Stand with them!
How do Brazilian paralyzed teenagers move their uncontrolled legs? It relies on the technology of "mind control" and "3D printing". 3D printing, a technology that everyone is no longer familiar with, is a kind of rapid prototyping technology. Based on digital model files, it uses adhesive materials such as powder metal or plastic to construct objects by printing layer by layer. 3D printing is usually realized by digital technology material printer, which is different from the traditional two-dimensional printing of paper, and the things printed by 3D are three-dimensional. As long as you have enough raw materials, printing cars and organs is not a problem, and some people even use them to print fruits!
In the Idea-2-Product 3D printing laboratory of Colorado State University, researchers developed a helmet for controlling exoskeleton. The electrodes placed on the helmet correspond to different positions of the human head to help the brain communicate with the electrodes better. Because the helmet must be customized to fit the wearer's head, researchers use 3D printing technology to help make the lining of the helmet. This lining must be able to protect the head and electrodes and match the helmet. When a paralyzed teenager wants to walk, the electrodes will transmit brain signals to a small computer, which carries her like a backpack, and the computer will convert those wireless command signals into actions.
Wear healthy clothes.
Did such an ingenious opening ceremony of the World Cup in Brazil make you linger? Then, relying on intelligent technology, what medical convenience can we ordinary people enjoy? This is about wearable devices. Before the opening of CES (International Consumer Electronics Show) in 20 14, ihealth, a brand of a domestic medical electronics company, released two wearable medical devices, namely dynamic sphygmomanometer and wearable pulse oximeter.
Ambulatory blood pressure monitor
Hypertension is the direct cause of many high-risk cardiovascular diseases. In modern society, the elderly often live alone and their children can't take care of them. What's more, there will be a phenomenon of "white coat blood pressure" (that is, blood pressure is normal at ordinary times and blood pressure rises sharply when seeing a doctor). The society urgently needs portable blood pressure measuring equipment, and wearable sphygmomanometer comes into being. So, what is blood pressure? Blood pressure refers to the lateral pressure per unit area produced by blood flowing in blood vessels. Because blood vessels are divided into arteries, capillaries and veins, there are arterial blood pressure, capillary blood pressure and venous pressure. Usually, blood pressure refers to arterial blood pressure.
The sphygmomanometer detects the slight change of cuff pressure caused by the vibration of human arterial wall through sensors. The most commonly used method is oscillation. Its basic principle is to use the cuff tied to the arm to inflate the cuff with a pump to block the propagation of pulsation in the blood vessel, and then start to deflate after reaching a certain pressure (generally 124~3 16kPa). When the air pressure reaches a certain level, blood flow can pass through blood vessels. And a certain amount of oscillation wave gradually deflates, and the oscillation wave becomes larger and larger, and then deflates; As the contact between the cuff and the arm becomes looser and looser, the pressure and fluctuation detected by the pressure sensor become smaller and smaller, and the pressure sensor can detect the pressure and fluctuation in the cuff in real time. The oscillating wave propagates to the pressure sensor in the machine through the trachea, and the pulse signal and pressure signal transmitted by the cuff are converted into digital signals through the corresponding amplification, filtering circuit, analog/digital signal conversion, central processor control and other processing links, and then the systolic pressure, diastolic pressure, average pressure and other data of blood pressure are obtained through further processing. This dynamic sphygmomanometer can be connected to mobile devices through Bluetooth and USB, and upload data to medical staff. It is usually worn outdoors by users to provide 24-hour blood pressure monitoring.
2. Wearable oxygen saturation monitor
Oxygen saturation is the percentage of oxygenated hemoglobin (HbO2 _ 2) in blood to total hemoglobin (Hb), and it is an important physiological parameter of respiratory and circulatory system. Many respiratory diseases will reduce the oxygen saturation in human blood, which will threaten people's lives in severe cases. Then, the basic principle of this blood oxygen saturation monitor is that oxygenated hemoglobin and reduced hemoglobin in blood have different absorption characteristics in the spectral range of visible light and near infrared light, and reduced hemoglobin absorbs more red frequency light and less infrared frequency light; Oxyhemoglobin, on the other hand, absorbs less red light and more infrared light, so the blood oxygen saturation can be measured according to the difference between red light and infrared light absorption.
A typical oximeter sensor has a pair of LEDs that face the photodiode through a translucent part of the patient's body (usually a fingertip or earlobe). One of them is a red LED； with a wavelength of 660nm; The other is infrared, the wavelength of which is 940nm. The percentage of bleeding oxygen is calculated by measuring the light with these two different absorption wavelengths after passing through the human body. Wearable blood oxygen saturation monitor uses digital-to-analog signal conversion to control LED dual light sources to emit light alternately, and uses optical frequency conversion receiver as sensor to convert light intensity signal into frequency signal, which is directly sent to single chip microcomputer for acquisition. Calculate the result according to the reflection principle, and then send the data by wireless signal. Some blood oxygen saturation monitors also eliminate the interference obtained in the dynamic environment, making the blood oxygen saturation data more accurate.
