Beaucoup fitness bands and wearables, an ‘all-in-one’ glucose meter and finally, a lack of hype!
[grow_thumb image=”https://telecareaware.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/01/razer-nabu-main-banner.jpg” thumb_width=”150″ /]Mobihealthnews rounds up 18 mobile health launches in a slideshow format (a bit difficult to page through). It’s heavy on fitness monitor bands and wearables from well-known and startup companies at price points from the $100 range up well past $400: Sony, LG, Garmin, Polar, Razer, Virgin Pulse (clipon), Lumo, iFit, Movea, Wellograph and Epson. (Also see Medgadget’s roundup if you can’t get enough!) Outside of fitness monitors: from China’s iHealth Lab (Andon Health), a blood pressure monitoring vest, an ambulatory ECG device that supposedly sticks to the wearer’s bare chest (no FDA approvals yet); Zensorium Tinke’s pulse oximeter plus for Android (seen by this Editor at New York CES in November 2012), the Qualcomm Life-backed YoFiMeter cellular glucose meter (more below) and the Medissimo Medipac GPS tracking pill box from France. Already covered here: Withings Aura, Qardio, Mother, Kolibree.
[grow_thumb image=”https://telecareaware.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/01/slide1-image.png” thumb_width=”150″ /] For diabetics wanting ground support in their ‘perpetual battle of Stalingrad’, the compact and sleekly designed YoFiMeter may be an answer. Staking the claim to be the first cellular ‘all-in-one’ meter, MedCityNews describes it and the user process (the website doesn’t) as “[shorter than usual testing] strips and lancets sit in a compartment on the back of the device. There is a small opening on one side for pricking a finger. The user then places a drop of blood in another opening on the top of the device. The meter tracks how many supplies are left in the box and reminds users to refill.” Release is planned for end of 2014, after FDA approval. [grow_thumb image=”https://telecareaware.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/01/notchsensor-0.png” thumb_width=”150″ /]With sensors overloaded, our last is probably the most unique: the Notch, which snaps onto clothing where desired to track movement patterns in 3D–the strength of a punch, for instance, to create ‘movement profiles’ which can be compared to others. The difference is the feed of data from multiple sensors, the algorithmic processing of the captured data and the haptic feedback loop (vibration) from the smartphone app. Gizmag. While sold on max fitness (jumping off steps as depicted), it’s easy to imagine specially programmed uses for older adults in gait tracking and daily activities. (All we need are the designers!)Eureka Park is where the very early stage startups congregate on the CES floor. One of those booths has the three robotic arms developed by researcher/engineer Marita Cheng, controlled by an iPhone and designed for maximum mobility for those with low upper-body mobility. It’s nice to see one noticed. MedCityNews profiles.
What’s been refreshing about most of the coverage this Editor’s reviewed is the lack of hype, though many of these devices may never see the light of the market for various reasons. So I’ll close today’s roundup with a posting in the ReadWrite tech blog favoring Pebble over Google Glass for everyday use, much as identified in the earlier ZDNet article from Wednesday’s roundup–easy to wear and not showy win out over high stare and embarrassment factors, for one. Hat tip to reader Mike Clark via Twitter. And has digital health @ CES grown as much as claimed? Both at CES Unveiled NYC two months ago and in the pre-coverage, the quoted CES stat was that the ‘footprint’ of digital health exhibitors was up 40 percent and 300 digital health companies were scheduled to exhibit. Brian Dolan in Mobihealthnews did some counting and came up with a real number of 170. But it is still a big year, settling into something beyond ‘potential’ into real life/real world products which people will buy.
Previously in TTA: The CES of Health (Wednesday), The CES of Health (Monday)
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