Samsung gets jump on 2014 smartwatch rush

August 27, 2013 | by

Breaking news

[grow_thumb image=”https://telecareaware.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/08/galaxy_gear_mockup.jpg” thumb_width=”175″ /]Word via Mashable is that Samsung’s shot over the bow in the smartwatch wars comes on 4 September when it introduces its smartwatch, the Galaxy Gear, just ahead of the IFA consumer electronics trade show in Berlin. Rumor has it that it will be in five colors (white, orange, gray, black and the newest trend, white gold). This couples with their recent introduction of the massive phablet, the Galaxy Mega. No word yet on health applications, but what comes in the smartwatch will be an indicator of Samsung’s seriousness about extending S Health.  (Photo is mockup) Samsung’s Galaxy Gear Coming Sept. 4, Samsung’s Smart Watch Rumored to Come in Five Colors

Previously in TTA: Smartwatches as the 2014 tablet, redux; Apple-ologists discern ‘new’ interest in health tech and telehealth

Owlet baby monitor sock moving to market

August 27, 2013 | by
[grow_thumb image=”https://telecareaware.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/08/product_sock-Owlet.png” thumb_width=”150″ /]About nine months ago [TTA 6 Dec 12], the Owlet baby monitor in prototype won a student competition at Brigham Young University. It definitely ‘socked it” to this Editor at the time as an elegant way to monitor baby vital signs or signs of distress; it is a sensor-rich sock transmitting to a smartphone. While it still had pending patents, needed further prototyping and of course no FDA approval, I recommended “if you’re an angel looking for a highly marketable telehealth item–and with adult uses in hospitals and nursing homes–a trip to Utah may be in order.” Owlet is now seeking $100,000 in crowdfunding directly via its website and Amazon checkout (it was rejected by Kickstarter for being a baby product!) and will ship the device at an early bird rate of $159 once the funding is achieved. (more…)

Saving a life with Google Glass

August 27, 2013 | by
[grow_thumb image=”https://telecareaware.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/08/screen-shot-2013-07-05-at-9-10-08-pm.jpg” thumb_width=”200″ /]Further to Contributing Editor Toni’s posting on Google Glass being used during cardiothoracic surgery [TTA 26 August] is this report of a Glass app, CPRGLASS, coaching the user through CPR and developed by . The camera utilizes an algorithm which can detect a human pulse; the coaching provides music to do compressions by (at 100 per minute), uses the gyroscope to determine their adequacy, tracks time, number and calls 911 with the proper location as well as contacting nearest hospital. Even The Gimlet Eye likes this app as part of the proper potential in healthcare–as long as it isn’t mixed with the MTV Video Music Awards which would spell Cardiac Doom. ‘OK Glass, Save A Life.’  The Application Of Google Glass In Sudden Cardiac Death John Nosta in Forbes

Medtronic confirms forecast direction change, the market reacts, and brains are stimulated

August 27, 2013 | by

The ‘reasons why’ we (and others like David Shaywitz in Forbes) proposed back on 12 August for Medtronic’s purchase of Cardiocom were fully confirmed by their CEO Omar Ishrak in Bloomberg (21 August) and an analysis in Forbes (24 August). However, the Forbes article continues on to dump a bucket of cold water on Mr. Ishrak’s  ‘solutions provider’ strategem (so reminiscent of 2008-9 with different companies), positing that telehealth belongs with wireless/mobile companies (Qualcomm), companies further downstream (Allscripts, a major US pharmacy benefits manager) or other technology/monitoring companies. Mr. Market held the roses though (Deutsche Bank’s reiterated hold rating in Benzinga reflecting the consensus in Yahoo Finance).

What is interesting are their advances in brain stimulation to relieve pain in two areas. (more…)

Signs of a home monitoring bubble?

