CastMinder by Intellicast
Intellicast’s CastMinder is a complete cast and splint monitoring system. It records data about the environment inside the cast or splint and uses predictive analytics to determine if the patient is at risk of developing a complication. If the CastMinder system senses a problem it alerts medical professionals so they can address the issue before it necessitates costly surgeries or even amputation. CastMinder is suitable for both hospital and home environments.
System Overview
The CastMinder system consists of two key components: sensor nodes and a mobile application. CastMinder nodes are embedded inside of the cast or splint where they remain for the duration of its use. These nodes collect data from their sensors and send it back to the mobile application for processing.
The mobile application continuously analyzes this stream of data for important trends and characteristics indicative of various cast and splint complications. If a complication is detected, pertinent medical professionals receive an alert on their phones about the status of their patient’s cast. This system is suitable both for a comatose patient in a hospital environment as well as an active patient going about his/her daily life.
Tracked Metrics
Force-sensing resistor
The CastMinder system tracks a few key metrics to get a complete picture of the cast and splint environment. The first metric tracked is pressure; by analyzing current pressure and trends in the pressure inside the cast or splint CastMinder can determine if a patient is at risk of developing compartment syndrome, where an excess of pressure can cut off blood flow to the casted area.
The CastMinder system also tracks moisture levels inside the cast. Increases in moisture can indicate that a patient is developing an infection, and sudden changes in moisture can indicate that a patient’s cast or splint has suddenly been exposed to water and may need to be changed. Additional metrics such as temperature and motion help CastMinder’s algorithms better determine the patient’s overall health and the status of the cast environment.
Mobile Application
My app includes an "Achievements" screen
The CastMinder apps's dashboard
The Intellicast mobile application serves as a central hub for all the sensor nodes in patients' casts and splints. It is responsible for monitoring the performance of nodes, storing received data points, and detecting trends in the received data. A separate app for medical proffessionals shows all the availble patient data on one convenient dashboard.
Design Evolution
An early sensor node
A printed circuit board sensor node
A wired printed circuit board design
A wireless printed circuit board design
CastMinder initially started as a wired sensor network under the cast. Preliminary testing of the device identified many problems with the wired system, so we quickly transistioned to a wireless approach. Sensor nodes shown above rely on less sophisticated communications protocols; current devices utilize the latest Bluetooth Low Energy technology to communicte directly with patients' phones.
Get in Touch
Email us at info[at]coniferapps.com and we'll get back to you as soon as possible.