Danie van der Merwe

Free and Open Source Eyes Guard for Windows - Because Taking a Break is best for Avoiding Eye Strain from long time in front of Screens

Sat, 08 May 2021 10:32:45 +0200

Danie van der Merwe

gadgeteer@hub.netzgemeinde.eu

I've featured Safe Eyes for Linux before so this one is for Windows users. We read more and more about blue light filters (and it also being recently debunked) to avoid eye strain, but the most important preventions are taking forced breaks every 20 minutes, not sitting too close to the screen, having correct eye focus, and not having the brightness set too high.

Eyes Guard will allow you to enable forced breaks. Another good alternative for Windows (not open source) is called Eye Saver which in addition has anti flicker and blue light filter options too.

See avestura/EyesGuard

#technology #opensource #eyestrain #health #bluefilter

? Windows Application for protecting your eyes. Contribute to avestura/EyesGuard development by creating an account on GitHub.

technology health technology eyestrain health eyes eyestrain opensource eyes opensource

Cognixion’s brain-monitoring headset enables fluid communication for people with severe motor impairment disabilities

Tue, 04 May 2021 21:18:14 +0200

Danie van der Merwe

gadgeteer@hub.netzgemeinde.eu

Of the many frustrations of having a severe motor impairment, the difficulty of communicating must surely be among the worst. The tech world has not offered much succour to those affected by things like locked-in syndrome, ALS, and severe strokes, but startup Cognixion aims to with a novel form of brain monitoring that, combined with a modern interface, could make speaking and interaction far simpler and faster.

The company’s One headset tracks brain activity closely in such a way that the wearer can direct a cursor — reflected on a visor like a heads-up display — in multiple directions or select from various menus and options. No physical movement is needed, and with the help of modern voice interfaces like Alexa, the user can not only communicate efficiently but freely access all kinds of information and content most people take for granted.

Read how they got to where they are now at Cognixion’s brain-monitoring headset enables fluid communication for people with severe disabilities – TechCrunch

#technology #disabilities #motorimpairment #health

Of the many frustrations of having a severe motor impairment, the difficulty of communicating must surely be among the worst. The tech world has not offered much succor to those affected by things like locked-in syndrome, ALS, and severe strokes, but startup Cognixion aims to with a novel form of b…

disabilities technology health disabilities

OxiKit has developed an open-source oxygen concentrator that can be built for far less than what commercial concentrators cost

Mon, 03 May 2021 22:38:20 +0200

Danie van der Merwe

gadgeteer@hub.netzgemeinde.eu

More COVID-19 patients have benefited from high-flow oxygen therapy than from mechanical ventilation. That’s great news in places where medical oxygen is cheap and easily available, but that’s always the case. We’ve seen recent reports of hospitals in India running out of oxygen, and even rural and remote areas of the developed world can find themselves caught without enough of the vital gas.

To meet the world’s increasing demand for high-flow oxygen therapy, the team at OxiKit has developed an open-source oxygen concentrator that can be built for far less than what commercial concentrators cost. By filtering the nitrogen out of the air, the concentrator provides oxygen at 90% or higher purity, at a flow of up to 25 liters per minute.

If anyone is interested in this it is worth listening to the Hack Chat on 5 May 2021 that is mentioned in the article. As this is a medical device it should not just be attempted without checking with a medical professional. This is not a ventilator though.

See Open-Source Oxygen Hack Chat

#technology #opensource #covid19 #oxygen

Join us on Wednesday, May 5 at noon Pacific for the Open-Source Oxygen Hack Chat with Maher Daoudi and the OxiKit Team! In such tumultuous times, it may be hard to remember last week, let alone las…

technology opensource covid19 health

Apple Watch Likely to Gain Blood Pressure, Blood Glucose, and Blood Alcohol Monitoring In Future Through Partnership With Rockley Photonics

Mon, 03 May 2021 21:44:02 +0200

Danie van der Merwe

gadgeteer@hub.netzgemeinde.eu

Apple has been revealed to be the largest customer of the British electronics start-up Rockley Photonics, The Telegraph reports.

