Researchers at Stanford University have invented a manufacturing technique that yields flexible, atomically thin transistors less than 100 nanometers in length – several times smaller than previously possible. The technique is detailed in a paper published on June 17 in Nature Electronics.

With the advance, said the researchers, so-called “flextronics” move closer to reality. Flexible electronics promise bendable, shapeable, yet energy-efficient computer circuits that can be worn on or implanted in the human body to perform myriad health-related tasks. What’s more, the coming “internet of things,” in which almost every device in our lives is integrated and interconnected with flexible electronics, should similarly benefit from Flextronics, reports Andrew Myers in Stanford News.

Technical difficulties

Among suitable materials for flexible electronics, two-dimensional (2D) semiconductors have shown promise, but the engineering challenge to date has been that forming these almost impossibly thin devices requires a process that is far too heat-intensive for the flexible plastic substrates.

Read more: Designing Flexible and Rigid Medical Wearables To Withstand Everyday Wear-and-Tear

For the solution, Eric Pop, a professor of electrical engineering at Stanford, and Alwin Daus, a postdoctoral scholar in Pop’s lab, who developed the technique, used two steps, starting with a base substrate that is anything but flexible.

Atop a solid slab of silicon coated with glass, Pop and Daus formed an atomically thin film of the 2D semiconductor molybdenum disulfide (MoS2) overlaid with small nano-patterned gold electrodes. Because this step is performed on the conventional silicon substrate, the nanoscale transistor dimensions can be patterned with existing advanced patterning techniques, achieving a resolution otherwise impossible on flexible plastic substrates, the Stanford report said.

The layering technique, known as chemical vapor deposition (CVD), grows a film of MoS2 one layer of atoms at a time. The resulting film is just three atoms thick, but requires temperatures reaching 850 C (over 1500 F) to work. By comparison, the flexible substrate – made of polyimide, a thin plastic – would long ago have lost its shape somewhere around 360 C (680 F), and completely decomposed at higher temperatures.

By first patterning and forming these critical parts on rigid silicon and allowing them to cool, Stanford researchers can apply the flexible material without damage. With a simple bath in deionized water, the entire device stack peels back, now fully transferred to the flexible polyimide.

After a few additional fabrication steps, the results are flexible transistors capable of several times higher performance than any produced before with atomically thin semiconductors. The researchers said that while entire circuits could be built and then transferred to the flexible material, certain complications with subsequent layers make these additional steps easier after transfer.

“In the end, the entire structure is just 5 microns thick, including the flexible polyimide,” said Pop, who is the senior author of the paper. “That’s about ten times thinner than a human hair.”

“This downscaling has several benefits,” said Daus, who is the first author of the paper. “You can fit more transistors in a given footprint, of course, but you can also have higher currents at lower voltage – high speed with less power consumption.”

Read more: Flexible Hybrid Electronics Market to Reach Almost $200 Million by 2024

Meanwhile, the gold metal contacts dissipate and spread the heat generated by the transistors while in use – heat which might otherwise jeopardize the flexible polyimide.

Promising future

With a prototype and patent application complete, Daus and Pop have moved on to their next challenge of refining the devices. They have built similar transistors using two other atomically thin semiconductors (MoSe2 and WSe2) to demonstrate the broad applicability of the technique.

Meanwhile, Daus said that he is looking into integrating radio circuitry with the devices, which will allow future variations to communicate wirelessly with the outside world – another large leap toward viability for flextronics, particularly those implanted in the human body or integrated deep within other devices connected to the internet of things.

Feeling extra sweaty from a summer heat wave? Don't worry -- not all your perspiration has to go to waste. In a paper published July 13 in the journal Joule, researchers have developed a new device that harvests energy from the sweat on – of all places – your fingertips. To date, the device is the most efficient on-body energy harvester ever invented, producing 300 millijoules (mJ) of energy per square centimeter without any mechanical energy input during a 10-hour sleep and an additional 30 mJ of energy with a single press of a finger. The authors say the device represents a significant step forward for self-sustainable wearable electronics.

Read more: Flexible Cable Based Capacitors Support Energy Harvesting for Wearables

“Normally, you want maximum return on investment in energy. You don't want to expend a lot of energy through exercise to get only a little energy back,” says senior author Joseph Wang, a nanoengineering professor at the University of California San Diego. “But here, we wanted to create a device adapted to daily activity that requires almost no energy investment -- you can completely forget about the device and go to sleep or do desk work like typing, yet still continue to generate energy. You can call it 'power from doing nothing.’”

Previous sweat-based energy devices required intense exercise, such as a great deal of running or biking, before the user sweated enough to activate power generation. But the large amount of energy consumed during exercise can easily cancel out the energy produced, often resulting in an energy return on investment of less than 1%, reports Cell Press.

