Health will be monitored via Wi-Fi

"Health router" will make body trackers unnecessary

Georgy Golovanov, Hi-tech+

Imagine a box the size of a router that records the pulse, respiratory rate, pace of movement and other physiological signals of residents. MIT professor Dina Katabi is just developing one and is sure that very soon they will replace uncomfortable wearable trackers.

Speaking at the EmTech conference, Katabi said that for two years she has been working on a device that is based on changing the electromagnetic field around us. Using machine learning, the device analyzes signals and identifies those that relate to changes in physiology.

Such devices have already been installed in 200 homes where both healthy people and those suffering from Parkinson's disease, Alzheimer's, depression and other disorders live. The startup Emerald Innovations founded by Katabi is going to commercialize this technology and has already developed a working prototype for biotech and pharmaceutical companies.

In order to illustrate the practical meaning of the development, Katabi showed data collected over eight weeks from a patient with Parkinson's, which show that his gait improves at about 5 or 6 o'clock in the morning – exactly when he takes medication, writes MIT Technology Review.

The device can accurately monitor sleep phases, and the subject is not required to go to a special clinic or wear uncomfortable devices with electrodes. Everything happens in natural conditions for the patient, so the result is more significant.

Perhaps the idea of installing a device at home that monitors and collects confidential information will cause concern. Katabi claims that data is recorded only with the consent of the user and only of a certain nature. In addition, they are encrypted, and only trusted persons can access them.

Also, the device will not accidentally read the physiological signals of a neighbor or a visiting relative – the device must first be configured.

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