Home health monitoring in the smartphone age - Not upto par......

I am a "diagnosed diabetic" for almost 10 years now and have used many blood glucose meters and a couple of blood pressure meters to keep track of my vitals to help manage my health. The first time i went to see the doctor after being diagnosed with diabetes with a colorful chart, the doctor was surprised and said I was the first of his patients to do this. That was the honeymoon phase right after being diagnosed when I was serious about controlling it. It has been an up an down battle since then. What i had to do was take the measurements on the blood glucose (here after BG) and blood pressure (here after BP) meters and then once a week would enter into an excel file and then plot it to see the high lows and the average. This was helpful in my follow up discussions with the doctor. did that the first 2-3 visits and then stopped as i kept forgetting to input them into excel. There were some meters out there that had an audio out jack that allowed you to connect to a Windows PC the meter and download the data using special software.

Being a techie, i could not believe this. Seems hard to believe we didn't have something easier. But looking back I realize this was 2003-2004 I am talking about (seems like eons ago before the smartphone era with cool apps, doesn't it?).

Back in early 2012 i found an app aptly named "BloodSugar" by healthycloud that i have been using to input my readings. This app is cool and allows you to see your history as a table and as a chart that i have been showing to my doctor during recent visits. Also found a BP app called "BPMonitor" by Taconicys that is similar with tables and charts to see historical data.

    
But the funny part is that even after so many years of smart phones being around, the big bad pharma companies have not come out with meters that either talk to a phone over Bluetooth or NFC or a meter that just attaches to the smartphone as a dock! Well one small company has. This BG meter that connects to the iPhone is called iBGStar. I can't wait to try it out. I just found out about it. There is also a "MyGlucohealth" BG meter with Bluetooth that is out there but there are concerns about the accuracy of it's readings.

Hoping that the more popular brands like AccuChek (Roche), Bayer, Freestyle (Abbott) would not have bluetooth enabled meters. Roche has a bluetooth controlled insulin delivery tool but not a meter. Go figure.

I prefer the Bluetooth enabled meters in place of the dock-able ones as the connectors in every phone seems to be different.

Please share if you are aware of meters available in the market that are up to par for automated tracking!!!

Cheers to everyone's good health and staying healthy
-Ram

What? More monitors???

Baby #2 is almost here, so as you can image, I've been spending a lot of time getting prepped. It is amazing how fast you forget things. Ram and I seem to have an obsession to cut cords and monitor things remotely :-)

I will make this one short, do you need a baby monitor? Answer: Yes. Do you need one that has a camera? Answer: Yes. Why with camera? Because you can and since technology has really taken root in this nifty gadget.

I do believe they are quite pricey, but there are just too many options. I kinda tripped over one when our first son was born. It was by a brand called Levana. I forget how I found it, but glad I did. Some typical features I suggest looking for:
1. IR capable so that you can see images at night
2. Digital wireless connection (for privacy)
3. 2.4in or larger screen on the receiver
4. Easy mount for the camera incase you need to clip it to a bookshelf.
5. VOX (See below)- Levana's charm!
6. Temperature monitor

The most nifty feature is the VOX feature (at least that's what they call it). It is a feature that will only turn on the screen if the sound is sharp and loud. So, when the baby is turning around, breathing heavy, slight ruffles etc, NOTHING happens. You may think this is what you need to hear, trust me, you don't! You want the system to engage with the child screams, starts talking, falls off the bed etc! I have only found this feature in Levana products (BabyView20 and Jena). I still have the BabyView20 (had it for 3 years) and just upgraded to Jena with two camera for Baby #2. Quality is ok, had to get a few Babyview20 replaced on warranty due to usage issues, but I really like the product, particularly for this VOX feature, which is also called PEEP. And key feature to note, it is multi-voltage, we take it along wherever we are going...UK, Malaysia etc.

Anyway, I am probably rambling now, just getting ready for the sleepless nights coming up. If you have any suggestions for better monitors, please leave a comment! I am sure others would like to hear your stories!

-Kannan

 

Open Sesame....

I am a hardcore apple fan and as expected was online following the latest Apple iPhone 5s event on CNET the other day. As was rumored the iPhone 5S does include fingerprint technology called TouchID, similar to the one I wrote about in the Ding Dong article earlier. Fingerprint has been the way of identifying people from the prehistoric ages....see this article online for a history about fingerprints - http://onin.com/fp/fphistory.html or read chapter 1 of this book http://www.nij.gov/pubs-sum/225320.htm by the National Institute of Justice (kindle or other eReader versions available for free).

