Pointers to future diagnostics?

Donna Cusano

Are some of the best low-tech diagnostic tests that doctors use to diagnose disease or readiness for surgery translatable to eHealth or mHealth?  Telehealth systems already connect to weight scales to track even slight weight gain (heart failure). But there are others:  timing a 5 meter (15 foot) walk–more than 6 seconds may indicate greater surgical risk of complications or prolonged recuperation; measuring the waist as an indicator for diabetes or metabolic syndrome; measurement for sleep apnea risk; firmness of hand grip, getting out of a chair or up on an examining table as a measure of frailty.  Telemedicine can observe some of this from the comfort of a home (perhaps with the assistance of family or a home health aide); gait monitoring is already part of Wellcore, Halo, and similar, as well as some experimental projects involving floor pads and sensors.  Grip and hand control–what about a grip dynamometer connecting to an iPad or Android system phone or tablet, then using the touch screen to run a dexterity test?  Food for creative thought from The Wall Street Journal.