A new app launched by Health in Transportation and NuraLogix Corp. at AutoTech Detroit, a showcase of the latest tech and newest vehicles, targets professional drivers working in mass transit and trucking and allows them to access a 30-second CDL health check that focuses on the dangers of hypertension and type-2 diabetes.
This app, called the CDL Health Scanner, allows drivers to quickly scan key vitals using either an iPhone or Android device. It is a driver-centric system that relies on the Anura technology to measure blood pressure (BP) using transdermal optical imaging delivered via a smartphone camera.
When combined with the user’s body mass index (BMI) data, the risk-factors for hypertension, type-2 diabetes, and even obstructive sleep apnea (OSA), a common ailment of over-the-road truckers, come into clear focus.
Phoenix-based Health in Transportation partnered with Toronto-based NuraLogix — creator of the Anura technology that powers the app — to ensure that the product can be supplied to drivers for only a few cents per day.
Getting Anura into the hands of hundreds of thousands of professional drivers will generate a wealth of data that can only enhance the platform when this type of non-intrusive health monitoring becomes the norm for in-car information systems.
Truck drivers, many of whom drive vehicles that include interior cameras that monitor their situational awareness and other performance metrics, are the perfect population to help propel this concept into the mainstream.
Health in Transportation says the industry is experiencing a shortage of close to 100,000 drivers — and when putting a new driver behind the wheel involves five-figure expense for the carrier — reducing the number of medical disqualifications that result from a U.S. Department of Transportation physical is the top priority.
Close to 80 percent of those disqualifications are caused by high BP, dangerous blood-sugar levels, and OSA. The app not only warns drivers that they are in dangerous territory, it also links them to specialty health coaches who can guide lifestyle changes that will transform their health situation.
