Kansas State University Student Creates Ultra-Portable Vitals Monitor

One day soon, the key to staying healthy may lie-on your keychain.
Kansas State University doctoral student Keijia Li has developed a multifunctional monitoring device that’s about the size of a pack of gum. Nicknamed the GumPack, the battery-operated device is a reconfigurable unit with slots for up to four biosensors, such as a pulse oximeter or an electrocardiograph. The GumPack also has a camera and microphone, as well as Wi-Fi capabilities to transmit data over the internet. All the data and signal processing is done on the device itself, as opposed to most wearable wireless medical devices that usually transmit raw bits of information to a larger computer for processing.
According to Li, "this device could increase the quality of care for individuals who desire mobility yet require frequent or continuous health monitoring. Sensor-laden devices that offer the connectivity of a cell phone and are small enough to attach to a keychain or be carried in a purse like lipstick or an inhaler are especially attractive, as such items are common, inconspicuous and would minimize the distraction of daily medical monitoring."
Li’s device is a finalist for the Center for Integration of Medicine and Innovative Technology’s (CIMIT) Student Prize for Primary Health Care. The 2011 competition consists now of ten finalists from various universities who have developed ideas "to support and catalyze improved delivery of healthcare at the frontlines of medicine".
Click here for a list of all of this year’s finalists and their projects…
Article from Kansas State: Doctoral Students’s Proposal Could Improve Health Care and Win $150,000…
Video from KTKA TV Topeka, Kansas…
List of Finalists for the 2011 CIMIT Prize for Primary Healthcare…