Today’s generation may be perceived as the hi-tech generation and it may be praised for its discoveries and evolution, but it is equally important the manner in which technology is put to use. Health conscious nations, such as Japan, the United Stares or Great Britain, work their way through making technology really serve the people. They have tried for years now to implement health applications into different gadgets and devices that people, and especially youngsters, would be interested in. It’s like a nations-wide program meant to raise awareness of the health issues. The manners of presentation are diverse, from special devises, built in monitors, to smart phones.
It was a Spanish doctor, named Carlos Jimenez Diaz, who most supported the phenomenon he called “avance tecnologia medica” within the European medical community, and this was back in the 30s. He believed that giving medical assistance is close to nothing if doctors do not dedicate the same amount of time researching. Come to think about it, he was absolutely right. Without “tecnologia medica” we wouldn’t now have X rays, ultrasounds or computer scans. Diaz referred to medical equipment – “equipos medicos” – as sometimes being more necessary than skills. Nevertheless, as years passed by, medicine has indeed known major changes through the advance of technology. The ultimate step of this amazing process seems to be making people aware of the importance of staying healthy and maybe try to prevent them from needing a doctor’s attention. And here is where personal health monitors come into role.
Some of the devices work as breathalyzers, measuring the level of halitosis or alchol from your system. They are connected to your phone and can also come in the form of a fitness monitor. The sensors are placed on the side of the smartphone and take measurements through one’s fingers. The application then shows the muscle mass inside your body, fat content and if there is any reason for worrying. Generally, this kind of determinations and vital signs are analyzed at the hospital or clinic, which in part restricts their relevancy, as they are being representative for that moment only. The smart phones have the ability to register these information daily and give an accurate medical history.
Another aspect that has made this approach become a real trend, is that there are people who actually require medical devices to register heart activity or to monitor the functions of other organs, but few actually afford the apparatus. Installing applications that allow the smart phones to take over transforms them into inexpensive health monitors. And they have the great advantage of being extremely popular and many people purchases them.
One of the newest such application for smart phones is Macaw and it has been developed and implemented with the support of the U.S. Preventative Medicine. The novelty that it brings is that it monitors full personal health, not only activity and daily habits, but also registers lab results or other significant items of medical history. The entire goal of the Prevention Plan is to make people avoid the things that harm their organisms. The application is available on Android systems and on iPhones for now.