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Samsung tests out a wearable headset that can detect the likelihood of a stroke

A wearable headset may not sound as fashionable as LG’s G Watch or a sleek Jawbone UP24 fitness band, but if the engineers at Samsung have their way, the Early Detection Sensor and Algorithm Package (EDSAP) headset and app may save millions of lives across the globe.

Back in 2013, five young smartphone and washing machine engineers from the South Korean electronics giant came up with an idea for an independent project at Samsung’s Creativity Lab that would help detect the early signs of a stroke in just under a minute.

The engineers designed a wearable headset that would monitor brainwaves using a sensor, and then turn the brainwaves into data that’s sent to a mobile app.

When the team first pitched the idea to various health professionals, it wasn’t met with much enthusiasm, but that didn’t deter them from pressing forward.

“We approached neurologists, asking them whether this was feasible,” said project leader Se-hoon Lim. “They were dismissive, but we wanted to give it a go. Health-related wearable devices are becoming more and more complex, meaning their capabilities are growing increasingly sophisticated. The five of us wanted to make our mark in this development.”

“We may be young today, but one day we’ll enter the over-40 age bracket, when stroke becomes a more pressing concern. Just look at the World Health Organization statistics. 15 million people across the world suffer from stroke each year with roughly 66% of those cases resulting in either death or permanent physical disabilities. With the ageing population in many countries, that is a serious concern,” Lim said.

This month, an EDSAP prototype was revealed. The sensor sits around the area where the brain is located inside a person’s head, the headset and companion app are then activated and the headset wirelessly transmits the brainwave data to the app, where the app’s built-in algorithm analyses the data and determines the likelihood of a stroke, artificial intelligence and signal processing software.

“Compared to the electric pulses of a heart, brainwaves are very faint, making them far more difficult to detect,” said Lim. “EDSAP has proven it can more than handle brainwaves, and we’ve seen EDSAP’s potential role in addressing other neurological problems. We’re now also looking at what EDSAP can do with the heart. Over the next few months, we’ll get a clearer idea of how far the tentacles of EDSAP can reach. Ultimately, we hope that what we end up achieving — the end result — will make a lasting difference.”

[Source and image – Samsung Tomorrow]

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