http://www.taipeitimes.com/News/taiwan/archives/2016/10/15/2003657209
Professor develops watch that monitors user’s health By Lee Ing-chian and William Hetherington / Staff reporter, with staff writer A Taipei university professor is hoping to give health-conscious people quick access to key health-related information with a wristwatch that takes in-depth measurements on the fly. National Taipei University of Technology professor Lee Jen-kui (李仁貴) has devised a system that allows for greater depth and accuracy of measurements than has been possible with existing sports watches. Lee’s system measures heart rate, blood pressure and sleep quality, and is able to predict and notify on the risk of sudden death. Lee created the company Zoetek with the university’s Innovation and Incubation Center with the intent of focusing on medical-grade wearable technology. He said the company would begin trading on the Taipei Exchange on the Go Incubation for Start-up and Acceleration Firms board. Lee said the idea for the company came to him when he noticed a trend in wearable technology toward sports and entertainment uses, which he hoped to adapt to the specific health-related needs of the nation’s aging population. Looking back at his experience heading the university’s Medical Electronics Engineering Laboratory, Lee said he saw the limitless potential of the industry. He then developed the medical wristwatch, which aside from heart rate is able to measure blood pressure, sleep quality and risk of sudden death based on abnormal changes in heart rate. Lee said that the majority of watches on the market are only capable of simple heartbeat measurements and calculations such as the number of steps walked, which he argues is not enough functionality for aging users. He said his system, which integrates more meaningful health-related indicators, would make it useful to more people. Lee said the watch has a green LED that is able to take various measurements such as blood oxygen levels by reading the different refractions of light caused by the changes in blood flow, as well as differences in blood flow at different depths.
