Healthwear: medical technology becomes wearable
From: IEEE Computer - 05/2004 - page 42
By: Alex Pentland

Abstract: Widespread adoption of sensors that monitor the wearer's vital
signs and other indicators promises to improve care for the aged and
chronically ill while amassing a database that can enhance treatment and
reduce medical costs. 

Until recently, researchers have had little success in extending healthcare
into the home environment, yet there clearly is a huge demand for this
service. Americans currently spend $27 billion on healthcare outside the
formal medical establishment, which they find difficult, expensive, and
painful to access. A dramatic shift in the composition of the US population
makes it absolutely necessary to develop such distributed systems. To address
these demands, a research group at the MIT Media Lab has been developing
healthwear, wearable systems with sensors that can continuously monitor the
user’s vital signs, motor activity, social interactions, sleep patterns, and
other health indicators. The system's software can use the data from these
sensors to build a personalized profile of the user’s physical performance
and nervous system activation throughout the entire day - providing a truly
personal medical record that could revolutionize healthcare. 

Read the entire article at:
http://ieeexplore.ieee.org/iel5/2/28841/01297238.pdf?isnumber=28841&prod=JNL&arnumber=1297238&arSt=+42&ared=+49&arAuthor=Pentland%2C+A.