Bottom Line: A smartwatch coupled with a machine learning algorithm was able to detect irregular heartbeat, or atrial fibrillation (AF), with high accuracy in a small group of patients undergoing treatment to restore normal heart rhythm but with lower accuracy in a larger group of people with a self-reported history of AF.
… There are a number of ways health-care organizations can lead the way in educating wearable tech consumers. For example, Health Information Managers can create campaigns to help raise awareness of the privacy risks posed by wearable devices and the safeguards being created by health-care providers.
If patients are choosing to release health data collected by their wearable devices to their provider, then they should know the rights they have. In addition, rather than choosing to share health data just to obtain discounts on health insurance, patients should be informed of the full implications of their decision — the benefits and the risks.
Health information managers also play the role of patient advocate — ensuring doctor-provided wearable devices are compliant with HIPAA policies and guidelines. Furthermore, they should be constantly evaluating HIPAA standards in light of new technology and making sure the organization’s policies are keeping up.
As technology evolves, so should the responsibilities of health-care organizations and the roles of health information managers, not just to maintain HIPAA compliance, but also to keep the best interests of the patient at heart.
… The existing [sleep disorder] diagnostic procedure is labor-intensive and expensive, making it inaccessible to many people. It is also cumbersome and unpleasant; sleep labs haven’t changed much since the 1970s, said Reuveny, “You sleep outside your house. You are wired to 10-20 different electrodes. People are watching you, monitoring you during the night.”
While home diagnostic tests are cheaper ($200 per night compared to $1,000-$5,000 in-lab) there is still a lot of friction in the process: waiting lists can be long, patients may damage the device or fail to return it to the clinic, or they may have difficulty assembling it at home.
“If you combine all things together, you understand that something doesn’t work properly in the way people diagnose and manage sleep disorders today and this is where we come into play,” said Reuveny.
Data from a team of Dutch researchers presented this weekend at the Endocrinology Society’s annual meeting in Chicago demonstrated how vital monitoring wearables could identify Type 1 diabetes patients’ hypoglycemic events by measuring heart rate.
The pilot study outfitted 27 adult patients with VitalConnect’s HealthPatch MD, a continuous health monitor that the company has since replaced with the disposable, peel-and-stick VitalPatch. With these, the researchers aimed to explore a faster monitor-driven approach to low blood sugar detection than simply relying on CGMs, which often have a delay.
… The science of endurance training has shown that over three quarters of your work must be performed at less than 80% of your maximum heart rate (HRmax). You also need some top-end efforts above 85% HRmax to develop strength, pace judgment, pain tolerance and race mentality. Therefore your weekly session plan should set out session goals, and any data downloads or records of perceived exertion should be used to determine whether or not you achieved them.
For example, if you’re due to perform a zone-one endurance or skill session, any metrics you track should be used to control your pace and ensure the workout doesn’t turn into a race.
Alternatively, if you’re doing an interval session, perhaps a single-sport time trial in zone three, you need to know you’re working at your best effort to show what you’re capable of under race conditions.
Engineers are on the cusp of on-device machine learning, as evidenced by the first NIPS workshop on the subject in late 2017, and the advent of new neural processors, such as Kirin 970 from Huawei and Snapdragon 845 from Qualcomm.
Thus far, progress in artificial intelligence has been fueled primarily by the availability of data and more computing power. Classical machine learning has mostly been built on a single central node (usually in a data center) with full access to a global dataset and a massive amount of storage and computing power. Currently, many deep learning algorithms reside in the cloud, enabled by popular toolkits such as Caffe and TensorFlow, as well as specialized hardware such as tensor processing units.
But this centralized approach won’t work for things and applications that require low latency, such as flying a drone, controlling a self-driving car, or sending instructions to a robotic surgeon. To perform these delicate tasks, and other activities experts can’t yet anticipate, future wireless systems will need to make even more decisions at the network edge (closer to devices), more quickly and more reliably, even when they lose connectivity.
STRYD have just announced an important firmware upgrade for those of you who have WALK/HIKE sections of trail runs.
Even in competitive trail events there are sections where walking may be more efficient than running, such as on very steep gradients. Previously STRYD did not produce power on walk sections. There is now a firmware enhancement to enable that.
Working up a sweat from carrying a heavy load? That is when the textile works at its best. Researchers at Chalmers University of Technology have developed a fabric that converts kinetic energy into electric power, in cooperation with the Swedish School of Textiles in Borås and the research institute Swerea IVF. The greater the load applied to the textile and the wetter it becomes the more electricity it generates. The results are now published in the Nature Partner journal Flexible Electronics.