American SPOMedical Company has introduced an "blood oxygen watch", which can monitor the oxygen saturation of users during sleep, thus reducing the risk of respiratory obstruction in patients with sleep apnea at night. The wearable oxygen saturation monitor IHealth is more convenient. It can continuously monitor the user's oxygen saturation and pulse rate. It is equipped with a fingertip sensor and connected to a wrist device, which can monitor the user's oxygen saturation during normal daily activities or at night.
I am a T-shirt, but I am more than just a dress.
If you think using these monitors and wireless devices is still too much trouble, then there is a simpler one-T-shirt. Take HealthWatch, an Israeli medical and health startup, as an example. Its smart T-shirt has built-in ECG sensor and has the function of 3~ 15 electrocardiograph. Under normal circumstances, doctors can only formally determine whether patients have heart disease if they are examined by 12 electrocardiograph. It often takes a lot of time from patient report to examination. If the patient wears this smart T-shirt, the cardiologist can receive ECG data sent by the T-shirt in real time. In this way, the doctor can know the patient's condition in time and accurately, so as to give the treatment plan in time. This amazing T-shirt can also be machine washed and dried. The T-shirt has built-in electronic components, which can store up to 70 hours of data, or transmit data to Android smartphones through wireless signals. Of course, before washing this T-shirt, users need to take out the electronic components first. And T-shirts can be washed at least 50 times without damage.
The smart T-shirt developed by OMsignal can not only track the vital signs of human body, but also record the heat consumption and stress level of human body. This saves the trouble of wearing smart belts, hand straps and other equipment. After all, we all have to get dressed and go out. In fact, its principle of action is also very simple. Smart T-shirts are woven from optical fibers and wires with built-in micro-sensors. The sensor embedded in the fabric can record more than 30 cardiopulmonary physiological parameters in the daily activities of the wearer. Among them, the respiratory condition is monitored by induction plethysmography, and high-frequency and low-intensity current is continuously emitted to sinusoidal array wires embedded in the chest and abdomen of the coat; Calculating the heart rate by using the collected single-channel electrocardiogram signal; Perception of human position and body activity through three-dimensional accelerometer. This smart T-shirt can be connected to other peripheral devices, and can also measure blood pressure, oxygen saturation, body temperature and skin temperature. These measured data are transmitted to the Internet electronic data processing center, and the processing results will be submitted to doctors in the form of briefings or high-resolution waveforms, so that medical staff can monitor the health status of users at any time and make accurate diagnosis.
Skin other than skin
Among the above refreshing wearable devices, there is a key device-sensor. It can feel the changes of external conditions, such as cold and warm, fast and slow, and respond accordingly, just like our skin. According to their respective principles, sensors can be divided into piezoresistive sensors, piezoelectric capacitive sensors and piezoelectric sensors. The combination of sensor and textile technology has developed into electronic textile technology, in which piezoelectric sensors and optical fibers are widely used. The performance of common sensors such as resistance or capacitance sensors will be affected by the mechanical hysteresis and electrical hysteresis of materials (or structures). Compared with wires or related sensors, optical fiber not only does not generate heat, but also is insensitive to electromagnetic radiation and is not affected by discharge phenomenon, so it is more widely used.
The functions of sensors, actuators, electronic components, power supplies and other components in electronic fabrics can be realized in two ways. One is to integrate traditional sensors such as microcontroller, light emitting diode, optical fiber and piezoelectric sensor into fabric, and the other is to develop devices based on organic materials, namely electroactive polymer (EAP). The development of new textile technologies (such as weaving metal wires into fabrics) accelerates the application of electronic fabrics manufactured by the first method in electrical connection, data communication and power supply. Then when sensing different signals, different sensors are needed, such as polyvinylidene fluoride, which has a piezoelectric coefficient of 24~27pC/N and is the most commonly used piezoelectric polymer. It can detect the pulse of carotid artery and radial artery, apical pulse and sound.
At the opening ceremony of the World Cup in Brazil, which made football fans crazy, the disabled and determined Brazilian teenager kicked out the "first goal" with advanced technology. Can we see the infinite possibilities that science and technology bring to our health? Once upon a time, exoskeletons, "magic helmets" and smart T-shirts were just fantasies in science fiction movies. Now, wearable medical equipment is entering our daily life, protecting our health in a more convenient, fast and intelligent way!
Du Fu, the grandson of the famous poet Du Fu, was born in a family with literary tradition. He studied poetry at the age of 7 and became famous at the a