August 27, 2013 | by | 3 Comments
[grow_thumb image=”https://telecareaware.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/08/Ambio-health.jpg” thumb_width=”175″ /]Suddenly home-based remote monitoring is very warm, if not hot. The news of investments at all levels–from Medtronic’s purchase of Cardiocom [TTA 12 Aug] to a $525,000 third angel round investment in AmbioHealth (which this Editor doubts would have been on MedCityNews’ radar a year ago)–sounds like home telehealth is finally, finally gaining traction with investors, which have been more attracted to hospital-based and fitness monitoring. But is it the right type of traction based on reasonable expectations? We were among the first to point out in 2010 in positing the FBQs* that where the data goes, how it’s being used and who’s taking action on it was critical. Now Robert Pearl MD in Forbes is also examining the new song of home RPM and finding a few off notes (or to mix metaphors, finding a pan of fool’s gold):

That’s because some promoters of home monitoring technology believe doctors will carefully scrutinize each EKG or blood sugar reading and use the information to tailor perfect regimens for their patients. This is not how medicine works.

and

Looking at thousands of EKG tracings won’t add much value either. In fact, putting all that information into an electronic medical record (EMR) only makes it more difficult for doctors to identify other, more vital pieces of information. Instead, doctors need to understand which of a few possible patterns are happening to determine the appropriate course of action.

Dr. Pearl’s prescription is for smartphones to embed telehealth monitoring capabilities at a price point slightly above the current cost, but less expensive than stand-alone devices (more…)

Healthcare Design Conference

August 24, 2013 | by

16-19 November, Gaylord Palms Resort & Convention Center, Orlando Florida

One of the few design-only oriented conference for healthcare facilities. “With roughly 4000 participants at the 2012 Healthcare Design Conference, this is the industry’s best-attended conference where attendees can earn up to 24 continuing education credits, network with peers, and influence the direction of the industry as it advances into the future.”  (And the Gaylord Palms is one of the best venues around for conferences–and afterwards. You will not feel like you are in Orlando nor have any stray desires to go to Disney World.–Ed. Donna)  Information and registration

 

Medivizor patient info site goes public with additional information

August 24, 2013 | by

Medivizor, which was one of the better discoveries of our CE Week (NYC) coverage and the H20NYC/Healthcare Pioneers evening back in July [TTA 3 July], has moved out of what was a largely private beta to what they interestingly term a ‘public beta’. The site provides individualized content, understandable by the layman, for subscribers on a larger group of diseases which were on track for this fall: lung, colorectal, breast, and prostate cancer, as well as melanoma, diabetes, coronary artery disease, hypertension and stroke. The goal is to improve doctor-patient communications by better patient education. Another important feature is a “personalized system for matching individuals with specific clinical trials available worldwide.” Company release, Xconomy article.

A related New York Times article is an appreciation of how physicians are overwhelmed by information and that “doctors also need a skilled docent to help walk them through all that curated data.”  Healing the Overwhelmed Physician

Journal of the International Society for Telemedicine and eHealth (South Africa)

August 24, 2013 | by

A heads-up to our readers: a new peer reviewed journal out of South Africa’s University of KwaZulu-Natal’s Department of TeleHealth is the Journal of the International Society for Telemedicine and eHealth. On its second edition, their content (in PDF or HTML formats) seems to be of general interest:

  • Editorial: Would a Rose By Any Other Name – Cause Such Confusion? (defining eHealth)
  • Original Research:
    • TalkMeHome: an in situ evaluation of a service to guide a lost person with dementia home safely
    • Assessing the development process of the eHealth strategy for South Africa against the recommendations of the WHO/ITU National eHealth Strategy Toolkit.
  • Invited Commentary: Telerehabilitation: Current Challenges to Deployment in the United States

The Editors are certainly an international mix: Prof. Maurice Mars, University of KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa; Prof Richard E Scott, University of of KwaZulu-Natal Director, NT Consulting, Canada; Dr Malina Jordanova, Bulgarian Academy of Sciences, Institute for Space and Solar-Terrestrial Research, Bulgaria.

Addicted to mobile health? Telepsychiatry to the rescue!

