News

St. Louis Science Center debuts health kiosks

September 25, 2006

ROCKVILLE, Md. — The nationally acclaimed St. Louis Science Center and Barnes Jewish Hospital have teamed to create BJC SportsWorks, a state-of-the-art interactive sport and fitness exhibition. Visitors to the exhibition will be challenged with a variety of activities and tests, including a 10-yard dash, a balancing test, a rock climbing wall, a rowing machine, a baseball-pitching test (from Major League regulation distance), a G-force simulator and a sportchair race.

What makes these challenges unique is the exhibit's ScanTracks technology that allows participants to electronically record their performance. A SportsWorks ScanTracks member card, which can be scanned at each activity, is made available to visitors upon entry. Visitors can check how well they performed over time or compare their performance to others by visiting the St. Louis Science Center Web site or one of several kiosks within the exhibit.

In addition to physical activities, the BJC SportsWorks exhibit features a wealth of information and interactive technology designed to educate and promote better health.

"The exhibit is designed to teach people how adopting an active lifestyle can improve their health," said Johann Galikin, the center's electronics technology manager. "We do this via technology that gives them a visual picture of the immediate impact of sports on their vital statistics. Besides allowing people to track their performance, we wanted them to be able to track their vital signs."

The center chose Lifeclinic's LC500 Health Testing Kiosks to provide visitors with the ability to check and record their heart rate, blood pressure, weight and blood oxygen levels. Five of these kiosks are placed throughout the exhibit.

Michael Bagan, president of Lifeclinic's Midwest dealer, Medical Screening Services, has observed the emergence of a new trend in healthcare management in that people are becoming proactive by tracking and managing their own vital-signs.

"Ten years ago, people felt more comfortable having their doctor check to see if their blood pressure was too high or if their lungs were not operating at full capacity," he said. "In today's managed care environment, however, the wait time to see a primary care provider can take weeks if not months. People are realizing that, with the recent public availability of dependable technology, it is more efficient and convenient to monitor their own vital information and limit doctor's visits to regular, annual physicals unless their self-monitoring reveals a problem."