Jawbone definitely ‘up’ with BodyMedia acquisition

April 30, 2013 | by

BodyMedia, mentioned earlier today in context with wireless expansion into telehealth M2M (in this case, T-Mobile) is being acquired by Jawbone (of the UP bracelet).  BodyMedia’s wearable (on the upper arm), wireless syncing body monitors, developed over 14 years and with FDA Class II approval, have primarily targeted the ‘serious’ dieter with chronic weight problems and/or a diabetes prevention need, not the occasional exerciser.  Their partnerships with Jenny Craig, Apex Gyms and a trial with Cigna employees have been tailored to this objective.  In contrast, Jawbone has consistently targeted the more casual user with fashionable wrist-worn bracelets plus a wider variety of  features such as mood, sleep, activity and food tracking. It appears the two products will be kept separate for now. The bonuses: BodyMedia’s deep technical expertise (indicated by the unusual announcement of BodyMedia’s employees joining Jawbone, badly needed by the latter in light of their product development stumbles), 87 (!) patents, a massive database of human sensor data and the Vue Patch disposable sensor developed in conjunction with Avery Dennison announced at CES. Jawbone release, Mobihealthnews article.

Related: Jawbone UP’s iOS version now can incorporate data from other devices and platforms via partnerships with IFTTT, LoseIt!, Maxwell Health, MapMyFitness, MyFitnessPal, Notch, RunKeeper, Sleepio, Wello and Withings. Wired

Previously in TTA re Jawbone: Is it Hope? Hype? Or just the Same Old Struggle?, Quantified Self fail: nighty-night for Zeo, Quantified Selfing as…Show & Tell?

In-car health monitoring: a Quantum of Dismay

April 30, 2013 | by | 1 Comment

[grow_thumb image=”https://telecareaware.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/02/gimlet-eye.jpg” thumb_width=”150″ /]The simple pleasure of a drive, with the cheerful sound of a quiet engine purring and the pleasures of early Spring, are rapidly becoming as obsolete as no cell phone zones. Eye realized it this Sunday whilst driving in Big Blue (left, Cadillac,1955) with Waldo Lydecker to a scenic overlook on the New Jersey Palisades, where other like-minded vintage Cadillac owners unusually take pleasure in parking, eyeballing paint, chrome and upholstery, telling Cadillac tales and generally not doing very much for a few Sunday hours. But it was the drive to and from the garage that gave one pause. Blue must share the road [grow_thumb image=”https://telecareaware.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/04/04281312541.jpg” thumb_width=”150″ /]with fellow vehicles of all sorts, piloted by–to be kind–distracted drivers minding their GPS, smartphones and MP3 players. Now Blue, being a mature lady, has rather a leisurely pace in gliding her 4,500 lbs both forward and to a stop, so she will mind you if you mind her with a little more room and consideration than a nippy Mercedes hussy coupe.

Thus yesterday’s article from the Telegraph (UK) adds to the Quantum of Dismay. The Gimlet Eye has already turned a very dim eye on the phenomenon of the Automotive Dashboard as mHealthy Monitor. Ford’s SYNC apps alerting you to pollen, pollution and your chances of having an asthma attack at the wheel–useful when used before travel, but blinking and beeping at 70 mph in four-lane traffic? A driver’s seat for hypochondriacs that measures blood pressure, pulse, stress and…blood glucose? (don’t ask)…may work well in the lab, but any New York, Washington, LA or London Metropolitan Area Rush Hour will produce a sound arrangement straight from the Raymond Scott book. A BMW steering wheel that measures perspiration? Ah, the Eye thought that driving your Beemer was supposed to make you glow with excitement. Is it TMBD (too much busy dashboard)? Is it TMI (information), especially if the signs are recorded? Would you then would be ‘asked’ to ‘volunteer’ said information to your insurance company and state DOT due to medical causes? Privacy concerns abound. Cars that can monitor your health–are in-car health monitors the way of the future or a step too far? (Telegraph)

Previously in TTA: Eye’s earlier dismay in More cars that will monitor your BP…and brain waves, Ford SYNCs up with Allergy Alert; Editor Donna not much more pleased in Ford’s ‘car that cares’ visits CES, Syncs up Healthrageously; Your car as mHealth platform.