In contrast, this device falls into what the authors call the “holy grail” category of energy harvesters. Instead of relying on external, irregular sources like sunlight or movement, all it needs is finger contact to collect more than 300 mJ of energy during sleep -- which the authors say is enough to power some small wearable electronics. Since no movement is needed, the ratio between harvested energy and invested energy is essentially infinite.

It may seem odd to choose fingertips as the source of this sweat over, say, the underarms, but in fact, fingertips have the highest concentration of sweat glands compared to anywhere else on the body.

“Generating more sweat at the fingers probably evolved to help us better grip things,” says first co-author Lu Yin, a nanoengineering Ph.D. student working in Wang's lab. “Sweat rates on the finger can reach as high as a few microliters per square centimeter per minute. This is significant compared to other locations on the body, where sweat rates are maybe two or three orders of magnitude smaller.”

The device the researchers developed in this study is a type of energy harvester called a biofuel cell (BFC) and is powered by lactate, a dissolved compound in sweat. From the outside, it looks like a simple piece of foam connected to a circuit with electrodes, all of which is attached to the pad of a finger. The foam is made out of carbon nanotube material, and the device also contains a hydrogel that helps maximize sweat absorption.

“The size of the device is about 1 centimeter squared. Its material is flexible as well, so you don't need to worry about it being too rigid or feeling weird. You can comfortably wear it for an extended period of time,” says Yin.

Within the device, a series of electrochemical reactions occur. The cells are equipped with a bio enzyme on the anode that oxidizes, or removes electrons from, the lactate; the cathode is deposited with a small amount of platinum to catalyze a reduction reaction that takes the electron to turn oxygen into water. Once this happens, electrons flow from the lactate through the circuit, creating a current of electricity. This process occurs spontaneously: as long as there is lactate, no additional energy is needed to kickstart the process.

Separate from but complementary to the BFC, piezoelectric generators -- which convert mechanical energy into electricity -- are also attached to the device to harvest up to 20% additional energy. Relying on the natural pinching motion of fingers or everyday motions like typing, these generators helped produce additional energy from barely any work: a single press of a finger once per hour required only 0.5 mJ of energy but produced over 30 mJ of energy, a 6,000% return in investment.

Read more: Stretchable System Can Power Wearables By Harvesting Energy From Wearer’s Breathing and Motion

The researchers were able to use the device to power effective vitamin C- and sodium-sensing systems, and they are optimistic about improving the device to have even greater abilities in the future, which might make it suitable for health and wellness applications such as glucose meters for people with diabetes. "We want to make this device more tightly integrated into wearable forms, like gloves. We're also exploring the possibility of enabling wireless connection to mobile devices for extended continuous sensing," Yin says.

"There's a lot of exciting potential," says Wang. "We have ten fingers to play with."

Myant, the industry leader in Textile Computing, has announced that it has secured Health Canada clearance for its biosensing Skiin Underwear. This Class II medical device clearance allows garment wearers to reliably and continuously monitor their ECG data. Additionally, wearers can track other metrics, including heart rate, HRV, core body temperature, with more to come such as sleep and location.

Read more: Under Armour Launches Three New HOVR Connected Running Shoes

Available in a number of comfortable and accessible form factors, Skiin Underwear family of products (which is currently also pending FDA clearance) will revolutionize Remote Patient Monitoring (RPM) and Chronic Care Management (CCM) through passive, continuous connection and data collection. Myant believes Skiin will support patients, their loved ones, and their practitioners in the shift towards more personalized care, especially in vulnerable communities like the aging population, according to a press release.

"Cardiovascular disease remains the number one cause of death in the elderly population in North America," says Tony Cahine, Myant & Skiin CEO, "with the cognitive decline attributed to loneliness on the rise. Though Myant's vision is vast, we have adopted a laser focus on solving this looming challenge." Today's healthcare system operates on episodic and reactive care (instead of continuous and preventative care), patient self-reporting, and disjointed support from a patient's care circle.

"I believe that Skiin will help patients overcome existing deterrents and barriers to adequate healthcare, helping serve our most marginalized populations by connecting them to care, to their family, friends, care providers, and practitioners," Comments Myant's EVP, Ilaria Varoli.

Read more: YKK’s Smart Zipper Can Be Connected to Mobile Phones

"Today's healthcare system relies on events and episodic data, patient self-reporting, and disjointed support from a patient's care circle," says Chahine. "We believe that without holistic and continuously connected care, our marginalized and vulnerable communities like our aging population will continue to be underserved and at risk of lower efficacy in medication and rehabilitation program adherence."

Skiin will be commercially available to the general public later this year.

