Heather, On Tech

Blood Pressure Tracking - Online!

If you're like me and you have blood pressure issues (mine is very low), you have to keep track of what your readings are.  Maybe not compulsively so, but you know, on a fairly regular basis.  Last year I had to do this four times a day, every day, and I kept a log on a spreadsheet I had saved in Google Docs.  It worked great, since I had access to it wherever I went (more or less).

I'm sure there are a few of these, but I read on MedGadget about a new BP monitoring app on the web called BP-Chart.  You can log and track your blood pressure, make the information public or private, share it on social media outlets, and even roll it up and send it to your doctor.  I haven't tried it out yet, but I'm planning to. 

And no, I'm not going to make mine public; it will make some of you wonder whether I'm actually alive. :)

The Future is Now

I'm really interested in BioTech for a lot of reasons (I once wanted to be a neurosurgeon and it was laziness that kept me from doing it).  Both of my parents were/are in medicine and the human body just fascinates me.  And now that I'm into computers, it just seems like a great marriage of interests.

Today on Read Write Web there is an article about brain sensors and using them to communicate with your computer.  We've all seen things on TV about people with disabilities being able to communicate by thinking, and this is not really a new thing.  But, it's not ever been mainstream and it's quickly becoming so.

I've seen games in a few places where you wear a headset and control different objects (one or two of which are mentioned in the RWW article), but apparently it's becoming hip to hack those and do all kinds of interesting things, although not necessarily medical in nature.

I'm not really into having electrodes implanted anywhere in my body (microchips included).  Hell, I don't even have a real tattoo!  But if it's somehting like slipping on a headset and thinking about things, imagine how much faster I can get my programming done?  I can be thinking about a program while running, saving tons of time.

Say goodbye to the office, right? :)

Another Wicked Cool Prosthesis

This is some of the coolest technology out there, if you ask me.

I am not a fan of calling someone "disabled" when they aren't.  It's great to see that technology is making its way into making the lives of people who are missing limbs easier to do...everything!

In case you're too lazy to hit the link, MedGadget reports that an Austrian man (Christian Kandlebauer), who lost both arms when he was electrocuted, has two prostheses that allow him to drive, have a job, and I assume pretty much everything else "normal" people do.  They transplanted nerve receptors to do it (this is called targeted muscle reinnervation).

If that's not awesome, I don't know what is.

What's Your Blood Type?

Do you know your blood type?  I do.  Ever since I can remember, I've known my blood type.  Of course, it helps when your father is in blood banking!

It's a good thing to know your blood type; you never know when you're going to be in an accident and need a transfusion.  Or worse, provide a transfusion for a loved one.  Thanks to ThinkGeek, you can now type your own blood and even carry the card around with you (why you would want to do that, I have no idea) - after laminating it, of course.

When Little E was born, I wanted to know his blood type but they told me - despite taking about 10 little bloody prints from him - that they didn't actually type the blood, they just looked for diseases.  When Little P was born, I made sure I found out what his type was (same as mine, lucky boy - lucky me, too, I guess when he gets older).

The kits are only $8.99 so I guess I'll have to pick one up for dear husband and Little E.  Wouldn't it be wild if we were all the same type?  Not likely, but since I am the most common type, it's possible (hey, we all have blue eyes...).