Senior housing behind the times in tech–and more (US)

April 30, 2013 | by

A short and extremely pointed take on how senior living communities in the US are just plain not up to speed in their management. Technology adoption is the focus, and reasons cited are:

  • Seniors and caregivers are stereotyped as the technophobes–but so are the senior care managers and staff
  • Tech is expensive, the market is small
  • New tech=early adopters, but they are few and must be the brave ones

Senior housing is also behind the times in marketing (invariably meaning sales), web presence, building design and activity programs. You’ll be wondering how they stay in business. Is this your community, or one you are selling to?  Perpetually behind the times…(Senior Housing Forum)

Healthcare data breaches show 25% fraud risk: study

April 30, 2013 | by

For healthcare institutions, that data breach can really cost. Javelin Strategy & Research has been tracking the cost of data breaches, including healthcare, for the past ten years. Using its data across all their industries tracked (data here), the threat of identity fraud as of 2012 is up to 1 in 4, from 1 in 9  in 2010. In commenting on the big breach last year at the Utah Department of Health (780,000 records, TTA 22 Dec), a Javelin spokesperson has made some news by estimating the additional fraud cost at $406 million–and that is in addition to the estimated $9 million that the state has spent on security audits, upgrades and credit monitoring for victims.  Hackers seem to be more targeted than ever, but often even simple precautions are not taken–in Utah, the factory password to the server was never changed. A cautionary note–no, symphony–to developers and to HIT departments. Healthcare IT News, Salt Lake Tribune, Javelin release

Could iris scans be a solution? Biometrics makers, such as Safran, Fujitsu, AOptix Technologies and M2Sys Technology, are finding new customers in hospitals and large providers. HCA Holdings, the largest US for-profit hospital chain, is testing Eye Controls’ system at their private clinics in London. Medical ID theft is also a problem in the UK, with ‘shame-based theft’ (to conceal an illness) and private billing the given reasons. Iris scanning units cost about $200-300–a moderate cost. According to the World Privacy Forum, iris scanning will rule out hacking, but not ‘inside jobs’–progress of a sort. But an open question is how this integrates into current EHRs. Iris Scans Seen Shrinking $7 Billion Medical Data Breach (Bloomberg)  Editor’s note: The Gimlet Eye is…envious.

Contra-wobbly: Aberdare Ventures bets on digital health

April 30, 2013 | by

While the PwC tracking survey of VC investment in life sciences (including medical devices) shows definite global cooling [TTA 26 April], a $130 million venture funder is just warming up. Aberdare Ventures is one of the top three, after Qualcomm and Merck, making investments in four or more digital health companies, according to RockHealth, and moving away from other parts of life science. Funding for their present suite of seven firms is between $3 and $5 million each. The firm’s latest acquisition is partner Mohit “Mo” Kaushal from West Health. Forbes

[Unrelated editorial note: This is the 5,000th news item on this site.]

Prediction: big data saving big money

April 30, 2013 | by | 1 Comment

A pointer to the (US) future from the (UK’s) Emma Byrne in Forbes; four developments which will lower cost of care in the near future are big data accessible in patient data warehouses, used in personalized/predictive medicine, wellness maintenance and just-in-time medicine. No cautionary notes here about data breaches, which affect an average of 2,700 records for an average price of $2.4 million, but savings of 10 percent (or $900 per person) isn’t hay either. Scientists Save Healthcare (But They’re Not From Med School)

Update 30 April: If you are one of the many who wonder what Big Data really means, versus terminology slung like hash, endless conferences, the word ‘Hadoop’ and that worried look on your HIT department head’s face, John Loonsk, MD helps to define it in language even this Editor can understand. Start with “Specifically, big data tools facilitate pulling together great amounts of available data to support an objective whether those data were recorded specifically and narrowly for that objective or not.” Whew. Policy and implementation challenges to achieving big data outcomes (part 1) HealthcareITNews

Big Data when wayward a Big Problem: 763,000 patients at Adventist Health System’s Florida Hospital Celebration Health ER (ED) over nearly three years had their records sold by one employee with access–and the inside job continued even after he was fired. Big Lawsuit follows. iHealthBeat 

M2M revitalizing PERS, making wireless healthier

April 30, 2013 | by | 4 Comments

…is the surprising conviction of long-time observer Harry Wang of Parks Associates. He’s projecting that nearly all PERS will go M2M as households increasingly lose the land line, and as the current crop of older adults demands ‘anywhere’ coverage. While the numbers will be small in terms of shipping (400,000 in 2016), M2M will be the norm in five years:  more than 61 percent of PERS  in the US shipped in 2017 will feature M2M connectivity, versus only 15 percent in 2012. Wireless carriers are also pushing connectivity in both telecare and telehealth with key device partnerships: Orange and Sprint with IDEAL LIFE, Sprint and BodyMedia, AT&T with Vitality (and many others) and T-Mobile with self-install telecare BeClose.  Undoubtedly this article in e-Commerce Times is a preview to an upcoming study.

