UBC spin-off company ready to launch phone-based pulse oximeter

UBC spin-off company Lionsgate Technologies Inc. is preparing to launch a software application, developed by two UBC professors, that transforms smartphones, tablets and laptops into mobile medical diagnostic tools capable of real-time vital signs monitoring.

“Pairing medical diagnostics with mobile phones will greatly advance the assessment, diagnosis and treatment of critical diseases in developing countries,” said Mark Ansermino, associate professor at UBC’s Department of Anesthesiology, Pharmacology and Therapeutics and anesthesiologist at B.C. Children’s Hospital, whose team developed the technology.

Ansermino worked with Guy Dumont, professor of Electrical and Computer Engineering, and their team, Electrical and Computer Engineering in Medicine (ECEM), to develop Vital Signs DSP.

The technology, which includes applications for pulse oximetry, temperature and blood pressure monitoring, requires no external signal processors, microcontrollers, power sources or displays. Users just download a proprietary app that allows their mobile device to drive a low-cost standard medical sensor.

For more information, visit http://med.ubc.ca/ubc-spin-off-company-ready-to-launch-phone-based-pulse-oximeter/.