科技時代 用Iphone來測量血壓

The smartphone is already the Swiss Army knife of the digital age, replacing the need for alarm clocks, GPS units and even digital cameras with the flick of a finger.
智能手機已經是數字時代的瑞士軍刀，它用手指輕輕一點，就代替了鬧鐘、全球定位系統，甚至數碼相機。

Can it do the same for home medical devices?
它能跟家庭醫療設備發揮同樣的作用嗎?

At the Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas, iHealth Labs, a start-up in Mountain View, Calif., has unveiled the iHealth Blood Pressure Dock, an attachment for iOS devices that can measure and record heart rate and blood pressure.
在拉斯維加斯舉行的國際消費電子展中，加州山景城新創立的公司iHealth Labs上市了個人專用的血壓測量器，它是能夠測量和記錄心率和血壓的iOS裝置連接器。

Dr. Andrew Brandeis, a practicing doctor in San Francisco and a medical consultant and spokesman for iHealth, said that although the device is primarily aimed at people with hypertension or other chronic health conditions, it can also be helpful for anyone trying to live a healthier life.
舊金山一名執業醫生，同時也是iHealth的醫學顧問和發言人Andrew Brandeis教授稱，儘管該裝置起初是針對患有高血壓和其他慢性病的人羣，但是它對任何想健康生活的人都有幫助。

“I can give someone a pill for their blood pressure, but what I really want to do is educate them about their habits that cause high blood pressure,” he said. “If you can see your blood pressure is going up, you can try to get an idea about what you’re doing that is affecting it. You start to see correlations between your blood pressure and your life.”
“我可以開藥治療人們的血壓，但是我真正想做的是讓他們知道造成高血壓的習慣。”他說，“如果你看到你的血壓升高，你就會明白你所做的事會影響到它。你就開始意識到血壓跟生活之間的相互關係。”

The biggest advantage to those who buy iHealth’s blood pressure system instead of a stand-alone machine, which is much cheaper to purchase, is that it will be incorporated into a patient’s daily routine of waking up and checking their cellphone, the company says.
買iHealth血壓測量系統而不是買相對便宜的獨立工具的最大好處就在於它加入病人起牀和檢查手機這些日常活動，該公司稱。

(恆星英語學習網原創編譯內容,轉載請註明出處!)“You charge your device at night and when you wake up, the blood pressure cuff is sitting right there next to it,” he said.
“晚上你給該裝置充電，當你起牀時，血壓計就在身邊。”他說。

Taking daily readings at home may also offer more accurate and consistent results than those taken at a doctor’s office, he said.
每天在家測量血壓比在醫院裏測的結果更準確更一致，他說。

“White coat syndrome is a term used for what happens when patients come in to see the doctor,” he said. “They are stressed out because they hate going to the doctor and their blood pressure is higher. But if you take it at home, before your coffee and e-mail, you get a much more accurate reading.”
“白衣綜合症是用來形容病人看到醫生的後反應，”他說。“他們非常緊張，因爲他們討厭看病因而他們的血壓升高。但是如果在家,在喝咖啡和發郵件前測量血壓，你就會得到一個更準確的結果。”

Patients can also share their results with a physician, either via e-mail or by showing them the phone or iPad with the data on it during their next doctor visit.
病人會把結果通過郵件或在下次會診時把手機或iPad裏的數據給醫師看，跟他們分享這些結果。

Eventually, the company hopes to also release other home health kits, including a blood glucose monitor.
最後，該公司希望推行其他健康家庭設備，包括一個血糖監控器。

“This is a doorway to an entire new ecosystem of self-monitoring and gleaning health information about yourself,” said Dr. Brandeis.
“這是一種自我監控和收集自身健康信息的全新生態途徑。”Brandeis教授說。

(恆星英語學習網原創編譯內容,轉載請註明出處!)