Extending the capabilities of mobile device based pulse oximetry

移动健康(MHealth)是指使用移动电话来提高医疗质量和效率。在一个拥有70亿人口和68亿部手机的世界里，mHealth代表着一条提供筛查和护理服务的非凡途径。我们来自UBC的团队创造了一种创新的mHealth解决方案，名为手机血氧计，它使用手机应用程序和手指传感器来测量血氧饱和度。血氧饱和度是一个重要的生命指标，通过将其与几个简单问题的答案结合起来，我们可以帮助诊断和监测患者，并为资源匮乏环境下的医疗保健提供者提供决策支持。该解决方案的技术创新在于应用生物医学工程和医学生理学的复杂原理来创建一种低成本、准确和有效的设备，该设备易于在现场使用，只需最少的培训和维护。电话血氧仪已通过UBC剥离的Lionsgate Technologies Inc.(LGTMedical)实现商业化。现在，我们正在与他们合作，改善手机血氧计的信号质量并扩展其功能；最重要的是，创造一种适用于新生儿和婴儿的传感器。到项目结束时，这项技术将成为经过验证、经过认证、已投入市场的产品。它将帮助挽救2.9万名五岁以下儿童中的一些人，其中大部分来自撒哈拉以南非洲和南亚，他们每天死于败血症和肺炎等可预防的原因。这项技术尤其适用于世界上最贫穷的地区，那里几乎没有或根本没有医疗设备，患者更年轻，病情更重，大多数死亡甚至发生在儿童得到护理之前。在加拿大，这项技术及其衍生技术将改善三级和低资源护理环境中的可及性、效率和护理成本。作为这项工作的结果，LGTMedical将进入世界各地新兴的临床市场。通过该项目解决的基础技术的细微差别将使生物医学工程和mHealth受益，为该技术在其他条件和挑战中的进一步应用奠定了优先地位。

Mobile Health (mHealth) refers to the use of mobile phones to improve healthcare quality and efficiency. In a world of 7 billion people and 6.8 billion mobile phones, mHealth represents a remarkable avenue for screening and care delivery. Our team from UBC has created an innovative mHealth solution called the Phone Oximeter, which uses a phone app and a finger sensor to measure blood oxygen saturation. Blood oxygen saturation is an important vital sign and by combining it with answers to a few simple questions we can help diagnose and monitor patients, and provide decision-making support to healthcare providers in resource-poor settings. The technical innovation of this solution is in the application of complex principles of biomedical engineering and medical physiology to the creation of a low-cost, accurate and effective device that is easy to use in the field with minimal training and maintenance.The Phone Oximeter has been commercialized through UBC spin-off, LionsGate Technologies Inc (LGTmedical). Now, we are teaming up with them to improve the Phone Oximeter's signal quality and extend its capabilities; most importantly, creating a sensor for neonates and infants. This technology will become a validated, certified, market-ready product by project end. It will help save some of the 29,000 children under five years of age, disproportionately from sub-Saharan Africa and Southern Asia, who die each day from preventable causes like sepsis and pneumonia. This technology is particularly relevant for the poorest regions of the world, where little or no medical equipment is available, patients are younger and sicker, and most deaths occur before a child even reaches care. In Canada, this technology, and those that stem from it, will improve accessibility, efficiency, and cost of care in tertiary and low-resource care settings, alike. As a result of this work, LGTmedical will access burgeoning clinical markets around the world. The nuances of the underlying technology, resolved through this project, will benefit biomedical engineering and mHealth by setting precedence for further applications of this technology to other conditions and challenges.