‘Wildcatting’ health tech acceleration in Texas

April 26, 2013 | by

Instead of oil wildcatting, well gushers out of ‘Giant’ and the travails of the Ewing family in Dallas, think…tech accelerator. Health Wildcatters is introducing the RockHealth-StartUp Health-Blueprint Health model to the Southwest. Executive director/co-founder Hubert Zajicek, MD announced an initial class of 15, with applications accepted in May. The program starts in late August and extends for 12 weeks. On completion, each company will receive $35,000 in seed funding in exchange for 8 percent equity. The Southwest has had some incubator action–in Texas at NTEC (where Dr. Zajicek was previously medical technology director) and Arizona’s SEEDSTART [TTA 5 Feb]–but accelerators have largely stayed glued to the poles of San Francisco/Silicon Valley, San Diego, New York and Boston. However, both Dallas and Houston are major US–and international, mainly Mexico, Central and South America–health delivery, educational and tech hubs. The Wildcatters have raised $1 million from about 30 investors, including physicians and local entrepreneurs, many of whom will also invest time as mentors. According to Mobihealthnews, they include Mike Bartlett, founder of vision test app makers Vital Art and Science and Michael Gorton, founder of telemedicine provider Teladoc; another major investor is Green Park & Golf Ventures. Co-founders and partners are Gabriella Draney (also of related Tech Wildcatters), Clay Heighten, MD and Carl Soderstrom. Dallas Morning News article. More information on their website.

The amazing lightness of Google’s Being There vs The Private Eye

April 26, 2013 | by | 1 Comment
[grow_thumb image=”https://telecareaware.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/02/gimlet-eye.jpg” thumb_width=”150″ /]Perhaps it is The Google Gimlet Eye’s peevishness at this late hour, but mentioning this company in conjunction with ‘privacy’ lately makes the Eye Goggle. First there is the sheer howling irony of chairman Eric Schmidt’s interesting definition of the Digital Dark Side in this past weekend’s Wall Street Journal, a state of data mining and real-time behavioral monitoring that applies to totalitarian regimes like North Korea, Iran or (more…)

‘Tactile helmet’ for rescuers may assist vision impaired (UK)

April 26, 2013 | by

Here’s where a partner and a little seed capital could go a long way–no FDA or CE needed. Researchers at the University of Sheffield’s Sheffield Centre for Robotics (SCentRo) have developed a variation on a firefighter’s helmet containing ultrasound sensors that detect the distances between the helmet and nearby walls. When a possible obstacle is ‘sensed’, a vibration pad directionally signals the wearer. For firefighters, this is obviously useful in smoke-filled areas but a lightweight version could be used by vision impaired people as a guidance aid. After two years of research and testing, Sheffield now needs a commercial partner interested in further developing the helmet. University of Sheffield News Hat tip to TANN Ireland’s Toni Bunting

A Wi-Fi upgrade with big impact to healthcare

April 26, 2013 | by

This was probably not headline news in your home town, unless it’s Palo Alto, but the new Wi-Fi standard (802.11ac and 802.11ad for the techies), replacing 802.11n, will be out of the box at end of 2013. The new standard is much higher capacity (supposedly it is a 3:1 difference) and has great promise for wireless hospitals. It will enable bigger data–like imaging–to go to tablets, for instance, much faster. The ‘ad’ standard is also extremely short range –10 meters–which will serve best for data-heavy localized tasks like reading X-rays or MRIs on tablets. More capacity, faster speed is especially important as more MBANs (Medical Body Area Networks) enter hospitals. Latest Wi-Fi standards could boost mHealth connectivity (FierceMobileHealthcare) Techies can parse eWeek.

Sleep apnea tracking goes mobile

April 26, 2013 | by

Philips Respironics goes mobile in combining their System One PAP (positive airway pressure) device for treatment of obstructive sleep apnea with a self-management and education tool. The user can view on SleepMapper therapy feedback, set goals and access information, resources and tutorials about sleep apnea online on their PC or smartphone (iPhone and Android). Badly needed support for a major and life-threatening condition. Philips release.

Healthcare tech investment gone wobbly?

