[krove]

I'm looking for a simple blood pressure monitor (preferrably of the wrist-type) that my grandfather can wear that will save the data and later be able to transmit it via USB to my Mac.

I found this model:
http://www.medisave.co.uk/datasheets.../omron_637.pdf

But it states only compatibility with Windows. It outputs simple csv files (which are actually preferrable, as I would be able to manipulate the data and present it as I want).

Are there any solutions that are OS X compatible, or does anyone have any ideas on how to make this one OS X compatible?

[off topic]
It really is amazing how products that monitor your health (i.e. heart rate, blood pressure, glucose levels, etc) are so disconnected from our supposedly "connected" society. Why is that no one has invested the technology to simply make such information compatible and portable to computers and the internet? This is a gold mine with the aging baby boomers and new internet-enabled generations requiring more and more health care.

Geez, I wanted once to simply get a heart-rate monitor for my bicycle rides that sent the data to OS X. Without resorting to building my own product, it was near impossible.
[/off topic]

[krove]

I guess not.

[AdvocateUK]

The reason there are no usb or firewire (or even serial or parallel for that matter) connections from health monitoring devices is that should the manufacturers of these devices provide such connectivity they wouldn't be able to charge the extortionate prices for their "custom" interfaces.

I'm a nurse in an Accident and Emergency dept and it constantly amazes me that our government (UK) hasn't specified easy connectivity between devices. As it stands if we were to computerise our dept (which we are looking to do) we would either need to buy all of the equipment from one manufacturer (thus relegating perfectly good monitoring equipment to the scrapheap) or have systems from 3 - 4 manufacturers installed (not financially feasible).


...and don't even mention getting x-rays into the same system... :s

[GORDYmac]

Virtual PC is an option. No reason why it shouldn't work.

[krove]

In terms of pure economics, it would seem that open and compatible interfaces (or at the least the information) would encourage greater competition and feature innovation. In the long run, this would produce greater profit.

Closed systems that do not communicate really belongs to old school thinking. Some of these companies really should rethink their development and join the 21st century.

[rhogue islander]

If this thing simply stores the info in CSV files in flash memory on the device, it may simply be a matter of connecting it to your mac and waiting for it to mount as a drive volume.

My USB pen drive mounts on both my PC and Mac as do my compact flash cards from my digital camera.

I'm guessing, of course, but you could always call them and ask. If no software is needed to retrieve the data then it may be possible.

[superTOR]

Originally posted by krove:
In terms of pure economics, it would seem that open and compatible interfaces (or at the least the information) would encourage greater competition and feature innovation. In the long run, this would produce greater profit.

Closed systems that do not communicate really belongs to old school thinking. Some of these companies really should rethink their development and join the 21st century.

In economics term, a closed system is often best to maintain a firm's competitive edge while open systems benefit the market the most.

Greater competition between firms and feature innovation will according to the basic economic theories of supply and demand (Adam Smith) ensure that all firms earn just enough to cover their expences plus a normal profit. The greatest profit for individual firms is achieved by differentiation or monopolisitic situation.

[Talk2Angus]

Virtual Pc

[krove]

Originally posted by superTOR:
In economics term, a closed system is often best to maintain a firm's competitive edge while open systems benefit the market the most.

Greater competition between firms and feature innovation will according to the basic economic theories of supply and demand (Adam Smith) ensure that all firms earn just enough to cover their expences plus a normal profit. The greatest profit for individual firms is achieved by differentiation or monopolisitic situation.

This is not a pure question of open or closed, though because only part needs to be open. The rest of the system (proprietary software to analyze data, internal circuitry, or whatever) is closed, and they still have plenty of opportunity to differentiate themselves (smaller, lighter-weight sensors, wireless, or whatever). It's the mundane part of the technology that they keep closed: storage and transmission of information. How exactly does keeping that part of the equation closed keep them more profitable than if it were open?