The objective of apple is to help speed up things - basically eliminate entering passwords the umpteen times you access your phone in a day. Just place your finger on the home button and voila - open sesame! That is convenience at its best combined with security. This maybe the beginning of the end of passwords and pass codes if other smartphone manufacturers follow suit which I strongly believe they will.

Take for example the point and shoot camera that are slowly vanishing given the quality of pictures on most smartphones getting better by the day and the convenience of taking pictures with a phone instead of carrying a second device in your pocket. Or the home phone for that matter is slowly fading away.......

Best of all is that this could be the beginning of true mobile wallets for mobile payments eliminating the need for credit cards someday.  Given Apple has talked about using the TouchID for iTunes and app store purchases, I believe this will surely be followed by combining Passbook app with TouchID for quick online purchases  and may be even offline at the retail stores. Combined with blue tooth technology in iPhone or NFC in other phones (like the Fujitsu Regza phones in Japan), placing your finger on the fingerprint sensor can approve payments to a credit card terminal at the checkout lane at the retail or grocery stores. This way next time you go out all you would need is your phone and your drivers license for ID.

Maybe the day is not far when the phone with fingerprint sensor on it is your proof of ID :)

On a historical note, Apple is not the first company to put a fingerprint sensor on a phone. Siemens (Germany) and Sagem (France) experimented with sensors on phones back in 1998 and 2000 respectively but it was Fujitsu of Japan that came out with the commercially successful clam shell (flip) phones that had fingerprint sensors on them in 2003. Fujitsu is the only phone company that has built the most models (30) with fingerprint sensors on them. The japanese already use phones extensively to make mobile payments for purchases at vending machines and at stores. Motorola (Google now) and Fujitsu both announced Android phones back in 2011 with fingerprint sensor. The Motorola Atrix model did not take off and was discontinued but Fujitsu has had some success limited to Japan.

Fujitsu F505i - with fingerprint sensor released in 2003                                                          

Now let's wait and watch if the magic of Apple can make this commonplace the world over......or will it  also end up on the heap of cool but discarded technology pile.

Cheers
-Ram

Cut the cord (again!)

WiFi for the home is an important feature of any household these days. But how should you set this up? There are probably a million ways to setup a home network. Here are my $0.02 on how I would go about it.

First things first, 802.11AC, this is the 5th gen WiFi protocol. I think this is needed, but 2-3 years down the road, UNLESS you are moving a LOT of data inside your home network (trust me, you are NOT doing this today!). Remember, if you chose 802.11AC, both the router and laptop/PC must support this.

Okay, now on to more "regular" WiFi. A couple of key features you should check out before getting a new router, simultaneous dual band and 802.11n. Dual band means, the router can operate on the 2.4GHz band AND the 5.0GHz band. This is critical to understand since now you can have two wireless networks in the house, running at different frequencies. 802.11 b/g runs at 2.4Ghz which is shared with your microwave oven, Bluetooth, some cordless phones, baby monitors etc. And 802.11a /n runs at 5GHz which has less interference, so it is cleaner and able to sustain the fastest speeds. When you have interference, you may not lose the connection, but it becomes significantly slower and FRUSTRATING!

If you recall my blog on cutting the cable cord for TV, I now use my internet for TV viewing. I noticed the dreaded "loading" icon on my TV when I was trying to watch TV. I started to play around my router setups and dedicated a 5GHz network for my high bandwidth systems, TV, ipad and work laptop :-). I then put all other devices on a regular 2.4GHz network, like phones, ipod touch, audio streaming, webcams etc. I've noticed significant improvement in my TV viewing experience!

Of course, true internet speeds and bandwidth is determined by your internet connection, so WiFi data speeds are probably not a bottle neck but can be if you have good internet speed. I did some testing to see how these things are related. Here is an example:

My internet speed on AT&T UVerse (fibre to the curb) is 18Mbps based on what AT&T tells me (or robs me). When I perform speed tests using my 2.4GHz network, I get 12-13Mpbs and when I use the 5GHz network, I get 17.5Mbps. This clearly indicates to me, if I have internet speeds more than 13Mbps, the WiFi network is my bottleneck! But I should quantify that for normal internet browsing etc. 12Mbps is more than enough.

How did I setup my home network? Well, I am kinda cheap (for those who know me well), I have an Apple Extreme base-station from 2008. Apple is typically ahead of the curve, so I had a dual band router (but not simultaneous). I can't run 5GHz and 2.4GHz at the same time.... Then I realized I had a WiFi router built into my AT&T modem (that can ONLY run 2.4GHz). Then it hit me!!!! I now run a 5GHz network using the Apple router and 2.4GHz using the AT&T router. And you can put them next to each other since they are running two different frequencies, there is little degradation to the signal. The EASIEST way to get this going if you have a router more than 3-4 years old, is to just get a new dual band (simultaneous router). I recommend the Apple router/base station family. I have used many brands in the past. Seems like they all have their quirks. I've been the most happy with my Apple router. It just works and you never have to re-boot it. As common practice, I also recommend re-booting any router from time to time.