About Skiin

Skiin is a Myant brand that wants to improve the health and well-being of all people through the digitization of the self. The Skiin layering system fits seamlessly into one's lifestyle. Its human-centric design allows you to maintain your regular behavior. Skiin's sensors continuously capture multi-location health and wellness signals. This aggregated data creates your health and wellness Baseline.

Researchers at Columbia University School of Engineering and Applied Science have developed a new robotic neck brace that may help doctors analyze the impact of cancer treatments on the neck mobility of patients and guide their recovery.

Read more: SynPhNe Wearable Trains Brain And Muscle As One System, Helps With Stroke Rehabilitation

Head and neck cancer was the seventh most common cancer worldwide in 2018, with 890,000 new cases and 450,000 deaths, accounting for 3% of all cancers and more than 1.5% of all cancer deaths in the United States. Such cancer can spread to lymph nodes in the neck, as well as other organs in the body. Surgically removing lymph nodes in the neck can help doctors investigate the risk of spread, but may result in pain and stiffness in the shoulders and neck for years afterward.

Identifying which patients may have issues with neck movement "can be difficult, as the findings are often subtle and challenging to quantify," said Scott Troob, assistant professor of otolaryngology - head and neck surgery and division chief of facial plastic and reconstructive surgery at Columbia University Irving Medical Center. However, successfully targeting what difficulties they might have with mobility can help patients benefit from targeted physical therapy interventions, he explained.

The current techniques and tools that doctors have to judge the range of motion a patient may have lost in their neck and shoulders are somewhat crude, explained Sunil K. Agrawal, a professor of mechanical engineering and rehabilitative and regenerative medicine and director of the ROAR (Robotics and Rehabilitation) Laboratory at Columbia Engineering. They usually either provide unreliable measurements or require too much time and space to set up for use in routine clinical visits, reports Columbia University.

To develop a more reliable and portable tool to analyze neck mobility, Agrawal and his colleagues drew inspiration from a robotic neck brace they previously developed to analyze head and neck motions in patients with amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS). In partnership with Troob's group, they have now designed a new wearable robotic neck brace. Their study appears July 12 in the journal Wearable Technologies.

The new brace was made using 3D-printed materials and inexpensive sensors. The easy-to-wear device was based on the head and neck movements of 10 healthy individuals.

"This is the first study of this kind where a wearable robotic neck brace has been designed to characterize the full head and neck range of motion," Agrawal said.

In the new study, the researchers used the prototype brace, along with electrical measurements of muscle activity, to compare the neck mobility of five cancer patients before and one month after surgical removal of neck lymph nodes. They found their device could precisely detect changes in patient neck movements during routine clinical visits.

"Use of the sensing neck brace allows a surgeon to screen patients postoperatively for movement difficulty, quantify their degree of impairment, and select patients for physical therapy and rehabilitation," Troob said.

"Patients consistently identify the need for rehabilitation and guided exercises after surgery as an unmet need in their medical care," Troob said. "This work will lay the foundation for the appropriate identification of patients for intervention. We additionally hope that through using the neck brace, we will be able to objectively quantify their improvement and develop evidence-based rehabilitative programs.”

Read more: Mount Sinai Chooses Current Health’s Remote Patient Monitoring to Provide Patients Equal Access to Cancer Care

In the future, the researchers hope to investigate larger groups of patients and use the neck brace to follow patients through physical therapy to develop evidence-based protocols for rehabilitation, Troob said. They also would like to develop similar braces for other surgical sites, such as the forearm, ankle, or knee, he added.

South Korean automotive supplier Hyundai Mobis has developed M.Brain, a brainwave detection device that alerts motorists against drowsy driving or sudden health issues. Among other biosignals, brainwave measurement is known to be one of the most advanced and challenging technologies to work with.

Read more: NextMind Starts Shipping its DevKit for Real-Time Brain-Sensing Wearable

According to National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA), 91,000 police-reported crashes involved drowsy drivers in 2017.  These crashes led to an estimated 50,000 people injured and nearly 800 deaths.

M.Brain measures the driver's condition on a real-time basis by detecting the brainwaves around the ears through earpiece sensors that are worn. The key is the software technology that analyzes and determines the data from the brainwaves. Hyundai Mobis is committed to R&D and has even adopted machine learning to interpret the brainwave signals, according to a press release.

M.Brain can also be interworked with a smartphone app and provide notification that the driver is losing attention. The accident prevention technology also provides alerts for different sensory organs, such as sight (LEDs around the driver's seat), touch (vibrating seat), hearing (headrest speaker), etc.

Hyundai Mobis plans to apply various bio-healthcare technologies to public transportation with a view to contributing to public safety. M. Brain will test- apply in Gyeonggi-do's public buses first.

