[Health] health project in GSoC 2008

[Tom Boonsiri]

Hi Andrzej,

That's totally awesome that you want to take on a health project. I might
not think that GSoC is the best forum for a hardware focused effort, but
there is a great deal of DSP-related software projects you could develop
around the HW efforts that we currently have going. In particular, there are
already two ECG efforts so I'm not certain that another EKG monitor
prototype would be much value added. Ian is trying to work on a USB approach
while my team out here in Cali has been working on the MIC IN approach. I
haven't been able to participate in the teleconferences so I'm not sure
where the USB approach stands on progress. My team has already developed our
first prototype which operates with either a USB or 9V battery source. You
can see a demo video below:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=k1QKTKAAug4

The amplifier circuit also doubles as an EMG. You can take an electrode and
place it on the forearm and flex to see the muscle activity reflected in the
waveform. Of course tuning will need to be done for EMG diagnostics but it
serves its educational purpose which brings me to my next point. I feel that
a handful of the Health participants have fixed their attention towards
designing to meet the needs of the clinician and have strayed far from the
original focus of this educational project. As an organization, we really
need to step out of this "toy and games" mindset and mature a project that
impacts the community outside of the classroom. The Health focus is truly
one of the primary ways to demonstrate the XO's true potential for the
entire community. That said we shouldn't dismiss children as agents of
change. There are still many ways we can structure a health project with the
kids at the focal point.

Andrzej, I think a great project for you would be a respirometer. I can talk
to you in detail how I see this peripheral making a social impact.

Others, if you are working on a health-related HW effort and have made some
tangible progress please send me a private message. I would love to
collaborate with you.
My intent for this email was not to flame the Health group but rather to
motivate others to re-direct their focus to help us gain some traction on an
effort that is slowly losing its credibility.

Rafael wrote:

Hi all,
>
> i've talked with Andrzej about his project and he tells me, that he
> can/could be able to build and EKG hardware prototype, but he would need
>  a
> mentor to do  and extension  to Measure  or  an specific activity  to
> interpret and capture the EKG  bio-signal.
>
> Anyone interested in be his mentor for Gsoc?
>
> P.S i'm cc'ing gsoc-olpc mailist
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