Extending the capabilities of mobile device based pulse oximetry

移动的健康（mHealth）是指使用移动的手机来提高医疗质量和效率。在一个拥有70亿人口和68亿部移动的手机的世界里，移动医疗代表了一个非凡的筛查和护理提供渠道。我们来自UBC的团队创建了一个创新的移动健康解决方案，称为手机血氧仪，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体征，通过将其与几个简单问题的答案相结合，我们可以帮助诊断和监测患者，并为资源匮乏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将生物医学工程和医学生理学的复杂原理应用于创建低成本，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分拆公司LionsGate Technologies Inc（LGTmedical）商业化。现在，我们正在与他们合作，以改善手机血氧仪的信号质量并扩展其功能;最重要的是，为新生儿和婴儿创建传感器。该技术将在项目结束时成为经过验证、认证、市场就绪的产品。它将帮助拯救29 000名五岁以下儿童中的一些人，这些儿童不成比例地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。这项技术对世界上最贫穷的地区特别重要，因为那里几乎没有医疗设备，病人年龄较小，病情较重，大多数死亡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医疗机构的可及性、效率和成本。通过这项工作，LGTmedical将进入全球新兴的临床市场。通过该项目解决的基础技术的细微差别将有利于生物医学工程和移动健康，为该技术在其他条件和挑战中的进一步应用设定优先顺序。

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.