Simplifying home health monitoring by incorporating a cell phone in a weight scale

Abstract

The overweight under-exercised aging baby-boom generation is creating an epidemic of chronic diseases that is placing a tremendous burden on the health care system. Frequent monitoring and contact between a patient and health care professional can help the patient control their diet, get more exercise and increase medication compliance. These factors produce dramatic improvements in patient health and well being. We present a home health system to manage heart disease that monitors patient weight and symptoms and support verbal communication between patient and health care professionals. The system embeds a cell phone, electronics and a large battery inside a weight scale to simplify installation and use, leverage cell phone cost-performance and speed up prototype development.