Rockley Photonics has developed non-invasive optical sensors for detecting multiple blood-related health metrics, including blood pressure, blood glucose, and blood alcohol levels, many of which are only normally detectable with more invasive dedicated medical equipment. Rockley's sensors beam infrared light through a user's skin, much like the existing sensors on the back of the Apple Watch for detecting heart rate and blood oxygen levels.

If so, this is truly big and one wonders, seeing Rockley Photonics is a 3rd party company, whether its sensors could be used by
Samsung and others too in future. It does seem though, given Apple's long-standing research with medical institutions already, that they will have a head start as the software side also needs to work well with the sensors. Right now though it is all rumoured as there is no finished product, but it is certainly something we'd like to see.

See Apple Watch Likely to Gain Blood Pressure, Blood Glucose, and Blood Alcohol Monitoring

#technology #health #applewatch #bloodpressure #bloodglucose

The Apple Watch may gain the ability to measure blood pressure, blood glucose, and blood alcohol levels, according to newly-revealed information...

technology health apple applewatch diabetes

EndeavorRx is a prescription video game already FDA cleared for use in ADHD and now Doctors are testing it for COVID-19 ‘brain fog’

Mon, 19 Apr 2021 16:54:52 +0200

Danie van der Merwe

gadgeteer@hub.netzgemeinde.eu

A research team is testing a prescription video game to see if it can help people who have lingering memory and attention problems after recovering from COVID-19. Many people who survived the disease say that they’re often confused and have difficulty focusing, and research studies show that the symptoms can stick around for months after they recover.

Faith Gunning, a neuropsychologist at Weill Cornell Medicine in New York, thinks the EndeavorRX video game might be able to treat some of those symptoms. The game, made by Akili Interactive, made history last summer when it became the first video game to get the Food and Drug Administration’s sign-off to be prescribed as a medical treatment. It’s cleared as a treatment for kids between the ages of eight and 12 with ADHD.

More info at Doctors are testing a prescription video game for COVID-19 "brain fog"

#technology #health #ADHD #covid #brainfog

It could be an accessible option to help patients.

technology health covid

Apple Launches Study into Whether Apple Watch Can Detect COVID-19 (Other devices could do so too if they did the research)

Thu, 15 Apr 2021 13:54:31 +0200

Danie van der Merwe

gadgeteer@hub.netzgemeinde.eu

Apple is launching a study into whether the Apple Watch can be used to detect respiratory illnesses such as coronavirus or flu, in partnership with the University of Washington and the Seattle Flu Study.

A previous independent study by Mount Sinai researchers found that an Apple Watch can effectively predict a positive COVID-19 diagnosis up to a week before current PCR-based nasal swab tests, which may be reinforced by the findings of this new study.

Enrolment is open now for individuals in the greater Seattle area who are age 22 or older and have an Apple ‌iPhone‌ 6s or newer.

Most of the results coming out now for diabetes and atrial fibrillation are based around algorithm detections based on HRV, heart rate, oxygen levels, etc so nothing groundbreaking or new, it's just a question of doing the research which Apple is doing for their device. I had a Fitbit which clearly, in retrospect, showed my sharply elevated resting heart rate about 3 days before I was hospitalised with a viral infection, but the software gave no warning and I only saw it when I was analysing the data manually afterwards. I sold the Fitbit and bought an Apple Watch...

See Apple Launches Study into Whether Apple Watch Can Detect COVID-19

#technology #health #apple #covid #illness

Apple is launching a study into whether the Apple Watch can be used to detect respiratory illnesses such as coronavirus or flu, in partnership with...

technology health covid illness apple

Like it, or not – the sugar tax is working in South Africa but it needs to be increased to WHO recommendation levels

Tue, 13 Apr 2021 19:28:37 +0200

Danie van der Merwe

gadgeteer@hub.netzgemeinde.eu

We are drinking far less of the bad stuff, says Prof Karen Hofman of the Wits Centre for Health Economics and Decision Science.

South Africa introduced a sugar tax of 11% per litre three years ago, significantly below 20% recommended by the World Health Organisation (WHO). Nevertheless, it seems to be doing the job.

