Final Project

For my final project in Physical Computing, I was able to get the Personal Health Diagnostic Tool working. This was a great culmination to a great semester. The system consists of a Polar Heart rate module from Sparkfun, some Processing code to interpret and graphically display the heart rate data, a Polar Heart Rate monitor setup, and web php scripts that strip data from POST calls from Processing. I also use TextMarks so users can text in "symptoms" that will be associated with their heart rate data.

Here is my presentation (pdf).

Also, for more background on this project see these two previous posts:
Final Project Proposal
Dream Device

As previously stated, my vision for this device is that it would allow a user/patient to gather health data that could be utilized by a physician or health care professional in treatment of disease or symptoms. In addition, through testing of this project I saw the very real effect that a more full understanding of my body and even one data point (heart rate) can have on my ability to control various physiological states. I saw over the course of several weeks that I was able to control my heart rate and respiratory rate simply by being more aware of what was actually happening.

As in any "conversation", feedback is usually good. I am excited to further investigate the potential for feedback, both on the user/patient side and on the medical professional side, in an effort to better understand the human body and the treatment of human disease states.

Final Project//Personal Health Diagnostic Tool

For my final project in Physical Computing I will attempt to bring together a limited prototype of my dream device that was conceived earlier in the semester, the Personal Health Diagnostic Tool. I envision this device allowing a patient/user to collect a number of different diagnostic data points in a continuous fashion. I also envision this device allowing a patient/user to associate symptoms with multiple data points in an effort to better understand their body and disease/malfunction. I see this tool as a way to add to the conversation and practice of evidence based medicine that will allow for more well informed decision making for medical professionals and better understanding and greater ownership of one's own personal health.


For my final project are several areas I would like to look at more in depth:

1) New programming frameworks. I would like to look at some new frameworks in an attempt to continue to synthesize my knowledge and understanding of overarching programming concepts.

2) Gathering of personal health/medical data. I would like to begin to understand the ramifications and implications of gathering personal health data and its display and cataloging for later use.

3) Interface and data presentation implications for both patients/users and medical professionals.