Latest news with #MeganO'Brien


Gizmodo
09-07-2025
- Health
- Gizmodo
Your Fitbit Could Become Your Post-Surgery Best Friend
A Fitbit a day just might help keep your post-surgery woes at bay. Research today finds that wearable data can predict children's risk of health problems following a removed appendix. Scientists in Chicago conducted the study, which equipped over a hundred children with Fitbits after their appendectomy. Using a specially designed algorithm, the Fitbits accurately detected whether children would develop postoperative complications, often days before they were formally diagnosed. The findings suggest that wearables can be turned into a reliable early warning system for people leaving medical care, particularly children, the researchers say. 'This work has significant implications for enabling precise, real-time, remote monitoring of recovery in children following surgery,' study co-author Megan O'Brien, a research scientist at the Shirley Ryan AbilityLab, told Gizmodo. RFK Jr. Wants Every American to Be Sporting a Wearable Within Four Years Leaving aside Robert F. Kennedy Jr.'s strange dream of having every American use a wearable, scientists are genuinely excited about the potential for these devices. The biometric data a wearable can collect, such as our heart rate or sleeping patterns, can be key clues to our overall health. By looking for subtle disruptions of these markers, the hope is that we can proactively catch a person's illness or flare-ups of an existing condition sooner than usual. O'Brien notes that the risk of new health problems is relatively high in children who undergo surgery. One of the most common complications of an appendectomy, for instance, is infections at the surgery site. And compared to adults, kids might be less willing or able to communicate when they're feeling sick again. O'Brien and her colleagues at the Shirley Ryan AbilityLab teamed up with researchers at the Ann and Robert H. Lurie Children's Hospital of Chicago and the University of Alabama at Birmingham for this new study. 103 children (ages 3 to 18) were given a Fitbit (either the Inspire HR or Inspire 2) to wear for 21 days after their appendix was removed. The researchers created a machine learning algorithm to analyze the typical health data collected by the wearables, including heart rate and activity. They trained the AI model to look beyond these simple metrics; instead, it used them to calculate a child's typical biorhythms according to their internal body clock (a common example being our circadian rhythm). The researchers then used the model to retroactively predict whether the children ended up getting sick again. The algorithm correctly identified 91% of the children who were diagnosed with postoperative complications (this is known as a sensitivity rate), up to three days before it happened. It was also 74% accurate at identifying children who didn't need follow-up care (its specificity rate). 'Our findings suggest that wearable-derived biorhythms offer a promising, unobtrusive method for evaluating postoperative recovery,' the researchers wrote in their paper, published Wednesday in Science Advances. While this study only looked at appendectomy patients, the researchers say this approach could be used to track children's recovery from a broad range of surgeries and possibly even to detect non-surgical conditions marked by clear behavioral or physiological changes. They also argue that it can easily be combined with existing tools to truly predict people's health problems before they happen. 'The algorithm can be integrated into a clinician-friendly dashboard that delivers daily summaries, on-demand reports, and real-time alerts to a child's care team, providing data-driven treatment support and enabling more proactive follow-up with patients,' O'Brien said. 'As such, these tools could support more efficient healthcare engagement for families and improve equity in post-discharge care.' This study is only one part of a larger four-year project funded by the National Institutes of Health. The researchers' next step will involve directly testing their algorithm as a real-time warning system for children having their appendix removed.


BreakingNews.ie
22-05-2025
- Automotive
- BreakingNews.ie
Children injured during Circuit of Kerry rally settle cases for €325,000
A toddler was "extremely lucky" he was not strapped into his buggy when a car on the Circuit of Kerry rally went out of control and through a protective barrier and threw the buggy up against a wall, the High Court has heard. Jamie O'Brien was watching the motor rally along with his parents and his sister at a church car park at Ballymacelligott when the accident happened 10 years ago. Advertisement He ended up covered in blood with lacerations to his face and head. In the High Court on Thursday, four members of the O'Brien family, of Tralee, Co Kerry, settled High Court actions over the incident. Their counsel, Padraig McCartan SC, told the court Jamie, who is now 12 years old, was extremely lucky he was not strapped in the buggy at the time of the accident on April 19th, 2015. Mr McCartan said the boy had been left with scars on his head and over his eyebrow. The boy settled his legal action for €75,000. Advertisement Jamie's sister, Megan (17), who was 7 years old at the time, was also injured and had to be airlifted to hospital. He said the little girl was standing holding her father's hand when the car struck her and drove her back into the corner of the car park wall. Mr McCartan said Mr and Mrs O'Brien thought their daughter was dead and she had multiple injuries and was airlifted to Cork University Hospital. Megan was in the intensive care unit of the hospital and had to have four different surgeries. Her injuries included a large degloving injury to her ankle along with leg and rib fractures and knee and shoulder injuries. Mr McCartan said the girl was in hospital for about a month. Megan made a full recovery and settled her action for €250,000. Jamie and Megan, along with their parents Olivia and Alan O'Brien, of Tralee, Co Kerry, sued the driver of the car David Murphy, of Coole West, Athea, Co Limerick; Tralee Autosports Co Ltd, trading as Kerry Motor Club, with registered offices at Knockmoyle, Tralee; Motorsport Ireland, with offices at Dawson Street, Dublin; and Kerry County Council. Advertisement Mr Justice Paul Coffey was told the actions brought by Mr and Mrs O'Brien had been settled and could be struck out. The terms of the settlement are confidential. In the proceedings it was claimed there was a failure to ensure that adequate safety mechanisms were in place on the circuit rally route that would prevent injury to the spectators. It was further claimed there was a failure to assess the adequacy of the position of the barriers and their distance from the route to ensure that any spectators watching from behind the barriers would be safe from danger. Ireland Spectator injured during stage of Donegal Rally Read More The family further alleged there was a failure to ensure the event was adequately marshalled. Advertisement There was also an alleged failure to prepare or implement any or any adequate safety plan. All of the claims were denied and it was denied that the car was being driven otherwise that in a manner that would have been expected at or as part of the preparation of a stage of a motor rally event on a closed road. Noting the adult settlements, Mr Justice Coffey also approved the €75,000 and €250,000 settlements for Jamie and Megan and said they were fair and reasonable. He wished the family well for the future.

Business Post
14-05-2025
- Business
- Business Post
No resolution on EU-US tariffs will leave Irish spirits sector ‘uniquely exposed'
Trade No resolution on EU-US tariffs will leave Irish spirits sector 'uniquely exposed' Megan O'Brien 10:50 Agriculture minister Martin Heydon, said the state is focussing on developing other markets such as India, as well as the US. Photo: Fergal Phillips

Business Post
14-05-2025
- Business
- Business Post
Markets update: Irish and UK markets green but mixed picture in EU as French index falls
Markets Markets update: Irish and UK markets green but mixed picture in EU as French index falls Megan O'Brien 08:53 Photo: Javier Ghersi

Business Post
13-05-2025
- Business
- Business Post
Atlantic Flight Training Academy ‘contributes €35 million' to regional economy
Aviation Atlantic Flight Training Academy 'contributes €35 million' to regional economy Megan O'Brien 12:28 Minister of State Jerry Buttimer with chief executive of Afta Captain Mark Casey at the launch of the Economic and Social Impact Report. Photo: David Creedon