Enhance Knowledge

TTUHSC working with AT&T, other firms to test telehealth technology

Some Texas Tech Physicians of Lubbock doctors have joined forces with AT&T, 24eight of New York, and Texas Instruments Inc., of Dallas to test technology called telehealth that would allow doctors to check on their patients at home.

For example, 24eight has designed insoles laced with pressure sensors and accelerometers, according to a recent Dallas Morning News article. These sensors monitor how walkers distribute weight and differentiate between good balance and deteriorating balance that puts a person at risk for a fall.

This technology is important because it would allow physicians to restrict elderly patients to wheelchairs before their balance deteriorates to the point where they could hurt themselves, according to the article.

Andrew Dentino, M.D. of Internal Medicine is scheduling experiments with patients at the Mildred and Shirley L. Garrison Education and Care Center to test the insoles and other high-tech devices.

The Department of Veterans Affairs reports that 35,000 patients in the nation are using some form of experimental telehealth.