August 23, 2013 | by

Dr. Joseph Kvedar of Boston’s Center for Connected Health counted himself in this Editor’s camp as annoyed by the mHealth hype (inflicted by those we’ve dubbed the D3H—Digital Health Hypester Horde), and far more of a believer in SMS for health programs. His blog post is a ‘kind of edge’ towards thinking that mHealth can be habit-forming. In the CCH’s own clinical trials, more participants have smartphones (tracking the general population’s adoption) even with the lag among those with chronic disease (maybe a question of affordability?) and want apps. And then he sees the pattern of people checking their smartphone obsessively, like budgies with bells and mirrors….along with a study that indicates that patients with a passive sensor to upload blood glucose measurement, rather than pushing a button, were “significantly more adherent to their plan and had better health outcomes.” Not having to do something in the Diabetic’s Perpetual Battle of Stalingrad is addictive? Well, this is edging towards a nomination for ‘What in the Blue Blazes?” Could mobile health become addictive? (CHealth Blog) Hat tip to reader Bob Pyke via Twitter

Well, we can send Dr. K to a connected psychiatrist for a session of e-therapy.  (more…)

Eye diagnostics a hot mHealth area

August 23, 2013 | by
[grow_thumb image=”https://telecareaware.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/02/gimlet-eye.jpg” thumb_width=”150″ /] The Gimlet Eye spied earlier this week that California startup iCheck Health Connection, which has a series of mobile app patents around eye diseases, has raised $750,816 of a $3.6 million offering (SEC filing) in what is presumably an angel round of funding. What was surprising in the Mobihealthnews article were their five patents around eye diagnostics: video games meant to monitor retinal diseases and visual field loss in glaucoma,  as well as “eccentric photorefraction, pupillary light reflex and the corneal light reflex eye screening tests in infants and young children.” The Eyes seem to have it lately with MIT Media Lab’s EyeNetra spinoff in July filing with the SEC their raise of $2 million of a $2.5 million round for their Netra-G app and attachment, which measures nearsightedness, farsightedness and astigmatism [TTA 9 July], Sensormed Triggerfish’s diagnostic contact lenses [TTA 31 July] and eye tracking as a stroke diagnostic [TTA 18 March]. Only last night Editor Donna at Health 2.0 NYC’s ‘Killer Apps for Healthy Living’ (KA4HL) saw Joshua Weiss, CEO of app developer TeliApp present his latest project, a mobile slit lamp sleeve that would fit over a standard smartphone and view the inside of the eye in clinical quality. (The office slit lamp is distinctly not mobile and costs between $2,500 and $5,000.)  The app would also enable a non-opthamologist/optometrist to flag eye issues as well as permit remote diagnosis in a home visit, in emergency response or by combat medics. It just went on crowdfunder MedStartr for a $16,000 funding towards an anticipated $160,000 raise for a prototype. (See Josh’s presentation at KA4HL here–registration required–at 01:50:57)

Contributing Editor Charles adds: there’s also an impressive mHealth app just announced in the UK that was developed by doctors in London and Glasgow to help diagnose serious eye conditions in the developing world called the Portable Eye Examination Kit (PEEK).  Around 39 million people around the globe are blind, 90% of them in low income countries; 80% of cases could apparently be avoided if health workers could reach them with affordable equipment.  PEEK is set to replace standard ophthalmology kit costing more than £100,000 with a £300 smartphone producing equally good results.

Trained health workers first assess a patient’s vision by flashing progressively smaller letters onto the screen.  Then they use the camera to check the lens of the eye for cloudy cataracts.  Finally, by attaching a special clip to the camera and switching on the flash, they are able to check the retina at the back of the eye for diseases such as diabetic retinopathy.  The images can be sent back to a hospital for assessment, along with the precise GPS coordinates of the patient’s location so they can be found later and treated.

An update on the MOBISERV Kompaï project takes some flak

August 23, 2013 | by

A long (and in need of editing), anodyne article on the European tech website Cordis updating the status of the EU/UK robotics project known as MOBISERV and the Kompaï companion robot, has generated a bit of controversy in the mHealth LinkedIn group (membership required). Group manager David Doherty, better known for his mHealthInsight (3GDoctor) website, objects to the design, the time and funds spent on it, and more. To summarize his points:

  • It’s a waste of money on a device and R&D which could have been used on more targeted solutions to real problems
  • A ‘touch screen robo-vehicle’ may not be usable by an older person who has trouble with smartphones or tablets for cognitive or mobility reasons
  • Mobile and other companies are already surpassing the EU project in both innovation and R&D in the job to be done; example Samsung’s gesture control and the LiquidWeb Brain Control brain interface from Italy. (And the ever-popular speech recognition in the here-and-now)
  • It’s a closed system versus open innovation, where other developers especially those on Kickstarter build in access (SDK–software development kits). Example is Romo, the small wheeled desk robot for the iPhone. (However, Editor Steve in his coverage of Kompaï in early days reported that its SDK is open source TTA 4 May 10)

