'Spy' Chips and Mobile Phones Could Help Fight Obesity, According to a Report Published by Wireless Healthcare.Business Editors/Health/Medical Writers The WiCon World Conference CAMBRIDGE, England--(BUSINESS WIRE)--June 1, 2004 Wireless and mobile technologies will revolutionise Verb 1. revolutionise - fill with revolutionary ideas revolutionize, inspire indoctrinate - teach doctrines to; teach uncritically; "The Moonies indoctrinate their disciples" 2. healthcare over the next two decades, according to according to prep. 1. As stated or indicated by; on the authority of: according to historians. 2. In keeping with: according to instructions. 3. a report published by Cambridge based consultants Wireless Healthcare. The report describes how the ability to scan RFID (Radio Frequency IDentification) A data collection technology that uses electronic tags for storing data. The tag, also known as an "electronic label," "transponder" or "code plate," is made up of an RFID chip attached to an antenna. devices (microchips that are set to replace barcode labels) with mobile phones could provide shoppers with a wide range of dietary and healthcare related information when they are buying groceries. Wireless Healthcare believe that while these services will be created by independent organisations, retailers will use them to show they are keen to promote healthy eating. The report, Wireless Healthcare 2004, suggests that retailers could become important players in the public healthcare sector and highlights examples such as Wal-Mart and Basha Stores in the US who have already experimented with in-store testing for diabetes and skin cancer. The report points out that mobile and wireless based healthcare services will cause gradual fragmentation (1) Storing data in non-contiguous areas on disk. As files are updated, new data are stored in available free space, which may not be contiguous. Fragmented files cause extra head movement, slowing disk accesses. A defragger program is used to rewrite and reorder all the files. of the healthcare sector, as an increasing number of clinical processes and patient monitoring services The general surveillance of known air traffic movements by reference to a radar scope presentation or other means, for the purpose of passing advisory information concerning conflicting traffic or providing navigational assistance. are provided by private companies. The report identifies home monitoring of the elderly and GPS enabled phones that double as heart monitors as technologies that have been 'productised' and are marketed to patients. Wireless Healthcare feel these services could provide significant revenue for mobile operators. Peter Kruger, Senior Analyst at Wireless Healthcare, believes wireless and mobile technology has come along at an opportune op·por·tune adj. 1. Suited or right for a particular purpose: an opportune place to make camp. 2. Occurring at a fitting or advantageous time: an opportune arrival. time. "For decades the healthcare sector has lagged behind the manufacturing and financial sectors in the adoption of automated processes. Now it can use mobile and wireless technology to realise the sort of efficiency gains achieved by banks and large businesses. Mobile technology could also open up the healthcare sector to next generation providers." The report concludes that while the NHS NHS abbr. National Health Service NHS (in Britain) National Health Service is already geared up to dealing with an increasing number of elderly patients, and could probably cope with a rise in instances of obesity obesity, condition resulting from excessive storage of fat in the body. Obesity has been defined as a weight more than 20% above what is considered normal according to standard age, height, and weight tables, or by a complex formula known as the body mass index. related diseases, it cannot do both without automating clinical processes and using technology to improve public health. Peter Kruger will be presenting a paper on the use of RFID as a public healthcare platform at The WiCon World Conference in Amsterdam on 9th June 2004. Wireless Healthcare is a UK based consultancy specialising in mobile healthcare and ehealth. Wireless Healthcare 2004 is available from www.wirelesshealthcare.co.uk. |
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