Hofman and her team researched the impact of the sugar tax and found large reductions in demand for taxed beverages but no significant changes in demand for untaxed drinks. A similar study a couple of years ago found that households bought 50% fewer sugary beverages.

"Liquid sugar is particularly bad… particularly toxic… Fruit juices were not included [in the tax]. They’re less healthy! … Eat your fruit, don’t drink it!"

Listen to the full audio interview at Like it, or not – the sugar tax is working

#health #sugar #obesity #sugartax #southafrica

We are drinking far less of the bad stuff, says Prof Karen Hofman of the Wits Centre for Health Economics and Decision Science.

health sugar diet southafrica obesity

TicWatch GTH is a 'familiar looking' but budget health tracker that can monitor your skin temperature with a 10 day battery life for US$80

Tue, 13 Apr 2021 18:35:49 +0200

Danie van der Merwe

gadgeteer@hub.netzgemeinde.eu

Interesting that this is a dedicated health tracker so no Android Wear OS (hence the longer battery life) or other apps. It seems more targeted at those that actually don't want a smart watch but just want plain health tracking, along with the temperature monitoring (obviously with Covid in mind). It also has 24-hour heart-rate and respiration monitoring, blood oxygen saturation detection (Sp02), and sleep quality monitoring.

It does also have basic notification alerting as well as some customisable watch faces.

Now that Google (an advertising company) has bought Fitbit this device may be perfectly timed for those wanting to move away from Fitbit. Mobvoi already has an excellent pedigree built up around the quality of their TicWatch Pro range.

See TicWatch GTH is a budget health tracker that can monitor your skin temperature

#technology #fitbit #health #fitness #Covid

Mobvoi's TicWatches are some of the best wearables around right now. In fact, they're among the very few Wear OS watches that we would actually recommend

technology health fitness fitbit mobvoi

American Journal of Clinical Nutrition report: Red meat is not associated with heart disease, cancer, or early death; but hints processed food may do so

Wed, 07 Apr 2021 18:52:30 +0200

Danie van der Merwe

gadgeteer@hub.netzgemeinde.eu

A new analysis of the PURE study published in the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition reports no association between eating red meat and the risk of early death, heart disease, cancer, or stroke.

This study did find a small increased risk (hazard ratio ranging between 1.3 to 1.8) of heart disease, cancer, and death for those who ate more than 150 grams per week of processed meat.

The study also reported:
“A higher intake of total trans-fatty acid (TFA), but not ruminant TFA, was probably associated with an increased risk of mortality and cardiovascular disease based on existing (systematic reviews).”

This means industrially created trans fats — such as margarine, or fats found in fried foods, and baked goods — are worse for you. But natural trans fats — from cows or other animal sources — are not associated with poor health outcomes.

See Red meat is not associated with heart disease, cancer, or early death - Diet Doctor

#health #food #redmeat #cancer #processedfood

Red meat is not associated with increased health risk, according to an analysis of the PURE study. Read here to learn more.

health redmeat health LCHF redmeat cancer LCHF cancer

Apple Watch Can Accurately Assess Frailty (6MWT test), Finds Stanford University Study

Sun, 28 Mar 2021 15:01:41 +0200

Danie van der Merwe

gadgeteer@hub.netzgemeinde.eu

Frailty can be determined using a six-minute walking test (6MWT), and the metric is a general standard used to evaluate the functional mobility and exercise capacity of a patient. Higher scores indicate "healthier cardiac, respiratory, circulatory, and neuromuscular function," according to Apple.

Conducted by Stanford University researchers and funded by Apple, the study provided 110 Veterans Affairs patients with cardiovascular disease with an iPhone 7 and Apple Watch Series 3. Patients conducted regular at-home six-minute walking tests, which were then compared to their standard in-clinic 6MWT performance.

OK the study was funded by Apple which is why it is also limited to researching only Apple devices, so it does not mean that other devices may not be able to do this, but whether they have the included the metrics or not is the issue. Looks like Apple has now included these metrics in their watchOS 7. Let's hope all wearables add more and more such metrics.

See Apple Watch Can Accurately Assess Frailty, Finds Stanford Study

#technology #health #frailty #6MWT #apple