Now, bracelet that heats or cools
your body in one switch
Washington:
MIT scientists have developed a novel thermoelectric bracelet that keeps tabs
on air and skin temperature and allows you to control your body temperature.
Heating
or cooling certain parts of your body such as applying a warm towel to your
forehead if you feel chilly can help maintain your perceived thermal comfort.
Using
that concept, four Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) engineering
students developed a thermoelectric bracelet that monitors air and skin
temperature, and sends tailored pulses of hot or cold waveforms to the wrist to
help maintain thermal comfort.
Although
people would use the device for personal comfort, the team says the ultimate
aim is to reduce the energy consumption of buildings, by cooling and heating
the individual ? not the building.
"Buildings
right now use an incredible amount of energy just in space heating and cooling.
In fact, all together this makes up 16.5 per cent of all US primary energy
consumption. We wanted to reduce that number, while maintaining individual
thermal comfort," said Sam Shames, a materials science and engineering
senior who co-invented the Wristify technology.
The
team estimates that if the device stops one building from adjusting its
temperature by even just 1 degree Celsius, it will save roughly 100
kilowatt-hours per month. Over the course of developing its technology,
the Wristify team made a key discovery: Human skin is very sensitive to minute,
rapid changes in temperature, which affect the whole body.
They
found they needed to heat or cool any body part (in their case, the wrist) at a
rate of at least 0.1 C per second in order to make the entire body, overall,
feel several degrees warmer or colder.
After
15 prototypes, the team landed on its final product, which resembles a
wristwatch and can be powered, for up to eight hours, by a lithium polymer battery.
The prototype demonstrated a rate of change of up to 0.4 C per second. The
"watch" part of the prototype actually consists of the team's custom
copper-alloy-based heat sink - a component that lowers a device's
temperature by dissipating heat.
Attached
is an automated control system that manages the intensity and duration of the
thermal pulses delivered to the heat sink. Integrated thermometers also measure
external and body temperature to adjust accordingly.
"What
we developed is a wearable, wrist-based technology that leverages human
sensitivity, can detect and perfect rates of change, and can maintain overall
thermal comfort while reducing the need to heat and cool buildings,"
Shames said.
28.10.2013
'India needs Rs 1.63 lakh cr
investment in healthcare by 2017'
New
Delhi: The Indian healthcare sector will need a total capital investment of Rs
1,62,500 crore to provide accessible and affordable healthcare during the 12th
Plan period, says a report.
India
will need to add at least 6,50,000 beds by 2017 to help improve access to
healthcare infrastructure from the current 1.3 beds per 1,000 population in
2011 to 1.7 beds per 1,000 population by the end of the 12th Plan period in
2017, said a report by by PricewaterhouseCoopers in association with industry
body NATHEALTH.
"The
addition of 6,50,000 beds in India by 2017 will require a capital investment of
Rs 1,62,500 crore. This translates to more than 50 per cent of India's annual
healthcare expenditure," it said.
Elaborating
on the requirements, the report said based on the publicly announced government
plans approximately 1,30,000 beds will be put up in the government or the
public sector.
"This
will necessitate the addition of nearly 5,20,000 beds by the private healthcare
providers implying a capital investment of around Rs 1,30,000 crore over the
next four years," it added.
On
the funding part, the report said: "Raising the needed Rs 1,30,000 crore
will require an equity infusion of Rs 39,000 crore by the private healthcare
providers and a long term debt funding of Rs 91,000 crore."
Calling
for government support, it said the scale of creation in healthcare access will
require a strong partnership between the public and the private stakeholders.
The
first step in this direction can be by creating healthcare infrastructure by
the government through the establishment of a healthcare infrastructure fund
(HIF) with an initial corpus of 15,000 crore, the report said.
Another
step can be allowing business trusts and real estate investment trusts (REITS)
in healthcare, it added.
Establishment
of a nodal agency for healthcare to spur the growth of the sector and creation
of healthcare infrastructure was another important step for increasing the
access, it suggested.
On
the cost to patients, the report said a transparent and viable pricing formula
for reimbursement is another key factor, while suggesting establishment of a
central government Health Scheme (CGHS) pricing formula similar to the one used
for the power sector.
Scaling
up public?private partnerships (PPPs) in the creation of healthcare
infrastructure and enhancing financial access through Universal Health Coverage
for every citizen will be other important factors as per the report.
28.10.2013
Fear less hope
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