For some reason, in Malaysia, seems like modems wear out faster, maybe the heat and dust, I do recommend changing/replacing the router every 2-3 years, obviously only if they are the cheap ones. It would hurt to keep changing the Apple router that often!

As an added bonus, if you get the latest Apple router, it is 802.11AC ready, which is the next generation 600Mbps speed!

Leave me a comment if you have additional questions on this topic, would be glad to help.

adios,
Kannan

The Monitor Lizard

(or Wizard)... For those of us who are still holding on to a desktop pc at home, the search for a monitor can be challenging. There are sooooo many out there now. A good large monitor will make the entire experience of working from home significantly better! Some of us also have home docking stations for laptops, this needs a good external monitor. A few things to consider when looking for a monitor: size, connections, resolution. Gamers and tech savvy readers, this is probably too generic for you, I am sure you have your own favorites on latency, color reproductions, size etc. I wrote this for the "others" who need to replace or upgrade a home PC monitor.

99.9% new monitors are already LED backlight, don't really have to "look" out for this. The power consumption is definitely an advantage when using LEDs. I find the sweetspot for a monitor when comparing size to cost, 23"-24" is the best currently. The cost to size ratio keeps getting better as time goes on. About 2 years ago, 21" was the best size to buy. 27" and 30" are the next two steps and the cost probably doubles as you move up to these sizes. The most prevalent 27" is the current Apple iMac and their cinema displays.

27" is not common in windows desktop PCs, since the price of these monitors are in the upwards of $700 right now. A decent 24" is $250, an awesome 24" is about $400.

Settled! 24" it is. (or 27" if you have the cash lying around), what about resolution? The most common spec is 1920x1080. This is pretty much the resolution of every 23-24" monitor out there. HOWEVER, there is a class of monitor using IPS screen (in-plane switching) = really sharp pictures. These monitors have a resolution of 1920x1200. Ok, so you may think 1080 to 1200 is only 120 extra lines, not a big deal. It is a big deal, you get to see more rows on an excel sheet, documents are easier to read, as you get more are at the bottom of the screen. I am a big proponent of dell Ultrasharp series of monitors (and NO I don't work for Dell). I've had the 20.1" and the 24" Ultrasharps from Dell and am really happy with them. Dell considers these their "premium" line so inherently the quality and service is better. The same higher res. applies to 27" as well. The Dell Ultrasharp 27" is probably the closest to Apple's 27" iMac. iMac obviously has the computeer itself built-in to it, Dell is just the monitor. You should consider the all-in one PCs if you want windows 8 and touch screen. I am a little more old school for that!

What connections to look for? HDMI or DVI is a must. They are the same, but have different connectors. If you have a HDMI out from your laptop or desktop, then look for one with HDMI (if you really like one with just DVI, you can get a cheap adapter from HDMI to DVI). All monitors have regular VGA, which is typically the blue cable. HDMI is black, DVI is white. See below, far left is DVI, then HDMI, then VGA. IF you have these 3, pretty much covered for most PCs and laptops.












There is one other connector to consider, displayport. This is very similar to Thunderbolt that Apple uses. If you want to use a mac or macbook with your monitor, then you need to double check the connections and compatibility. Thunderbolt connection is the best for Apple products, only available on newer Apple products (I think they are backward compatible with displayport), but in order to get thunderbolt capable monitors, you need to buy an Apple monitor = $$$. I am not the expert on Apple products, so do check some online reviews before getting a monitor for Apple products. The older mac's and mac mini's support displayport (and HDMI if I am not mistaken).

Soooooo, what do I recommend?
If you want a mainstream monitor, then 24" Ultrasharp (or anything with 1920x1200) for 99% of PC or windows based machines. Mac lovers, the 2013 Ultrasharp has Displayport built-in so this could be a great option.
If you have the money, then get the 27" Ultrasharp. If you laptop or PC is more than 2 years old, check to make sure it can handle the resolution. Sometimes, older video cards can't handle these resolutions (critical for 27").
If you are an Apple fan, then forget the wires and get the 27" iMac!
If you are wondering if you should get a touch capable monitor for windows 8? I haven't looked into this, I feel that it's probably best to get mult-touch screens in an all-in one PC.
If you are wondering what a monitor lizard is....


Till next time folks,
Kannan