Chair sensor wins FDA approval

After successful testing in a clinical setting at Coffee Regional Medical Center, the first contact-free and continuous monitoring sensor designed for a chair was given market clearance by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration.

Developed by EarlySense, a company based in Israel with its U.S. headquarters in Waltham, Mass., the chair sensor continuously monitors a resident's heart rate, respiratory rate and movement.

As with similar technology designed to fit under the mattress of a bed, the chair sensor can alert caregivers to early signs of deterioration while also helping to prevent falls.

"Medical institutions have often expressed the need for automatic sensing in chairs," said Avner Halperin, CEO of EarlySense in a press statement. "In addition, with a chair sensor we believe that a number of other clinical environments will open up to the EarlySense System, such as emergency departments, outpatient clinics and waiting areas where concern around patients may exist and today there is no practical way to monitor patients."

 


Topics: Technology & IT