technology, and verified by the pharmacist, who is most familiar with the patient’s medication needs.

“If you or a loved one have faced the stress of missed doses of an important medication, or struggled to use a pillbox, the peace of mind and ease of onePAC packaging is immediately appealing,” said Tom Rhoads, executive vice president for customer and market strategies at Parata Systems. “From caregivers and their family members, to parents whose children must take medications at school, to busy travelers — onePAC helps people know when and how to take their medicines, reducing risk and ultimately helping them live healthier lives.”

How it Works

Rendering the “SMTWTFS” pillbox obsolete, a 30- to 90-day onePAC supply comes to patients as a perforated strip of individual onePAC packages, one for each dose, prepared in a convenient dispensing box that displays the next dose to be taken.

And it all happens right behind your pharmacy counter. Parata’s new PACMED technology makes it affordable and efficient for local pharmacies to provide this valuable service to consumers. It automatically and accurately prepares up to 50 multi-dose packages per minute; a big improvement over traditional med-prep programs, which can be very time-consuming for pharmacy staff to administer.

Product page: myonePAC - Prescription packaging that provides an easier, safer way to take medicine....

Press release (.pdf)...

More from Daily Mail...

(hat tip: Engadget)

The Talking Lights System is an optically-based, multiple-use, context aware local area wireless system for data transmission that makes it possible to achieve GPS-like position identification and guidance indoors, where GPS doesn't operate accurately.

The Talking Lights communications link is created by modulating the light from an ordinary light fixture to encode information. The light continues to perform its original function of providing bright illumination without visible flicker while simultaneously establishing an information link for context-aware data transmission. The system has three parts:

a modulated light fixture that transmits a locator signal.

a portable receiver to acquire the signal.

software to process the signal from the light and furnish data to the receiver.

As it approaches the modulated light fixture, the receiver decodes and processes data from the light and transforms it into information that can be presented in analog or digital form. The Talking Lights System can be used to form a hybrid network that combines the advantages of optical location-finding with broadband WiFi duplex data transfer.

The Talking Lights network enables the receiver to determine its location or travel path, while the Wi-Fi network communicates rich information that is tied to a specific location.

Technology page: Talking Lights®...

More at the MIT Technology Review...