iHeal app would help vets deal with post-traumatic stress disorder

Scientists at the University of Massachusetts-Worcester and the Massachusetts Institute of Technology are developing a smartphone application they have named iHeal that is designed to respond to physiological changes in a person suffering from post-traumatic stress disorder or substance abuse and propose an appropriate intervention.

Researchers say the mobile app would help returning combat veterans with PTSD and substance abuse problems.

Users would wear sensors on a wrist or ankle band, which would continuously send data wirelessly to the iHeal app on a smartphone. Because changes in pulse rate or perspiration could result from added stress or something as simple as exercise, researchers are continuing to fine-tune the app to learn to recognize patterns and characterize the physiological changes, and then anticipate behavior and suggest appropriate interventions.

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The interventions would be modified according to the user. While some users might receive, for example, motivating images or messages from loved ones, others might hear a meaningful song played or receive a call from a counselor.

Read more at the WorkersComp Forum homepage.

June 27, 2011

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