Category: Gadgets

Mobile technology is being used for disease outbreak detection and prevention

| September 14, 2015

These devices are being implemented in Sri Lanka as a type of preventative effort in animal-borne diseases.

A new program is being implemented called the Sri Lankan Wildlife Health Centre that will be using mobile technology through the co-funding of the International Development Research Centre (IDRC) in order to be able to monitor the health of animals.

The idea is to be able to prevent the outbreak of disease and to detect it if it happens.

Part of the goal of this effort is also to be able to broaden the role of Sri Lankan veterinarians so that they can move into zones such as farm practices and antibiotic resistance. Mobile technology is going to play an integral role in this effort. The reason is that in the country, mobile phones are a great deal more than simply a way to communicate with other people and surf the internet. In the case of field veterinarians, for instance, it expands their resources considerably because they would otherwise be quite limited. With the tech, though, they can track infectious disease outbreaks within animals.

Using this mobile technology system, it allows for a considerably faster response to infections as they emerge.

Mobile Technology - HealthThe earlier veterinarians can take action in this type of issue, the better the chance they have at saving lives. The reason that this is important is that outbreaks of infectious diseases in animals makes up 60 to 75 percent of all emerging infectious diseases. Therefore, by reducing the spread of disease while it is still in animals, it plays a meaningful role in being able to reduce the exposure to humans.

As many of the countries where these types of disease outbreak are problematic are also countries that have limited resources to control them, this new system using mobile devices is meant to overcome that barrier and become an integral component of public health.

Mobile technology is now one of the various elements that are being tested for the improvement of the veterinary public health system in Sri Lanka. These types of system monitor disease outbreaks in animals despite the slim resources that they have. The researchers in the current team are looking into novel methods of engagement of locals in disease detection and prevention, governance of veterinary public health, training public health leaders, and connecting national and local officials.

Health focused wearable technology push continues at Huawei

| September 14, 2015

The consumer electronics company has increased its efforts to step into a rollout of those devices.

It has already been revealed that Huawei plans to focus on health when it rolls out its second generation of wearable technology called the TalkBand, but it is now clear that this focus will be a great deal larger when that release occurs in the Asian markets.

The device was first unveiled at the Mobile World Congress 2015 (MC 2015) last march in Barcelona.

The TalkBand B2 saw its first launch at the MC 2015 as a health tracker and Huawei’s response to the need for it to take part in the growing health based wearable technology market. Based on the first generation device, the TalkBand B1, this latest gadget, the B2, has taken off from there and is focused on business executives who are always on the run, as well as on people who are more athletic and want a serious tracker. The design of the device is meant to be more professional to be able to appeal to people who want to have a business-appropriate look to their wearables.

Another focus on this wearable technology device is on allowing a business executive to multitask.

The reason is that it now comes with a Bluetooth earpiece, so that the smartwatch can be used to answer calls from the smartphone with which it has been paired, regardless of whether he or she is on the go, at a desk, or even while working out. All the user needs to do is detach the ear piece and put it on in order to be able to answer the call.

According to Huawei, the majority of users now have two or more smartphones, so the TalkBand B2 has been designed to connect with either Android or iOS smartphones, or both types at the same time. The smartwatch can connect with up to two smartphones at any given time. This can also be considered to be a handy feature for people who are on the go and who have two smartphones with them, as it provides a central hub from which all calls can be answered.

That said, the primary feature focus of this wearable technology remains the health and fitness trackers. These detect and record a spectrum of different types of activities which range from walking to hiking, running to climbing, and even cycling, as well as calculating the number of burned calories and the duration of sleep that the wearer receives.