NaviGadget

concept device: gps fitted inhalers

Apr 9, 2009 gps navigation, misc news

Add this to the list of devices that you’re never likely to see. A GPS fitted medical inhaler.

The idea here is to track where asthma attacks strike. David Van Sickle at the University of Wisconsin-Madison recruited 4 students with asthma and convinced them to carry inhalers outfitted with GPS tracking devices to transmit their position when they were being used. The initial test went OK and his idea was funded. Now the same test will be performed with 50 people. Their device is only the size of a 9 volt battery and uses A-GPS technology so it would also work indoors.

The goal of the project is to learn something about asthma exposures, but it also is helping individuals better understand what triggers their own symptoms.

GPS enabled medical devices are becoming more common, such as the device to track Alzheimer patients or the hospital patient tracking system that can send an alert when it detects a fall… via