The global in-vehicle healthcare market has now taken its first step. Heartbeat measurements or eye tracking technologies are introduced. Meanwhile, brainwave-based technology shows infinite potential for development as it is capable of measuring massive amounts of data, which is why Hyundai Mobis' M.Brain is considered an innovative technology.

Hyundai Mobis is showing progress in developing autonomous driving healthcare technology using biosignals. At the CES in 2018, the company presented DDREM (Departed Driver Rescue & Exit Maneuver), which works to prevent accidents that occur as a result of drowsy driving. Hyundai Mobis then succeeded in developing the eye tracking DSW (Driver State Warning) system in 2019, and ROA (Rear Occupant Alert) system to detect infants in the backseat using radar last year.

Read more: Australian Researchers Develop Brain Implant That May Restore Limited Sight In Blind People

About Hyundai Mobis

Hyundai Mobis is the 7th largest leading automotive supplier. Founded in 1977 and headquartered in Seoul, Korea, Hyundai Mobis also develops sensors, sensor fusion in controllers, and software design capabilities in safety control. Mobis currently has more than 30,000 employees and has been manufacturing in more than 30 regions in 10 countries. In addition to its R&D headquarters in Korea, Mobis has 4 technology centers in Germany, China, India, and the United States.

100Plus is a fast-growing remote patient monitoring (RPM) platform. The company’s suite of remote patient monitoring technologies includes a Blood Pressure Cuff, Digital Weight Scale, Emergency Watch, and Blood Glucose Monitor. Ava is 100Plus’ AI-powered healthcare assistant that is specifically intended for senior patients who may not be tech-savvy or as open to new technologies.

Read more: Mount Sinai Chooses Current Health’s Remote Patient Monitoring to Provide Patients Equal Access to Cancer Care

Ava's healthcare assistant reviews a patient’s demographics, medical history, and biotelemetry to personalize how it communicates to each individual person, reports MedGadget. It uses machine learning to enable patients to interact, ask questions, and receive tailored responses while following strict security and adherence to patient privacy regulations. The company reports that Ava has already facilitated 660,000 health alerts and three million device readings.

“When we developed Ava, we considered the fact that seniors are not only less tech-savvy, but also less trusting of new technologies. Ava is remarkable because it leverages machine learning to personify the staff at a physician's practice, providing a truly personal touchpoint. This is important because we know that these patients are more responsive to direct physician advice and the technology comes across as a member of the practice. Ava also works through SMS and doesn’t require an app or internet service,” Ryan Howard, CEO of 100Plus told MedGadget’s Conn Hastings in an interview.

Today, 80 percent of U.S. seniors over the age of 65 have at least one chronic disease which accounts for 95 percent of Medicare spending.

Read more: Orbita Launches AI-Powered Virtual Bedside Assistant To Improve Patient Care

In March 2021, 100Plus raised $25M in seed investment, led by Henry Kravis, George Roberts, and other super angel investors. 100Plus is the only remote patient monitoring product to utilize artificial intelligence (AI) and offer an end-to-end solution, including patient outreach, device setup, patient engagement and automated billing. The company has ramped revenue to $5M in annual recurring revenue since its launch in January of 2020 and is poised to continue to build upon this growth.

Tap Strap 2 is a wearable device that allows you to send a text or command to your electronic devices simply by tapping your fingers on any surface. Tap Strap 2 is the first tool ever on the market that gives users the power to rapidly send commands and control media through gestures, for everyday devices.

Tap Strap 2 has dropped to $100 from its MSRP of $199 with the 4th of July deal, reports EndGadget.

Tap Strap 2 was designed to enable the wide adoption of new technologies and experiences. You type characters and commands by tapping a combination of fingers on any surface. Tap has accelerometers built into each finger-ring, which register which fingers you are tapping and send the associated letter, number, symbol, or macro to a paired Bluetooth device.

Read more: Mictic: Wearable Wristband Translates Gestures, Movements Into Music In Real-Time

Tap Strap 2 uses onboard intelligence to automatically know what interaction the user intends. When a user's hand is horizontal, Tap Strap 2 becomes a keyboard. When the thumb rests on a surface, it seamlessly switches to optical mouse mode. And when the user's hand is rotated vertically, Tap Strap 2 will switch gears yet again into AirMouse mode.

From tablets through SmartTVs to AR & VR the Tap Strap 2 allows you to type, mouse & control any environment. Simply tap your fingers on any surface or wave your hands in midair.

Benefits of using Tap Strap 2

• Relieves stress & tension from repetitive typing
• Learn to Tap using finger combinations, not key locations
• Automatically turn Tap into a mouse by placing your thumb down on a surface
• Easily control PowerPoint presentations
• Create loops & other effects in music product apps
• Control your favorite video games on Xbox One, PC & Mac

Enhanced iPad Support

While Tap Strap 2 works with any Bluetooth-enabled device, it provides enhanced support for iPad, offering iOS-relevant functions that are not supported by standard mice, such as horizontal swipes, accessing the home screen, and launching the app switcher.

