There's lots of health related data that one could collect while driving related to the driver's ability to control the vehicle and the status of everyone in range who happens to have a wireless/blue tooth adapter. Whatever data is available could be transferred more effectively to a smart phone (and disseminated from there) than from the car – The cell phone could then talk to the car (as the phones “BIG” user interface) to warn the occupants, along with calling one’s doctors family and emergency people listed in the phone as first responders.Note that the cell phone/smart phone is a more general solution, and it is a lot less expensive than a car and more easily “carried” around with the user.
Driver alertness, pulse rate, blood pressure, and many other things may be more important than changes in glucose when detecting the fitness of the driver. Drug conditions… electronic bracelet activities and other tings may also be of more importance…
Glucose monitor:For continuous glucose monitoring one must have a meter that does not interrupt or the distract the drivers concentration from driving! this implies a meter that does not require a pin prick and manual dexterity to place a sample in a receptacle ect.
By the way, Alertness can effect glucose levels-- while fasting I personally watched my glucose drop 10 points per hour in my office (110, 100, 90) then drove home and found it back at up 110--presumably due to getting up from my desk and the increased concentration to pay attention to my driving. note: I am not I diabetic but I was testing glucose meters for Medisense...
On privacy ... if the data is available on blue tooth or other wireless connection, it needs security. Maybe you want to police or people in the next car, or first responders to know your condition. However, maybe you don’t want everyone who can read your data stream to have access… and know your weaknesses ….
There's lots of health related data that one could collect while driving related to the driver's ability to control the vehicle and the status of everyone in range who happens to have a wireless/blue tooth adapter. Whatever data is available could be transferred more effectively to a smart phone (and disseminated from there) than from the car – The cell phone could then talk to the car (as the phones “BIG” user interface) to warn the occupants, along with calling one’s doctors family and emergency people listed in the phone as first responders.Note that the cell phone/smart phone is a more general solution, and it is a lot less expensive than a car and more easily “carried” around with the user.
Driver alertness, pulse rate, blood pressure, and many other things may be more important than changes in glucose when detecting the fitness of the driver. Drug conditions… electronic bracelet activities and other tings may also be of more importance…
Glucose monitor:For continuous glucose monitoring one must have a meter that does not interrupt or the distract the drivers concentration from driving! this implies a meter that does not require a pin prick and manual dexterity to place a sample in a receptacle ect.
By the way, Alertness can effect glucose levels-- while fasting I personally watched my glucose drop 10 points per hour in my office (110, 100, 90) then drove home and found it back at up 110--presumably due to getting up from my desk and increased concentration to pay attention to driving. note: I am not I diabetic but I was testing glucose meters for Medisense...
On privacy ... if the data is available on blue tooth or other wireless connection, it needs security. Maybe you want to police or people in the next car, or first responders to know your condition. However, maybe you don’t want everyone who can read your data stream to have access… and know your weaknesses ….
xx
There's lots of health related data that one could collect while driving related to the driver's ability to control the vehicle and the status of everyone in range who happens to have a wireless/blue tooth adapter. Whatever data is available could be transferred more effectively to a smart phone (and disseminated from there) than from the car – The cell phone could then talk to the car (as the phones “BIG” user interface) to warn the occupants, along with calling one’s doctors family and emergency people listed in the phone as first responders.Note that the cell phone/smart phone is a more general solution, and it is a lot less expensive than a car and more easily “carried” around with the user.
Driver alertness, pulse rate, blood pressure, and many other things may be more important than changes in glucose when detecting the fitness of the driver. Drug conditions… electronic bracelet activities and other tings may also be of more importance…
Glucose monitor:For continuous glucose monitoring one must have a meter that does not interrupt or the distract the drivers concentration from driving! this implies a meter that does not require a pin prick and manual dexterity to place a sample in a receptacle ect.
By the way, Alertness can effect glucose levels-- while fasting I personally watched my glucose drop 10 points per hour in my office (110, 100, 90) then drove home and found it back at up 110--presumably due to getting up from my desk and increased concentration to pay attention to driving. note: I am not I diabetic but I was testing glucose meters for Medisense...
On privacy ... if the data is available on blue tooth or other wireless connection, it needs security. Maybe you want to police or people in the next car, or first responders to know your condition. However, maybe you don’t want everyone who can read your data stream to have access… and know your weaknesses ….
Thanks David - you are 100% right, a simple text to a parental phone at predetermined nearing danger levels would be priceless especially during the school day. Let me know whne you have the app done! - Henry
@HJL, I mised that idea, but it would be a great concept, not only for the car, but to pop up on your home network and to send a text message to a parental phone. They might have the kids in the back yard, at the park, or in the movie. I like this concept better and better. Now, if it were only available. I bet there will be an app for that before too long.
