Pilots

Publication: Oscillometric blood pressure measurements on smartphones using vibrometric force estimation

Authors: Colin Barry, Yinan Xuan, Ava Fascetti, Alison Moore, Edward J Wang Abstract This paper proposes a smartphone-based method for measuring Blood Pressure (BP) using the oscillometric method. For oscillometry, it is necessary to measure (1) the pressure applied to the artery and (2) the local blood volume change. This is accomplished by performing an oscillometric measurement at the finger's digital artery, whereby a user presses down on the phone's camera with steadily increasing force. The camera is used to capture the blood volume change using photoplethysmography. We devised a novel method for measuring the force applied of the finger without the use of specialized smartphone hardware with a technique called Vibrometric Force Estimation (VFE). The fundamental concept of VFE relies on a phenomenon where a vibrating object is dampened when an external force is…

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Oral Presentation: NIA workshop – Leveraging Adaptive Technology (“Just-in-Time”) Interventions for Aging and Alzheimer’s Disease and Alzheimer’s Disease-related Dementias

Dr. Inbal Billie Nahum-Shani (PI) presented work from this pilot project during a talk titled "Adaptive interventions and JITAIs as decision policies: What and why?" as part of Session 1 - Digital adaptive interventions: decision-focused evidence production held on October 16, 2024. Source: NIA Event Page

Continue ReadingOral Presentation: NIA workshop – Leveraging Adaptive Technology (“Just-in-Time”) Interventions for Aging and Alzheimer’s Disease and Alzheimer’s Disease-related Dementias

Publication: ACM 2024 Conference Proceeds – Development of a One Dollar Blood Pressure Monitor

Authors: Yinan Xuan, Ava J. Fascetti, Colin Barry, Edward J. Wang Abstract BPClip is an ultra-low-cost cuffless blood pressure monitor. As a universal smartphone attachment, BPClip leverages the computational imaging power of smartphones to perform oscillometry based blood pressure measurements. This paper examines different design considerations in BPClip's development. The cost and accuracy of blood pressure measurements are the central design goals. Both requirements are achieved with the initial prototype that achieves a 0.80 USD material cost and a mean absolute error of 8.72 and 5.49 mmHg for systolic and diastolic blood pressure, respectively. Since a main motivator to develop BPClip is making blood pressure monitoring more accessible, usability is also central to the design. User studies were conducted throughout the design process to inform the most intuitive and accessible design features. In this paper,…

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Award: Gold Winner at McKnight’s Tech Awards in Falls Prevention, Management or Detection Category

The Gold went to Butlr and Ranagard Community for “Butlr: AI for earlier intervention.” By passively monitoring movement patterns via thermal sensors, Butlr Care alerts staff members when residents need assistance. The sensors detect movement but are purposely designed to be unable to capture any personally identifiable information. At Ranagard Community, 2,500 Butlr sensors were installed across 700 apartments. The return on investment has been evident in time and cost savings, increased revenue, better use of staff and a reduction in falls. Source: https://www.mcknightsseniorliving.com/news/gurwin-takes-best-of-show-as-2024-mcknights-tech-awards-honors-dozens-of-winners/

Continue ReadingAward: Gold Winner at McKnight’s Tech Awards in Falls Prevention, Management or Detection Category

Grant Funding: NIA R01 (R01AG089169)

Title: Neural mechanisms of gait disturbances as individualized digital biomarker trajectories in preclinical dementia Public Health Relevance Statement: In this project, we uncover the neural mechanisms of gait and mobility disturbances in preclinical dementia and identify trackable individualized digital biomarkers (from videos). We evaluate the specificity and sensitivity of these gait-based biomarkers and relate those to neural mechanisms and clinical phenotypes. By leveraging these identified markers, we can monitor the disease's progression, potentially minimizing or even replacing the demand for expensive neuropsychological or neuroimaging evaluations. Source: R01AG089169 (NIH RePORTER)

Continue ReadingGrant Funding: NIA R01 (R01AG089169)

Award: Recognition as most comprehensive monitoring system for older adults from National Council on Aging (2025)

Experts from the National Council on Aging (NCOA) have selected the Top 5 Home Monitoring Systems for older adults for the year 2025 and Livindi has been named the most comprehensive solution currently on the market. The pros of their solution were noted as the affordability, the variety of sensors available (including bed sensor and activity tracker), accessibility to telehealth, the favorable return policy (30-day return window), connectivity options (both Wi-Fi and cellular), and easy self installation. What they said: "The Livindi home monitoring system works well for people who want to participate in their own health monitoring, as some of the devices, like the weight scale and blood pressure monitor, require users to take their own daily measurements. That said, many of the sensors, like the motion and door monitors, work passively in the…

Continue ReadingAward: Recognition as most comprehensive monitoring system for older adults from National Council on Aging (2025)

Award: Don Norman Design Award 2024 – Special Recognition

Billion Labs Inc was honored with a DNDA24 Special Recognition for "Reducing Barrier to Access Hypertension Screening Globally." What they said: Billion Labs Inc. is a startup company whose mission is to transform the billions of smartphones in everyone’s pocket to screen for critical health conditions like all-cause mortality, hypertension, diabetes, and more with nothing but a download of an app, making health monitoring affordable and accessible to everyone. Their solution, Vibro, is a smartphone app that requires no extra devices to measure blood pressure. The ultimate goal is to provide affordable blood pressure monitoring by leveraging the existing smartphone infrastructure. Even if an individual does not own a smartphone personally, access can be bootstrapped through family and community support, reducing barriers of accessing hypertension screening. Through iterative design process, the team continues to refine…

Continue ReadingAward: Don Norman Design Award 2024 – Special Recognition