We will leave side-taking to our readers, but David’s points are strongly worth considering, as this project has taken at least four years and perhaps more, and funding–who knows? (Editor Donna notes that Editor Steve followed Kompaï since 2010 in articles such as Kompaï by Kompaï, the Dutch TV video, and experiments in gesture-based control for those with strokes and similar impairments.)

The convergence of health systems with technology (US)

August 23, 2013 | by

Intermountain Healthcare has been well-known for its proactive approach to healthcare models–it moved early to a fixed-fee integrated delivery system (IDS), helped to pioneer the evidence-based healthcare approach and was an early adopter of EMRs. It was one of the main providers cited in the influential The Innovator’s Prescription written by Clayton Christensen, the late Jerome Grossman, MD and Jason Hwang, MD. It’s now further backing technology development and integration through its new Healthcare Transformation Lab. Founding members Xi3 and Intel, and ‘collaborators’ Dell, CenturyLink, NetApp, and Sotera Wireless are participants in the new 20,000 square foot facility at Intermountain’s lead hospital in Murray, Utah. Some of the prototypes already being readied are the ‘patient room of the future’, 3D printing of medical devices for testing purposes, a watch-form handwashing sensor, a ‘life detector’ for patient vital signs (an outgrowth of ViSi Mobile TTA 23 Aug 12?), a mobile vital signs monitor/data collector for use by helicopter rescue teams, an alert system for at-risk for suicide patients based on increased heart rate, and more. What seems to be missing are innovations related to the specific needs of older, frailer patients. Release. The extensive coverage is indicative of Intermountain’s influence in healthcare far beyond Utah: Healthcare IT News, FierceHealthIT, iHealthBeat, Salt Lake City Tribune. Will other health systems follow in influencing and funding health tech?

A ‘mobilized’ artificial pancreas breakthrough?

August 20, 2013 | by

Neil Versel (again) profiles a mobile platform that may be the start of the end of the Continuing Battle of Stalingrad for type 1 diabetes patients.  The prototype system, Diabetes Assistant (DiAs), is a closed-loop system which combines a modified Android phone with wirelessly connected wearables attached on the skin–Dexcom glucose monitors and Insulet OmniPod insulin pumps- to effectively act as an artificial pancreas. It was developed by University of Virginia’s Center for Diabetes Technology with funding via The Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation and the National Institutes of Health’s National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Diseases. Findings of the 20 patients monitored were initially presented at June’s American Diabetes Association’s annual scientific meeting and published in the July edition of the journal Diabetes Care (PDF does not require subscription). The system was designed by an international team:  Sansum Diabetes Research Institute in Santa Barbara, Calif., University of Padova in Italy and the University of Montpellier in France.  Tests continued with summer campers and the integration of Bluetooth LE into the connectivity system.  Mobihealthnews article.

But can this small miracle of a system be hacked–and can providers be held accountable? This scary thought of ‘harm or death by hacking’, with the example given of an insulin pump gone awry–was tagged at the 2011 Hacker’s Ball, a/k/a Black Hat USA by Jerome Radcliffe [yes, in TTA back in August 2011]. The late Barnaby Jack was also on the medical device hack track. The danger is only now entering the consciousness of medical administrators and the industry press in mainstream venues such as Information Week. Are Providers Liable If Hacked Medical Device Harms A Patient? (Healthcare Technology Online). Also Kevin Coleman in Information Week tells more about the liability providers may find themselves in if they don’t update their systems.

Both the diabetes closed-loop systems under development (Diabetes Assistant is one of three) and the hacking threat were addressed by Contributing Editor Charles earlier this month [TTA 5 August] in his examination of how systems should move from decision support to decision taking in order to truly reduce patient or caregiver burden.

