Gutruf's Wearable Device Brings Medical Information to Rural Communities

A new prototype medical device developed at the University of Arizona College of Engineering aims to make monitoring personal health more convenient. The waterproof, wireless charging mesh device, developed in the Gutruf Lab, can track a patient's health statistics and send their information up to 15 miles. 

”If you live 30-40 miles out in rural areas you’re going to think twice if you are going to take a 100-mile round trip to see a doctor,” said assistant professor BME Philipp Gutruf in an interview with KOLD. “For people to be in their usual environments but receive monitoring and care it would reduce impact on the healthcare system but also has substantial impact on the patients themselves.”

The Biosymbiotic Wireless Sensor System was described in an academic paper published in PNAS, demonstrating a "continuously wearable device with this long-range capability that has the potential to serve resource-constrained and remote areas, providing equitable access to digital health."