Chalmers researchers Anja Lund and Christian Müller have developed a woven fabric that generates electricity when it is stretched or exposed to pressure. The fabric can currently generate enough power to light an LED, send wireless signals or drive small electric units such as a pocket calculator or a digital watch.
The technology is based on the piezoelectric effect, which results in the generation of electricity from deformation of a piezoelectric material, such as when it is stretched. In the study the researchers created a textile by weaving a piezoelectric yarn together with an electrically conducting yarn, which is required to transport the generated electric current.
It is a well known fact that the textile chain is embracing significant changes in becoming much more responsible in production at all levels. Energy and water reducing processes, circular economy yarns, recycled yarns, recyclable fabrics and cleaner technology are all creating waves. One area that is growing is the bio sector, as bio-based ingredients with biodegradable aspects become increasingly popular in offering a wider range of products towards the sustainable cause.
At the recent ISPO Textrends bio-based products made a statement with We are Spin Dye’s new polyactic acid biodegradable polyester version. Archroma has challenged the dye industry with its natural waste base dyes, replacing oil-based raw material for renewable natural materials to synthesize dyestuffs. Now there is a new branded bio-based synthetic being developed, a collaboration between Aquafil.com and Genomatica.
Moisture-wicking clothes act to keep athletes cool and dry. Because exercising in the heat can have a severe impact on physical fatigue, companies promote their moisture-wicking products as the difference-maker in these conditions. However, there has yet to be an independent, peer-reviewed study that conclusively demonstrates that performance apparel improves our thermoregulation and performance. How does moisture-wicking work, how does it affect the wearer, and can it actually provide an edge?
How Does Moisture-Wicking Work?
Thermoregulation during exercise is important in order to balance the heat we produce with an appropriate amount of heat loss. The main way we get rid of the excess heat is by evaporation – by sweating. Clothing acts as a barrier to the evaporation of sweat off our skin and into the air. Moisture-wicking fabrics claim to provide better cooling and thermal balance and by reducing moisture accumulation on the skin, they should also increase the comfort of the wearer.
American Council on Science and Health, Erik Leif from
… While replenishing fluids until thirst is satisfied is certainly the way to go, McKenney, who also works for the NBA’s Atlanta Hawks as a hydration and electrolyte replacement consultant, adds that “humans only replace up to 70% of fluid losses if we drink until the cessation of thirst.”
Therefore, he advises that those who have vigorously exercised “should continue to monitor their body weight and continue to drink following activity – but in amounts that do not cause them to gain weight beyond what they have lost, as the risk to develop EAH is still present.”
It’s hard to make a living from just one thing. The champion middle-distance runner, cofounder of Picky Bars, coach, and mother of two lets us in on how she juggles it all.
… “One of my favorite places in the world to race is out in the desert of California,” says Chris Kostman, a legendary ultra-endurance athlete who is now director of AdventureCorps, which organizes and directs extreme cycling and running events in Death Valley and the Mojave. “You’ve got amazing wide open spaces, beautiful vistas, and quiet roads and trails. There’s a sort of mystical appeal that draws endurance athletes in.”
Over the past 30 years, over a dozen regular endurance races and events have emerged in the area, ranging from 5Ks and marathons in the rolling Mojave hills, to notorious 100-mile-plus foot races and 500-mile relay bike rides in the scorching Death Valley heat.
The bevy of events has facilitated the growth of a small but fierce endurance community in the barren region, where hardened endurance athletes from across the globe come to challenge themselves against the heat and extreme exposure.
Early on in my racing life, I thought I had found the secret. My friend, who decimated us every week at the races, revealed to me his training weapon. Each day he commuted 20 to 30 minutes from his house, which sat on top of the toughest climb in the area. So I ditched the car and started riding everywhere. Unfortunately, what I hadn’t considered was the years of base miles he had in his legs, the long rides he did on the weekends, and the fact that he barely pedaled during his ride to work, which was all downhill. My poorly planned commute was a big reason why by April he was still decimating us and I was simply decimated.
There are several reasons why many of us buy panniers and turn the bike into more than a training tool. Some of us commute because time is limited and it’s a great way to get a few extra hours in. Some want to drive less, or sit in traffic less. Others have no choice.
Before she retired in 2016, former U.S. national road champion Mara Abbott did it for all of those reasons. Cycling was her job, but since she didn’t own a car, it was also how she did her grocery shopping and got around town. (In fact, it still is.) She admits that sometimes her coach gave her a hard time, but he worked it into her plan.
“It’s not a question of whether bike commuting is good for training or bad for training,” Abbott said. “It’s more a question of integrating it into your training.”