BME100 f2016:Group16 W8AM L1

BME 100 Fall 2016	Home People Lab Write-Up 1 | Lab Write-Up 2 | Lab Write-Up 3 Lab Write-Up 4 | Lab Write-Up 5 | Lab Write-Up 6 Course Logistics For Instructors Photos Wiki Editing Help
OUR TEAM Name: Todd Smith Name: Nandini Sharma Name: Christian Forbus Name: Jared Macanas Name: Brandon Gandolf LAB 1 WRITE-UP Health Care Issue Excess alcohol consumption is the fourth leading cause of death in the United States. In 2010, $249 billion were spent on treating alcohol related diseases. Alcholohism can lead to a number of diseases. These diseases include alcohol poisoning, liver dysfunction, alcohol hepatitis, heart disease cirrhosis, dementia, gout, seizures, pancreatitis , and nerve damage are some more of the diseases caused by excess alcohol consumption. The signs of alcoholism include an enlarged spleen and shrunken liver. There are biomarkers that can be linked to an alcohol related disease. There are two types of biomarkers: direct and indirect. Direct biomarkers include alcohol and ethanol, which are used to detect alcohol close to the time of consumption. Indirect biomarkers include aspartate aminotransferase and alanine aminotransferase. These markers suggest that heavy drinking has occured and are used to supplement a proper physical examination. Alcohol affects multiple receptors in the brain and most of the organs in the body. The brain receptors that are affected include glutamate. The more a person consumes alcohol the more prone they are to the symptoms of withdrawl. Symptoms of withdrawl include nausea, vomiting, diaphoresis, agitation, anxiety, headache, tremor, seizures, visual and auditory hallucinations. In addition, the presence of opiate receptors in the brain increases cause the craving for alcohol to increase. Furthermore, excess alcohol consumption and driving can lead to drunk driving accidents. These accidents can result in major injuries or fatality for the driver and victim. Work cited/ For further information: Allen, J., Sillanaukee, P., Strid, N., & Litten, R. Z. (n.d.). Biomarkers of Heavy Drinking. September 06, 2016. [[1]] Thompson, W. (n.d.). Alcoholism. September 06, 2016. [[2]] Competitors The two competitors in this market are BACtrack Skyn and Tokyo Flash. Both of these competitors have yet to sell one of their products. Advantages Our product is a preventative measure for alcoholism, alcohol poisoning, and drunk driving incidents rather than further complications caused from accidents, or the consumption of too much alcohol leading to hospitalization or death. It is also more portable than breathalyzer locks on cars, with our product being as portable as a wristwatch. It can signal real-time warnings for transdermal-alcohol content to aid the consumer in making decisions on the consumption of more alcohol and can prevent people with high transdermal-alcohol content from starting their car. Our product can also help prevent liver failure, which is a common illness caused by the overconsumption of alcohol. The only other closely related treatment is the BACtrack Skyn, a bracelet that measures the transdermal-alcohol content and sends it to your smartphone. Our product goes a step above and beyond the Skyn, with the addition of increased measures to stop drunk driving and send warnings to multiple parties. We also have made our product more beneficial for the user by adding a clock and various colors to make users want to wear the product and provide function for daily use. Disadvantages The expense of our product is more costly than self-regulation, which may deter people from buying our product. Although the product can stop people from starting their car with a high alcohol content, it cannot stop them from drinking excessively or manipulating the system by giving the product to a sober individual to start the car. Customer Validation Patient Patients would like our device because it can help them to be more conscience of their alcohol consumption. It can also be used to help prevent any dangerous activities like driving while intoxicated by allowing you to accurately monitor your blood alcohol level until you are sober enough to drive. Payer In this case, our patients would also be our payers and they would be interested in our device because it can prevent the costs that are associated with driving while intoxicated or other dangerous activities that they might otherwise participate in without our device. Physician With our device, physicians may be able to not only record blood alcohol levels, but also things like heart rate and activity levels of the patient. This can help the physician provide better care for the patient. Provider Providers would be interested in our device because it doesn't need to be sold in a clinical setting. Purchaser Purchasers would be interested in buying our product because there currently are very few wearable tech capable of testing blood alcohol levels, and most of these devices are still in the developmental stages. This shows that this is a growing market that can be useful to a very large portion of the population. IP Position Number/assignee Title Summary Picture Publication date US20120072403A1 Methods for providing secure and transparent cached monitoring device data This method is a central database that provides a secure and transparent data from a monitoring device. That is capable of uploading, pairing, storing data from a device, and transferring data to a third party. [[3]] 2011-11-14 US4756314A Sweat collection patch This is a patent on a patch that improves fluid collection measurements on quantitative indications for average concentration of a body fluid agent. The patch covers an area where it is able to maintain the flow of fluid to it, such as skin or mucous membrane. [[4]] July 12, 1988 US20130144137A1 Method and system for non-invasively monitoring biological or biochemical parameters of individual A system used to monitor conditions of a subject's body. Used to find BAC or other vitals through various fluids produced by the body. [[5]] October 1, 2012 US20090182216A1 Moisture control in a transdermal blood alcohol monitor Used to induce perspiration to be held in the alcohol monitor to find alcohol content in the blood. As perspiration is expelled from the skin, the alcohol monitor measures the alcohol content contained in the collection of perspiration. [[6]] N/A Fundability Worksheet Scores Competitors Score: 2 Summary: We have a small number of competitors, but they have not sold any product. Customer Validation Score: 3 Summary: If the product is affordable and inconspicuous, people would buy it for safety and personal reasons. IP Position Score: 2 Summary: There are other ways to determine the alcohol blood level that will not interfere with the all ready existing patents.