My first Hacking Health project, appropriately labeled “HH1″ is to build a simple device that alerts someone, sets off an alarm, or both, when a low blood sugar level is reached, specifically when sleeping. I want the device to be super simple to understand, operate and depend on.
Here are the requirements.
- Safe – must not have potential to harm user in ANY way
- Battery powered – must last through a typical 8-10 hour night
- Comfortable to wear – must not interfere with a good night’s sleep
- Reliable – must not “cry wolf”
- Simple to use – turn it on, check for “ok” status and that’s it
- Extensible – easy to add new functions to so the unit gets better over time
Please let me know if you think I’m missing anything elemental. I will be posting some more info on how I will share my progress shortly.
2 Comments
What? Is 8-10 hours sleep per night sleep typical?
I think he meant 8-10 hours as the length of a typical night. Sleep may wary from person to person but typical is not more than 10 hours and if the device lasts that long on a fully charged battery, its purpose of monitoring a full night length is served sufficiently.
I think the idea is nice considering that he are basing it on open source ideology. I am thrilled by the idea of being able to extend it. It should not be hard to add sensors to monitor heart rate for example. Just wondering if it is possible to make the hardware also modular – like add another thin strip (wrist band) for a heart monitor, etc. That will be powerful.
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[...] founder and CEO of Bug Labs and self-proclaimed "inveterate tinkerer" is developing an open source device to alert diabetics when their blood sugar falls dangerously low, particularly while sleeping. [...]