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This portable ultrasound device continuously monitors specific organs and is the future of healthcare

Posted on by darion

If you’re a tech-savvy, fitness-conscious person, you probably already own a smartwatch from Apple or Fitbit. These devices pack a powerful array of sensors that can track your step count, monitor your heart rate and sleep patterns, and provide real-time stress management advice. However, these wearables are limited by their ability to penetrate just a few millimeters into human skin. Here’s a new ultrasound wearable that has the potential to be the future of healthcare.

A team of researchers led by C. Wang and X. Zhao has developed a new wearable ultrasound device that is just “a few centimeters long,” attaches to the skin via bioadhesion, and conveniently connects to a pocket-sized battery and data transmission system. The team notes:

“Our prototype, although still in its infancy, can provide continuous, high-quality images of deep tissue. Battery life now allows one minute of video to be recorded intermittently: many times an hour for several days.”

Of course, unlike the harmful ionizing radiation produced by X-ray machines, ultrasonic waves are relatively non-invasive and quite safe. Ergo, the team prefers ultrasound.

C. Wang and X. Zhao believe that their portable ultrasound device can play an important role in introducing a new healthcare system that is both preventive and proactive.

Highlighting clinical use cases for such a device, the researchers note that it enables “continuous monitoring of high-risk patients, tracking fetal health in high-risk pregnancies, or supervising recovery after surgery.” The team continues:

“Beyond hospitals, these devices can provide diagnostic and monitoring tools in remote areas, making medical imaging more accessible and affordable in low- and middle-income countries. As the technology improves, we envision it being incorporated into individuals’ daily lives to manage chronic conditions such as hypertension, or enabling early detection of heart failure, abdominal aortic aneurysm and deep vein thrombosis.”

You can read the full Nature article here. Will you feel comfortable wearing an ultrasound-based health monitoring device? What do you think are the privacy implications? Let us know what you think in the comments section below.