Read more: Tactigon One Wearable Gesture & Motion Controller with Artificial Intelligence

The second-generation Tap Strap 2 is a complete input solution for iPad, enabling users to rapidly input text and precisely navigate without the touchscreen interface. It also opens up Tap to entirely new uses, like improved navigation of Apple TV, Amazon Firestick, and other Smart TVs, and gesture-controlled inputs for AR/VR. Tap Strap 2 also extends device accessibility for individuals who have difficulty controlling a touch screen, and greatly improves the experience of using the iPad in professional settings.

Physilect, a Finnish pioneer of computer-aided remote rehabilitation, is developing a series of exergames that use the Movesense sensor as a controller. With the games, Physilect is combating the problems arising from immobility and helps people stay active and have fun at the same time.

Read more: Treating ADHD by Using Video Game to Monitor Children’s Brain Waves

Exergames are computer games that are also a form of exercise. Exergames have different targets such as motivating players to exercise, preventing the sedentary behavior related to usual computer games, guiding players to specific exercises for health purposes or simply making the games more fun and engaging.

The current pandemic situation has induced a boom of home training solutions that often include gamified elements. New home fitness solutions are bringing large amounts of cyclists daily on their stationary bikes to race against each other in the virtual world or runners to run famous routes on a treadmill with a monitor. With other systems, users are working out in front of a screen and a camera and get cheered up, instructed, and rewarded for good performance by AI-based analysis, reports Movesense.

“We have invested a lot of effort in getting to know how to use Movesense in games,” says Arcady Khotin, Physilect Chairman of the Board. "We used the global pandemic time and organized a group of remote game developers around our company and gave them our Android SDK to simplify the connection to the sensor. Now we have several games pending”

There are also some Movesense-powered products with exergame elements on the market. Volava launched a fitness boxing kit for home use and Virtual KnockOut is working on a boxing game.

On the other side, the pandemic and related lockdowns have reduced the amount of physical activity for a big part of the population. Physilect is developing a series of exergames to combat the problems arising from immobility.

Physilect has just launched the first game of the family, Pottery Fitness. The game simulates a potter’s wheel to train your hands, wrists, and forearms. It uses Movesense sensor data to control the game by measuring the player’s hand movements.

Pottery Fitness is not a medical application, but it helps to maintain physical activity for those who lead a sedentary life, work a lot at the computer and may suffer from carpal tunnel syndrome.

Read more: US Army Uses Modified HoloLens 2 for Real-Life Video Game

The Physilect SDK consists of a set of “listeners” that report to the developer about actions like rotation or direction of movement or time between actions, state of balance, etc. It helps using the usual terms of in-game mechanics applied to the use of the sensor.

Physilect is offering its SDK free of charge to everyone interested in implementing Movesense sensors in their applications.

Founded in 1852, Mount Sinai is one of the oldest and largest teaching hospitals in the United States. The entire Mount Sinai health system has over 7,400 physicians and 3,815 beds. In the New York metropolitan area, the hospital has 8 campuses. Its expertise in population health, along with its service to socioeconomically, demographically, and culturally varied populations, means Mount Sinai is uniquely positioned to take on the challenge of delivering high-quality care to underserved people.

Read more: Aloe Care Health And BioIntelliSense Partner Up To Provide Remote Patient Monitoring to Elderly Adults

However, the hospital's largest ambulatory cancer center is located in three immediately adjacent neighborhoods in Manhattan that represent a dramatic contrast in populations.

"East Harlem is an area of high poverty and is predominantly Hispanic and Black. Central Harlem also has a high poverty rate and is predominantly Black and Hispanic," said Dr. Cardinale Smith, chief quality officer for cancer at Mount Sinai. "A high proportion of residents in both Harlems live in public housing.

"In contrast, the Upper East Side is one of the wealthiest areas in the country and predominantly white," she added. "The healthcare disparities in the patients we care for were even more visible during the pandemic."

Like many healthcare systems at the beginning of the pandemic, Mount Sinai saw a drastic drop in cancer screenings and treatment. By April 2020, Mount Sinai's ambulatory and inpatient services department saw a 25% decrease in volume. It meant that many vulnerable patients were either not receiving or delaying cancer care, potentially putting their treatment plans off track, reports Healthcare IT News.

To improve virtual care and physician/patient communication, Mount Sinai chose Current Health's remote patient monitoring solution.

