News & Events

Webinar – Technology for Enhancing Functional Health: Monitoring Movement with Wearables and Sensors, Margie Lachman, Amanda Paluch, Jen Blankenship

https://youtu.be/VLEL_qlBLFA?si=0oCfae1LTswkZyPG Abstract:  Nearly half of adults over 75 experience functional limitations, often worsened by physical inactivity and sedentary behavior. There is an inherent need for innovative technologies—such as wearables, sensors, and AI systems—to detect early declines and support timely interventions that maintain independence and quality of life. This webinar explored potential innovative approaches that are being developed through the support of the MassAITC pilot program to support functional health and independence among older adults through wearable and ambient sensor technologies. Dr. Amanda Paluch (University of Massachusetts) presented her pilot study on detecting frailty in home environments using non-invasive, whole-room body heat sensors (Butlr Care). Her team’s interdisciplinary work aims to develop low-burden, contactless algorithms capable of continuously monitoring movement patterns to detect early signs of frailty and support interventions that promote aging in place. Dr.…

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New Product Launch: Butlr Technologies introduces “Butlr Care” – with the goal of ambient monitoring for senior living and home care.

[Burlingame, CA–November 6, 2023] – Butlr, a leading provider of anonymous people-sensing technology, today announced the availability of Butlr Care. The solution offers a new option for senior living communities to improve safety and care while protecting privacy and simplifying daily life for residents and staff. By passively monitoring movement patterns via thermal sensors, Butlr Care can alert caregivers when seniors need assistance. Butlr also announced partnerships with leading solution providers that are deploying the technology. "We’re thrilled to offer a new technology option for senior living communities and solutions providers that delivers real value. Our aim is to make ambient monitoring part of a new care standard – one that protects privacy, simplifies caregiving, and strengthens the bottom line." Honghao Deng, CEO and co-founder of Butlr By 2031, the U.S. will need an additional…

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Funding: MindMics selected for 2023 of the HeartX program

MindMics has been selected for the prestigious 2023 HeartX cardiovascular-focused healthcare accelerator, launched by HealthTech Arkansas and MedAxiom. Within the HeartX program, MindMics will gain access to hospitals interested in conducting clinical studies and piloting the technology. Source: HealthTech Arkansas - press release of 2023 HeartX Cohort

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MassAITC Webinar – Opportunities and Challenges in Automatic Detection of Momentary Stress via Wearables, Santosh Kumar

https://youtu.be/wKgXSOgZSdU?si=PjYmoeQYrISdVqdz Talk Abstract:  Stress, a double-edged sword, has been long recognized for its potential to fuel productivity, enhance performance, and provide life-saving bursts of energy in times of imminent danger. Excessive and repetitive stress, however, can harm our physiological, psychological, behavioral, and social well-being. Due to its wide prevalence and impact in our lives, stress detection is increasingly being introduced in smartwatches, rings, and other wearables to help us become aware of and mitigate excessive stress. But unlike activity tracking, stress detection is yet to be adopted widely. What makes real-life stress detection so challenging? What progress has been made thus far and what else needs to be done to make stress detection truly useful? About the Speaker:  Santosh Kumar is the Lillian & Morrie Moss Chair of Excellence Professor in Computer Science at the…

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MassAITC Webinar – Wearable Acoustic and Vibration Sensing and Machine Learning for Human Health and Performance, Omer Inan

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sHCNy3hzdXk This talk will focus on: Digital health technology in precision medicine Advancements in cardiogenic vibration sensing Musculoskeletal sensing and joint acoustic emissions Abstract: Recent advances in digital health technologies are enabling biomedical researchers to reframe health optimization and disease treatment in a patient-specific, personalized manner. This talk will focus on my group’s research in two areas of relevance to digital health: (1) cardiogenic vibration sensing and analytics; and (2) musculoskeletal sensing with joint acoustic emissions and bioimpedance. Our group has extensively studied the timings and characteristics of cardiogenic vibration signals such as the ballistocardiogram and seismocardiogram, and applied these signals for cuffless blood pressure measurement, heart failure monitoring, and human performance. We have also leveraged miniature contact microphones to measure the sounds emitted by joints, such as the knees, in the context of movement,…

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Publication: 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 of these 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…

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