A professor has configured a gadget to help recovering animals rest more soundly.
Jenshan Lin, a professor in UF’s electrical and computer engineering department, recently finished creating a monitor that tracks the heart rate and respirations in animals without the need for physical contact.
After surgery, animals tend to bite and scratch wires attached to them, which can either unhook them from monitors or create false readings. The new wireless monitor avoids these problems.
The monitor is about half the size of a shoe box and can hang on the side of cages.
It uses radio waves to detect motions, removing the need for monitors to be hooked up to the animal. With a battery life of about seven hours, veterinary technicians don’t have to constantly check the animals’ vitals, letting the animals heal in comfort.
Lin first began research and construction of the device about a decade ago.
The radio waves work like a Doppler radar and detect changes in the animal’s heart rate. Lin said it’s like a radar gun that law enforcement uses for monitoring the speed of cars.
The catch is, unlike speeding cars, recovering animals are sedentary.
“The trick is that even though the animal is not moving, the radar picks up a high-frequency movement,” he said. “It’s a very sensitive motion detector.”
This is not a new idea, Lin said. As futuristic as it sounds, the idea for a wireless monitor first came out in the 1980s for search-and-rescue missions.
Another company is testing the monitor for use on premature babies. When used on a simulated premature baby, the monitor was proven to be accurate in every reading. Tests are still being conducted at UF Health Shands Hospital, Lin said.
Within the next few months, Lin said, he hopes the device can be available for local animal hospitals. An app is in the works.
Laura Cohen, the owner of High Springs Animal Hospital — where the monitor identified a cat with heart problems during a test — said without the discomfort of being attached to wires, animals can recover in peace.
“It’s more comfortable for them,” Cohen said.
She said other veterinarians at the hospital responded favorably to using the device.
“It’s a very positive force for the profession,” Cohen said.
A version of this story ran on page 3 on 1/21/2014 under the headline "Professor develops wireless pet heart monitor"
