Common Webcams Could Be Used to Continuously Monitor Your Vital Signs
Mirror Mirror on the Wall A new technology coming out of the Harvard-MIT Health Sciences and Technology program uses low-res cameras like those used in Web cams to measure vital signs, opening the door to around-the-clock monitoring of a person's most fundamental health indicators. That first early-morning look in the mirror may soon tell you a lot more about your state of being beyond the simple fact that you look like you could use another hour of sleep. A grad student in the Harvard-MIT Health Sciences and Technology program has figured out how to use low-cost, low-resolution off-the-shelf camera technology to measure a person's heart rate through imaging alone. The technology, which could soon also be measuring respiration rates and blood-oxygen levels as well as blood pressure, could make basic medical monitoring a continuous process throughout the day. The system requires nothing but a low-resolution video camera like the one...