Health tech scenes we DON’T want to see

August 20, 2013 | by | 2 Comments

The real reasons for wellness monitoring in the corporate world, as seen through the eyes of the Dilbert comic strip. Could this be CVS Caremark or the average employer in five years or less? [TTA 12 April] Hat tip to Neil Versel in his Meaningful HIT News; note comment from our own Contributing Editor from Australia, George Margelis, on algorithms missing the healthcare point.

[grow_thumb image=”https://telecareaware.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/08/192722.strip-Dilbert.gif” thumb_width=”650″ /]

Fast funding and sale roundup for Thursday/Friday

August 15, 2013 | by

A quick summary of news on both recent funding, another recently released funding analysis to add to the pile and sales–one completed, one potential:

  • The StartUp Health accelerator is now producing its independent analysis of health tech funding deals, presumably to catch the fire of RockHealth’s recognized quarterly report [TTA 9 July]. The July 2013 Digital Health Insights Funding Report is available in Slideshare format on their website with the most reported news being the 47 percent year-over-year growth to date, contrasting to RockHealth’s 12 percent, though the difference in all three may be the sampling. Practice management, big data and body computing/sensors lead the trends, according to their summary.
  • What is intriguing in the July deals is the whopping $40 million Series A funding of Oscar, which will integrate telemedicine (presumably consults) and free generic medications to its members in New York State, where they’ve stated they will be integrated into the Health Exchange in NY State. One wonders how they plan to do so on insurance exchanges which haven’t even started yet and which will be having their own challenges being a retail platform for health plans. Not unexpectedly you’ll find Khosla Ventures and Thrive Capital on the roster. MedSynergies led with a $65 million Series A for their software which will facilitate hospital networks performance monitoring of practices and provider referrals/scheduling. Internationally, Withings raised a $30 million Series A in July. MedCityNews also delves deeper into what they see as trends.
  • Fitbit just raised an additional $43 million to add to their previous $23 million. While they are still lagging fitness monitoring rival Jawbone UP by $84 million, rumors abound on what Fitbit plans to do with it: a more fully featured smartwatch? Additional apps to keep their user base engaged?–at the risk of overcomplication?   Fortune, TechCrunch
  • Toronto-based Diversinet closed their sale to New Jersey-based IMS Health for what seems like a small amount: (US)$3.5 million. Its MobiSecure technology provides government-security level mobile app security to customers such as AirStrip and the US Army. However, they were embroiled in early days in a breakup with a mobile provider, AllOne Health, and despite all their high-level tech clearances, the income realized, according to Mobihealthnews, was only in the $1 million range per year and declining and losses increasing. IMS Health is best known for its healthcare informatics, but has been involved with Ford’s in-car SYNC in development of the Allergy Alert app [TTA 7 Aug 12].
  • The ‘For Sale’ sign is also up at BlackBerry, with a corporate committee now officially exploring alliances and a sale, in the usual depressing drill. In a company once ubiquitous enough for smartphone usage to be dubbed ‘Crackberry’, and which still enjoys major worldwide market share and enterprise favor, they cannot get traction with new models. This Editor never used or liked BB, but it’s still kind of sad. ZDNet.

For NY health techies–here’s an accelerator roundup

August 15, 2013 | by

A sure sign that Silicon Alley in NYC is actually moving beyond the focus on shopping/retail and gaming to support early-stage companies in health tech is in this AlleyWatch guide to 14 accelerators, some of which are exclusively focused on health tech companies but others which may accept the right idea. It should be noted that both Blueprint Health and StartUp Health (with GE Ventures) have moved beyond the angel-funded to more ‘mature’ companies [TTA 15 July]. NY Digital Health Accelerator is a joint initiative of New York eHealth Collaborative and Partnership Fund for New York City [TTA 23 May]. But those without an exclusive focus on financial services or education (for instance), such as NYC SeedStart, Women Innovate Mobile and Founder Institute, may be viable alternatives to the Blueprint-StartUp-NYDHA nexus. It also balances out the fact that NYC is an expensive place to be a startup–only a little less so than SF. Hint, hint UK, European, Israeli and Latin American entrepreneurs–set up shop in NY, and the Coke and a slice (pizza, that is) is on Editor Donna! 14 New York-Based Accelerators to Help You Launch Your Company