Alumni Magazine - Spring 2008 - (Page 26) >>>TECHNOTES person “who cares profoundly about the educational experience of our students in all its dimensions.” Photo: Gary Meek Assistant professor Maysam Ghovanloo, left, and graduate student Xueliang Huo test their drug compliance monitoring system on an artificial neck. MagneTrace, below, sends the date and time a pill is swallowed to a wireless device. The sensor necklace aims to increase drug compliance among the elderly and others. Sensor Necklace Remembers Georgia Tech scientists have devised a solution for the one in three adults who fail to take their medicines as prescribed by their doctors or for anyone else who occasionally forgets — a sensor necklace. “Forgetfulness is a huge problem, especially among the elderly, but so is taking the medication at the wrong time, stopping too early or taking the wrong dose,” says Maysam Ghovanloo, an assistant professor in Tech’s School of Electrical and Computer Engineering. Drug noncompliance costs the country billions of dollars each year as a result of rehospitalization, disease progression and death. The sensor necklace, designed by Ghovanloo and graduate student Xueliang Huo, records the date and time a pill is swallowed. The device also could be used to ensure that subjects in clinical drug trials take medications as directed. The necklace, called MagneTrace, contains an array of magnetic sensors that detect when specially designed medication containing a tiny magnet passes through a person’s esophagus. And for people who don’t want to wear a necklace, MagneTrace sensors can be attached to the chest. The date and time the user swallows the pill can be recorded on a handheld wireless device, such as a smart phone. The information can then be sent to the patient’s doctor, caregiver or family member over the Internet. The device can notify both the patient and the patient’s doctor if the prescribed dosage is not taken at the proper time. GT Sell! Buy! Sell! Former trustees of the Georgia Tech Alumni Association got a sample of life on a trading floor at the College of Management. During the former trustees reunion in March, College of Management Dean Steve Salbu explained the invaluable learning experience the trading floor provides students, including being trained in the use of financial analysis and electronic trading tools and methods. The 2,000square-foot Ferris-Goldsmith Trading Floor also serves as an important research arena for College of Management faculty. The facility is named for Dakin B. Ferris Jr., Cls 50, and Jere W. Goldsmith IV, IM 50. 26 Georgia Tech Alumni Magazine • Spring 2008
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