My daughter was diagnosed at 5, have friends with 2 year old diabetics. Having the ability to see her numbers on screen while driving would be priceless.
I'm still not sold on the idea of needing the system in my car. I AM a lot more interested in seeing such a system developed that kept diabetes or any other medication issue from being so consuming. As it stands now, I write write the time, glucose reading, oral medication, and insulin in my planner. Yes, I now that a paper planned certifies me as a dinosaur, but otherwise, if I become involved in a project, a video production runs into overtime, or I simply sit down and become engrossed in a novel. . .I might forget my pill or eat at 7 instead of 5:30. An automatic system that can monitor glucose levels and adjust infusion accordingly would be such a relief. It could also work with seizure medications, blood pressure alerts, and various other medical events. The fact that it could interface with the car via bluetooth is merely a convenience. If the system did that, it could also pop up a display on my computer screen or use my cell to notify someone that I had passed out and give a location ia the GPS capability. There in lies the value of such a system. I don't see it switching Chevy drivers to Ford. (My little Monza took care of that for me.)
Jack: The point is that it isn't a lot of trouble for Ford to integrate into the vehicle. Ford isn't using the old model -- whereby they do all the design work. I don't want to minimize what Ford engineers did, but it's not a huge task for them. The cost benefit ratio is in Ford's favor, especially if a million customers, such as David, decide they want to buy a Ford as a result.
Good points, but I have to consider that whether or not this technology ends up in the automotobile control system, the development of that technology is significant to those of us who are diabetic. Even without shwingthe information on the car;s dashboard, how wonderful it would be if we had aa device that could sense our glucose levels and adjust the automatic infusion of insulin accordingly. As it is now. we eat, we guess how many units we need, we hope we are right, and if someone put too much sugar into something, these cauculations are rendered useless, This requires retesting, re-medicating, and. .. it is endless. I have to say I don't need it in my car, but I'd l;ove to have it in my life.
Lauren & Charles, I understand what you're saying, but I still fail to see the point of car integration. If a person (passenger or drive) has a medical condition that requires constant monitoring, it would need to be connected with the ability to alarm at all times - such as wherever they are traveling to. A DVD player (for instance) is only needed to provide entertainment on the road.
You're exactly right, Lauren. If a child in the backseat -- or anyone in the vehicle -- has unsafe blood sugar levels, the glucose monitor can alert the driver though Ford Sync.
Everyone is focused on the driver being distracted by having this monitoring system, but maybe this is something that could expand to help the passenger. If the passenger needs constant glucose monitoring and the car alerts the driver, the driver could safely pull over and help or take them to a nearby hospital. I like all the new infotainment going into cars and think most of the applications are geared on driving safer.
For 3D printing to make the jump from rapid prototyping to manufacturing, engineers will need to find easier ways to move products from their CAD screens to their printers.
Gigabit and PoE are two networking technologies moving ahead in tandem as industrial users power remote Ethernet devices such as IP security cameras at 1,000 Mbps over existing CAT5 cable.
New versions of BASF's Ecovio line are both compostable and designed for either injection molding or thermoforming. These combinations are becoming more common for the single-use bioplastics used in food service and food packaging applications, but are still not widely available.
From Dell / Intel® New Paradigms in Design Work Scott Hamilton, vertical market strategist for Dell Precision workstations, 5/2/2013 5
Early in my career, I worked as a draftsman and remember the days of drawing on vellum with numbered pencils and Mylar with plastic lead. This was a fun experience in the sense that I ...
I've been using workstations for more than 10 years and love finding ways to get more performance from my system. With demanding professional applications that require more power each ...
A lasting memory from my first job as an engineer in an auto assembly plant is standing on hard concrete at six in the morning, vending-machine coffee clutched in hand, listening to ...
For industrial control applications, or even a simple assembly line, that machine can go almost 24/7 without a break. But what happens when the task is a little more complex? That’s where the “smart” machine would come in. The smart machine is one that has some simple (or complex in some cases) processing capability to be able to adapt to changing conditions. Such machines are suited for a host of applications, including automotive, aerospace, defense, medical, computers and electronics, telecommunications, consumer goods, and so on. This radio show will show what’s possible with smart machines, and what tradeoffs need to be made to implement such a solution.
To save this item to your list of favorite Design News content so you can find it later in your Profile page, click the "Save It" button next to the item.
If you found this interesting or useful, please use the links to the services below to share it with other readers. You will need a free account with each service to share an item via that service.
Tweet This
2 
