Medical mirror measurements

Can you say that five times fast? A student from the Harvard-MIT Health Sciences and Technology program is working on a system that could measure health indicators by putting a person in front of a low-cost camera. Instead of being poked and prodded by your doctor when you are feeling like the stuff on the bottom of your shoe, you could potentially sit in front of a mirror or a laptop Web cam to have your pulse, respiration, and blood pressure taken.

According to an MIT article, “The system measures slight variations in brightness produced by the flow of blood through blood vessels in the face.” Ming-Zher Poh and his team members’ new technology focuses in on a fixed region of the face using a photographic-pulse detection system, a method that improves motion artifact tolerance. Although, the concept of using a camera to detect health information is not new, Poh’s innovations require low-cost equipment. The system, which provides widely available video technology could be used for continuous monitoring. From cellphones to bathroom mirrors, this form of measurement could require a patient to never have to leave their home. Poh’s system of noninvasive monitoring could essentially be helpful for burn victims or newborns as well, where this type of measurement would typically be extremely uncomfortable.

This past June, Poh’s project has won him third place and $50,000 in the Primary Healthcare competition run by CIMIT (Center for Integration of Medicine and Innovative Technology.) The organization was coordinated by engineering faculty from MIT and a group of Boston-area physicians in order to develop new technology for clinical care.

As Poh continues to develop this new form of health measurement technology, more capabilities are to be expected. Measurements to attain blood pressure and blood-oxygen by using ambient lighting instead of dedicated lighting are amongst Poh’s goals for the future.

“It’s not going to be easy,” Poh stated on the MIT website. “But it theoretically should be possible.”