In a study from Northwestern Medicine, scientists have developed a necklace that could help you stop smoking.
They have developed a smart neck-worn device resembling a lapis blue pendant that detects a user’s smoking much more reliably than previous systems.
It does so by capturing heat signatures from thermal sensors.
The necklace, called SmokeMon, completely maintains a smoker’s privacy, only tracking heat, not visuals—which is a critical factor for people to feel comfortable wearing it.
The study established the accuracy of the device and people’s willingness to wear it.
Globally, more than 8 million deaths are attributed to smoking each year.
Smoking remains a leading cause of preventable disease, disability, and death in the U.S., accounting for more than 480,000 deaths every year (or one in five deaths).
It was estimated to cost the U.S. more than $600 billion in 2018 (combining healthcare spending and lost productivity). In the U.S., 12.5% of adults smoke.
In the study, the team examined 19 people. They took part in 115 smoking sessions in which scientists examined their smoking behavior in controlled and free-living experiments.
As smokers wore the device, scientists trained a deep learning-based machine model to detect smoking events along with their smoking topography, including things like the timing of a puff, number of puffs, puff duration, puff volume, inter-puff interval, and smoking duration.
They also ran three focus groups with 18 tobacco-treatment specialists to understand how they felt about the device.
One smoking cession specialist says these real-time measurements can really help scientists understand the depth a person is at in their smoking habits and treat the patient accordingly.
If you care about health, please read studies about why Viagra may be useful in treating lung diseases, and scientists find an herbal supplement to treat lung cancer.
For more information about health, please see recent studies about why smokers have a lower risk of COVID-19, and results showing scientists find the cause of lung cancer in never smokers.
The study was conducted by Nabil Alshurafa et al and published in Proceedings of the ACM on Interactive, Mobile, Wearable, and Ubiquitous Technologies.
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