Current Health’s device and platform helped to:

• Decrease readmissions by catching health deterioration early
• Enable more comprehensive care outside of the cancer center
• Prevent potential patient exposure to infection by providing more care virtually
• Bridge the digital health divide as telehealth engagement continued to rise

"To get started, patients just need to plug in the Home Hub into an outlet and all other monitoring devices are preconfigured and connected for the patient in the patient's preferred language,” said Dr. Cardinale Smith.

There are numerous vendors of remote patient monitoring technologies on the health IT market today. But Mount Sinai selected Current Health over other players in the space for several reasons: the small device, which captures several vitals, custom configurability, and ease of setup, Smith noted. The vendor also provided the device, as well as the cellular connectivity needed to make sure patients are continually monitored, she added.

Current Health’s FDA-cleared wearable remote patient monitoring device uses AI to automatically monitor patients to help better determine health trajectory and allow clinicians to intervene earlier.

Read more: VivaLNK Launches New Turnkey Service for Healthcare Applications in Remote Patient Monitoring

“The Mount Sinai Health System works with innovative and leading-edge companies like Current to support our commitment to providing world-class patient care. Current’s continuous and proactive monitoring platform has the potential to alert us to patient deterioration faster and give our team data insights they can act on earlier,” said Dr. Scott Lorin, president of Mount Sinai Brooklyn.

The Tokyo Olympics is set to kick off on July 23. More than 11 thousand athletes representing 206 nations will compete at this world’s biggest sporting event. Each and every athlete will give their best to win the Gold medal. To win at any sporting event, it’s very important to have a winning focus. Studies have shown that meditation improves focus, productivity, and overall mental health.

Read more: With The Next Gen Of Wearables, Athletes Will Alter The Way They Fuel For Sport

The Indian Olympic Association (IOA) has announced a partnership with Dhyana, the startup behind the smart ring that measures the quality of meditation. The IOA has acquired smart Dhyana rings and Dhyana's health management services for the entire Indian contingent headed for the Tokyo 2020 Olympics and is working together to prioritize mental wellness and improve the focus of the players amidst the ongoing pandemic, reports ANI.

"Developed by Indian badminton legend Pullela Gopichand and Oxford University alumnus and biomedical technology entrepreneur, Bhairav Shankar, the smart Dhyana ring is capable of measuring your 'mindful minutes', or the amount of time you are actually focusing while in a meditation session," read an official statement. It does this by continuously tracking your Heart Rate Variability (HRV), or the gap in between two consecutive heartbeats, which is further broken down into the three fundamentals of every meditation session -- the quality of breathing, focus, and relaxation.

Dhyana rings have been used by Pullela Gopichand to help his students achieve their 'mindfulness goals' -- which range from improving focus and productivity to overall mental health. In 2018, the International Olympic Committee summit in Lausanne was in consensus about ensuring mental wellness in sports. In India, with a rich history of meditation, the IOA has not only recognized the importance of mental wellness but is drawing from its cultural roots to address it with technology. Dhyana, which is made in India, hence becomes the first official meditation device to be used at the Olympics.

"Research shows us that Dhyana helps provide a measurable and scientific way of tackling stress, increasing focus, and building a positive state of mind through the power of meditation," said Bhairav Shankar, Dhyana MD.

Read more: How Wearables are Helping Athletes Enhance Their Performance

Talking about this partnership, Gopichand said: "The Tokyo 2020 Olympic Games is going to be extremely challenging owing to the exceptional circumstances it is being held in. I have always relied on the benefits of meditation throughout my entire career -- both as a player and as a coach, and am confident that data-driven meditation with the help of Dhyana will greatly benefit the Indian contingent to prepare better and help them unlock their full potential."

Rockley Photonics, a leading global silicon photonics technology company, today revealed its complete full-stack “clinic-on-the-wrist” digital health sensor system.

Many wearables use green LEDs to monitor heart rate, but Rockley's sensor uses infrared spectrophotometers that can detect and monitor a much wider range of biomarkers to dramatically increase the functionality of wearable devices. The sensor non-invasively probes beneath the skin to analyze blood, interstitial fluids, and various layers of the dermis for constituents and physical phenomena of interest.

Read more: Oura, WHOOP, BioStrap and BioIntelliSense Invading Health Monitoring Space With Biometric Wearables

Moreover, Rockley’s innovative architecture delivers several milliwatts of optical output power per wavelength channel, which is key to achieving the high signal-to-noise ratio required for signal analysis from a small wearable.

Rockley’s full-stack sensing solution features a wristband that contains the sensor module and communicates with custom cloud-based analytical engines via a Rockley smartphone app. The wristband will be used in a sequence of in-house human studies in the coming months, reports BusinessWire.

