Fitbit

Fitbit is quite a useful and potentially revolutionary device. When I was doing research for a computer science and software engineering paper, I was wondering how data from the fitbit could be wirelessly transmitted into personal health records, and stored in the HL7 standard. The problem is, there is a lot of data, so only certain trends need to be recorded. The other problem is how to program an XML or HL7 standard self-journalling area in the personal health record. I know the HL7 standards group is working on PHRs now, because I participated in one of their lunchtime teleconferences. I am not sure how this particular problem was addressed. This is one device the people in the self-tracking movement cannot afford to be without. In fact, they have latched on it, and the systems deployed with them and other similar devices they call "Health Mashups".

Trying a Dyson Sphere on for Size

Futurist and ethicist George Dvorsky wrote this article about how to build a Dyson Sphere. He makes nanotechnology robots building solar panels in the solar system by totally mining Mercury (and then Venus) for materials sound simple. I like the comment on the article by the guy who asks if mining Mercury - every last bit of it - is ethical. This reminds me to try and find a post on nanomedicine and ehealth - another subject to be considered by futurists and ethicists.

The wireless transmission of electricity from the solar arrays is a vision Nicholas Tesla would be proud of. How better to get the electricity to the Nissan Leafs we will all be driving, without waiting to plug in and recharge.

Canadian Association of Health Informatics Board of Directors

http://www.coachorg.com/en/membersandbenefits/Candidates_for_Board.asp I am a candidate for the Board of Directors for COACH. Vote for me! Yah!

Wimbledon in 25 years time?

I play tennis and like to follow ATP tournaments throughout the seasons - clay, grass, hardcourt. Last year, Wimbledon had a fascinating website on what tennis will be like 25 years from now (around the time of the Singularity?) The tennis player, for example:

The major change for players, will be the ability for them to monitor their performance during a game:
Sensors will monitor muscular contractions, measuring fatigue and minimising strain on tiring muscles
Sweat levels will be monitored to gauge hydration levels and, along with heart-rate monitors provide indications of stress
This information will enable them to regulate their intake of water, supplements and of course even bananas to the exact level required to maximise their performance levels

Online Learning Courses

I first signed up for a Standford University course on artificial intelligence. Took one of the courses and found it was actually a bit difficulty. Not sure what the other 200,000 people who took it, and completed it ( I didn't), thought. Next, I signed up to take a course from udacity (Standford again) on progamming the robotic car, but that class time conflicted with something called my job. These courses are interesting, but today I found out that my university library, in the multi-media centre, has a subscription and dedicated computer with an IP link to lynda.com where there are all kinds of software tutorials. As I am still trying to learn enough Python to run an application at that place called my job, this might be very useful. Programming a robotic car might be more fun, but for now, I am going let other people do that. In fact though, the prerequiste for programming the robotic car is knowledge of Python!

You should either already know Python, or have enough experience with another language to be confident you can pick up what you need on your own. Fortunately, Python was built to be easy to learn, read, and use. If you already know another programming language, you'll be coding in Python in less than an hour. Additionally, knowledge of probability and linear algebra will be helpful.

Python Review
Python for Programmers Introduction to Programs Data Types and Variables Python Lists For Loops in Python While Loops in Python Writing a Simple Factorial Program Fun with Strings
Probability
Basic Probability Probability (Part 6) [Conditional Probability] Probability (Part 7) [Bayes' Rule] Probability (Part 8) [More Bayes' Rule] Introduction to Random Variables Probability Density Functions Expected Value: E(X)
Linear Algebra
Introduction to Matrices Matrix Multiplication (Part 1) Matrix Multiplication (Part 2) Inverse Matrix (Part 1) Inverting Matrices (Part 2) Inverting Matrices (Part 3) Matrices to Solve a System of Equations Singular Matrices Introduction to Vectors Vector Dot Product and Vector Length Defining the Angle Between Vectors Cross Product Introduction Matrix Vector Products Linear Transformations as Matrix Vector Products Linear Transformation Examples: Scaling and Reflections Linear Transformation Examples: Rotations in R2 Introduction to Projections Exploring the Solution Set of Ax = b Transpose of a Matrix 3x3 Determinant Introduction to Eigenvalues and Eigenvectors

Integration Engines - the Cloverleaf on the Information Highway

I was looking at eHealth career postings on the COACH website and found one at Telus for an Integration Health Business Consultant. What caught my attention was one of the Responsibilities: "Develop HL7 interfaces to integrate disparate health care applications using a variety of commercial integration engines such as: Oracle’s Java CAPS; e*Gate (SRE); Datagate; OpenESB; SOA Suite; Quovadx Cloverleaf; webMethods; IBM WebSphere; and Microsoft BizTalk." I had heard of Biztalk and knew it was a web service, probably using Service Oriented Architecture, but the rest of them were all new to me. This is a veritable flotilla of integration engines for disparate systems. It was only minutes later when I found myself searching for information about Cloverleaf ("The Swiss Army Knife for Data Conversions"), that I landed on the MDI Solutions website. Here I found a grouping of HL7 Integration Engines like I have never seen before. Their webpage on HL7 Integration Expertise includes many of these same integration engines.

Qualcomm Tri-corder x-prize

After the Watson supercomputer TV show Jeopardy contest, the next exponential technology to watch out for is the Qualcomm Tri-corder X-PRIZE competition.It had it's birth as TV entertainment as well - in the Star Trek series. Smartphone apps can do a lot things, but just pointing one at a patient and getting diagnostics, repair tissue, etc. is something only the physician science fictional character "Bones" could do. I would first double check to see if there isn't already one on the Qizmodo, the Gadget Guide website. When I was writing papers for my ehealth degree, I didn't want to reference Qizmodo - too much "grey literature" - but new devices with medical or health informatics applications frequently answered the question. The first question was whether or not it was FDA approved.