SensNews Dec 2018

15 Sensor100 December 2018 Healthcare IBM Develops Fingernail SensorThat Uses AI toTrack Patient Health, Disease Progressions IBM researchers have developed a first-of-a-kind «fingernail sensor» prototype that uses artificial intelligence and machine learning to monitor and analyse human health as well as disease progres- sion. The wearable, wireless device continuously measures how a person’s fingernail bends and moves, which is a key indicator of grip strength. Although skin-based sensors can help capture things like motion, the health of muscles and nerve cells, and can also reflect the intensity of a person’s emotional state, these can often cause problems, including infection with older patients. But the new system uses signals from the fingernail bends such as the tactile sensing of pressure, temperature, surface textures. «Our fingernails deform - bend and move - in stereotypic ways when we use them for gripping, grasping, and even flexing and extending our fingers.This deformation is usually on the order of single digit microns and not visible to the naked eye,» said Katsuyuki Sakuma, from IBM’s Thomas J.Watson Research Center in NewYork. Reported by: Gadgets 360 2 5 December Budget biosensor detects infections in real time It works by sending a 2.5-GHz microwave signal through a biological fluid sample contained wit- hin a microfluidic channel. By analyzing changes in the resonant amplitude and frequency of that signal, the sensor is able to both identify any bacteria, and measure their concentration within the sample. When tested on fluid samples containing varying concentrations of Escherichia coli (E. coli) bac- teria at different pH levels, it produced accurate readings almost instantly. Repoted by: NewAtlas 29 November