“Our full-stack sensor solution, which brings together optical and electronic hardware, firmware, algorithms, and cloud-based analytics, is an exciting milestone on our roadmap. Our reference designs will significantly aid our customers and partners with the deployment of our technology and accelerate their own scalable, high-volume product delivery,” said Dr. Andrew Rickman, chief executive officer and founder of Rockley Photonics. “We believe that combining machine learning algorithms with continuous monitoring of an extended set of biomarkers from accessible wearable devices will provide new actionable insights to enhance and transform digital healthcare.”

Rockley is initially targeting the consumer electronics market, in which significant advances in digital personal health and fitness monitoring have occurred in recent years. Rockley is also actively pursuing the application of its technologies with leading medical device companies as biomarker monitoring can advance digital health applications and improve disease prevention, detection, and management.

Read more: InteliCare Launches Remote Health Monitoring Through Wearables For The Elderly

About Rockley Photonics

Formed in 2013 by Dr. Andrew Rickman (who previously founded the first commercial silicon photonics company, Bookham Technology), Rockley develops a comprehensive range of photonic integrated circuits and associated modules, sensors, and full-stack solutions. From next-generation sensing platforms specifically designed for mobile health monitoring and machine vision to high-speed, high-volume solutions for data communications, Rockley is laying the foundation for a new generation of applications across multiple industries. Rockley believes that photonics will eventually become as pervasive as micro-electronics, and it has developed a platform with the power and flexibility needed to address both mass markets and a wide variety of vertical applications.

When we lose focus at work, it takes us an average of 11 minutes to regain it. Wandering thoughts, physical interruptions, and barrages of messages and notifications result in unfinished work, stress, and poor mental health.

Read more: Neurotech Startup Humm Launches Public Beta Of Its Wearable To Improve Learning Ability

The neurotechnology company Neurable has launched headphones that use artificial intelligence to help the wearer focus. The headphones, dubbed Enten, are brain-computer interface (BCI) devices, similar to previous products designed by the company that were meant to learn from human movement and predict intent.

Neurable's first breakthrough technology allowed you to control virtual reality (VR) with your mind. Since then, Neurable has co-developed a VR game with Red Bull that debuted at Red Bull's Lollapalooza outpost in August 2019, created new EEG interpretation tools, and is now deploying its software tools in VR simulation training applications. With this funding round, Neurable will expand its focus from VR applications to consumer devices.

The company’s transition from VR to broader applications is a natural one: “We are applying many of the same industry-leading machine learning techniques from our VR-based applications to our headphone prototypes,” said Neurable CEO Dr. Ramses Alcaide. “By making a brain-computer interface in the form of headphones, we will be able to provide the benefits of Neurable’s technology to many more people.”

These high-tech headphones are equipped with sensors that scan your brain for electrical activity; Neurable’s proprietary AI then processes that data and produces a user-friendly reading via a Bluetooth-connected app. As a result, for example, Enten could increase the noise-canceling function if the sensors detect your distraction is rising, Mark Ellwood reports in Robbreport.

Six years ago, Alcaide and Adam Molnar, both graduate students at the University of Michigan, developed this futuristic neurotechnology. In the past, understanding the brain’s electrical signals required unwieldy lab equipment. The pair cracked the puzzle of how to bring those sensors out of the lab and still produce dependable brain data. “It was a balancing act,” Molnar says, “The best analogy is to think of data as fuel for your car—if you have a Ferrari, and you’re putting garbage into it, it’s not going to go well.”

Read more: NeoRhythm – Neurostimulation Headband that Hacks Your Brain to Remove Stress and Fatigue

The headphones are also premium audio devices. The company hired a former Bose VP of product to ensure that. The Enten headphones are set to debut next year and will cost $400 per pair.

Researchers at the Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona (UAB), Universitat Politècnica de Catalunya BarcelonaTech (UPC), and Vall d'Hebron, have developed a mobile application that could be useful in the assessment of the severity of fatigue in chronic fatigue syndrome, especially in women. The technology uses a chest strap that measures heart rate variability.

The results of the study in which this technology has been tested have been published in the journal Sensors.

Read more: Wrist-Based Heart Rate Monitors vs Chest Straps Compared

Chronic fatigue syndrome/myalgic encephalomyelitis (CFS/ME) is a debilitating condition, in which people have great difficulties in carrying out their daily activities. Severe fatigue is the main symptom of CFS/ME, in addition to problems with immediate memory and speed of information processing and concentration, intolerance to physical/mental exercise, pain, and dizziness. Despite its high prevalence, there are still no effective tools for its diagnosis, monitoring, and treatment.

In Catalonia, it is estimated that there are currently between 350,000 and 500,000 people affected by chronic fatigue syndrome/myalgic encephalomyelitis, and 2 out of 3 affected people are women. Worldwide, a prevalence of between 17 and 25 million people with this affectation is estimated.