April 26, 2013 | by | 2 Comments

Earlier this month, this Editor riffed on David Shaywitz’s Forbes article lamenting the paucity of life sciences VCs setting their sights and putting their money on the line for digital health. While David Doherty of mHealthInsight differed, pointing out his 16 billionaires making big bets in health tech, VC action in ‘hot’ digital health is underperforming. The ironically-named MoneyTree 2013 First Quarter report from PricewaterhouseCoopers (PWC) and the National Venture Capital Association (NVCA), tracks media, software, clean tech, biotech and medical devices. And the ‘Tree’ is not exactly ‘shaking’:

  • For all surveyed VC investment, 1st Quarter 2013 declined 12 percent in dollars and 15 percent in number of deals, compared to 4th Quarter 2012.
  • Medical devices and equipment are an ‘underperform’: down 20 percent to $509 million, deals dropping 10 percent to 71, 1st Quarter 2013 to the prior quarter.
  • In the prior year (2012) 1st Quarter, over $200 million more had been invested in medical device companies. Similar declines were tracked in biotech.
  • The Life Sciences sector (medical devices + biotech) declined to the fewest number of funding deals since 1st Quarter 2009. Even more shockingly, first time VC financings are at 2nd Quarter 1995 levels.
  • Software and media continued to dominate–and grow in funding.

According to investors queried by FierceMedicalDevices, reasons for weak investment in medical devices were: continued lack of transparency at the FDA about approval process, movement away from first round/early-stage to later-stage companies, a focus on companies with devices not needing FDA approval–or already having it. Unfortunate, but rational. One hopes a change of heart, or a change of cycle.  PwC/NVCA release (in FierceMedicalDevices)

Telemedicine breaking through with payers? (US)

April 26, 2013 | by

Cigna, the tenth largest insurer in the US, jumped this week on the virtual consult wagon train with earlier pioneers UnitedHealthcare (#1), WellPoint (#2) and Aetna (#5).  Cigna is partnering with MDLive to offer online video, telephone or e-mail consultations with doctors for non-urgent care as an option for self-insured employers nationwide starting 1 July for plans effective 1 January 2014. MDLive will send, via Cigna, summaries of telehealth visits to patients’ physicians. Cigna’s present telemedicine partner, McKesson’s RelayHealth, will remain for virtual consults with the patient’s own physician. Among payers, the widest coverage appears to be UnitedHealthcare with NowClinic in 22 states; WellPoint offers American Well only in California and Ohio while Aetna is piloting with Teladoc in Texas and Florida. (Just in time to buzz through ATA 2013!) InformationWeek Healthcare

TBI drug in potential trial with former NFL players’ association

April 24, 2013 | by

Breaking news in the US today on a topic we’ve been following. Maryland-based Neuralstem, a developer of neurogenic drugs, announced this morning that it is working with the National Football League Alumni Association (NFLAA) to develop a trial of their NSI-189 for treating NFL alumni members suffering from traumatic brain injuries (TBI). According to their release, NSI-189 (or NS1-189, both are used) is currently in a Phase Ib clinical trial to treat major depressive disorder. Because it appears to work by stimulating neurons in the hippocampus, a region of the brain that atrophies in depression, this could also apply to brain injury. While this announcement is perhaps more than it seems–a Phase I clinical trial is ‘early days’, to make it through all four phases (I-IV) may take a decade, and now the developer is switching around the treatment condition–the drug itself has received support from DARPA and NIH which are both closely concerned with TBI. In addition, working with the NFLAA will help Neuralstem find subjects for the trials. PR Newswire via Baltimore Business Journal 

Previously in TTA on TBI and the NFL: Further sad confirmation of CTE, Brain injury research study, NFL donates $30 million to NIH, Combating TBI on the battle and football fields.

Electronic paper and tactile robots

April 23, 2013 | by | 3 Comments

E Ink technology, popular on e-books like the Kindle and on displays, is now showing up as a highly readable, lightweight (80g), low power display (one week life) phone.  A prototype E Ink-only Android phone was demo’d at Mobile World Congress. The tradeoff is full color for great readability and simplicity in any light. Kind of like silent movies. Watches, anyone?  Springwise Hat tip to TANN Ireland’s Toni Bunting.

Robots with tactile sensors for pressure and adjustable gripping are necessary but at present don’t come cheap–sensors are about $16,000 for a robot hand. The cutely named TakkTile, developed by grad student Leif Jentoft and postdoctoral fellow Yaroslav Tenzer at the Harvard School of Engineering and Applied Sciences, may be the answer. “At the heart of the device is a tiny air pressure-sensitive digital barometer, of the type already commonly used in things like cell phones and GPS units. A layer of rubber is vacuum-sealed onto it.” Beyond robots, uses envisioned are toy animals that respond to being petted and medical devices that assist with surgery. New sensor designed to give robots a gentler touch – on a budget (Gizmag)