The technology developed by the UAB and UPC researchers consists of a chest strap with a sensor capable of measuring certain cardiac hemodynamic variables, connected via Bluetooth to a mobile app. The mobile application allows you to record and monitor heart rate variability and share the analyzed results with the medical staff who supervise patients, reports UAB.

Specifically, this study analyzed the relationship between heart rate variability and severity of symptoms among women and men with CFS/ME. This parameter is closely related to heart rate, that is, the number of beats per minute of the heart. However, the time that passes between two consecutive beats is not always exactly the same, but small differences that fall within normality can be detected: this is what is known as heart rate variability (HRV).

In previous studies, HRV had already been related to the assessment of the severity of fatigue in women with CFS/ME. "Specifically, we had observed that this variability was lower in patients with CFS/ME, especially in the most disabling cases", explains Dr. Jesús Castro, coordinator of the laboratory in Chronic Fatigue Syndrome/Myalgic Encephalomyelitis of the Rheumatology group of the Vall d'Hebron Research Institute (VHIR). A priori, it is considered positive to have high variability, as it is an indicator of the proper functioning of the autonomic nervous system. "In this work, we wanted to verify the relationship between HRV and the syndrome in both women and men with CFS/ME compared to healthy controls and its usefulness for monitoring patients", adds Dr. Castro.

Read more: Polar launches Verity Sense, a HR Strap that works without a Connected Device

In line with previous studies, it was found that HRV measurement with mobile app technology could predict the severity of disabling fatigue in patients with chronic fatigue syndrome/myalgic encephalomyelitis. This was especially observed in the case of women, but this relationship was not so clear in the case of men. "We demonstrated that the use of the app would be especially useful for the monitoring of women suffering from this syndrome, which clearly have a lower variability of heart rate compared to healthy women", says Dr. Rosa M Escorihuela, from the Department of Psychiatry and Legal Medicine of the UAB. Thus, HRV would be a good predictor marker of the severity of fatigue during the clinical course of the disease.

Brilliantly Warm, the first-ever wearable for women who have had breast reconstruction surgery is now available for pre-order. Brilliantly Warm is a discreet, rechargeable, heated bra insert designed for women who have had breast implant reconstruction and, as a result, experience an overwhelming sense of coldness. Brilliantly Warm is iOS app-controlled, allowing users to manage the temperature of their device with ease and in any environment – the office, outdoors, or at a social gathering or event. Having sold out in its first week of sale in July, Brilliantly Warm is now accepting pre-orders. The wearable is priced at $180.

Read more: Companies That Are Fueling the Growth of Femtech Industry

“Mastectomies leave too little fat to insulate an implant and keep it at body temperature. This means in the winter, or in an air-conditioned office, women with implant reconstruction are often uncomfortably cold,” said Kristen Carbone, CEO and Founder of Brilliantly. “My own preventative mastectomy and reconstruction provided me with peace of mind, but it also had an unexpected impact on my life. Today, I am excited to announce a solution to help women like me feel comfortable in any environment.”

Brilliantly Warm is informed by a four-year development cycle that included an examination of a number of fabrics and heating solutions, and user testing and research into how people perceive temperature. Brilliantly Warm’s lab-tested warming technology is designed for safe everyday wear and can be paired with almost any bra, reports BusinessWire.

Carbone is also the founder of Brilliantly, a community-based platform to help women embrace their lives after confronting breast cancer.

“Post-surgery, I couldn’t find the right kind of long-term support for navigating life after a mastectomy or breast cancer. That’s why I started Brilliantly – a community focused on fostering resilience, acceptance, and belonging,” added Carbone. “It not only serves as a resource for women navigating what it means to be whole, it creates opportunities for us to connect and inspire each other.”

Read more: Femtech Startup Lady Technologies Introduces 2-in-1 Device that Combines Fertility Tracking with Pelvic Floor Exercising

About Brilliantly

Brilliantly helps women with the transition from confronting breast cancer to embracing life through innovative products, thoughtful content, and relevant services. So far we’ve started a portrait project, released a corrective exercise video series, hosted events, and featured interviews and blog posts on our online journal.

Digital technology can help people live healthy, independent lives and enable health and social care services to be more effective, personalized and efficient.

Read more: Exoskeletons Are Now Reality – Helping to Combat Worker Fatigue and Injury

Robots that help carers to lift people without extra assistance are among dozens of innovations being highlighted as examples of best practices in adult social care.

The innovative ways of using digital technology were developed by 69 local authorities as part of the Social Care Digital Innovation Program and the Social Care Digital Innovation Accelerators projects, which were run by NHS Digital in collaboration with the Local Government Association, reports NHS.

The computer-controlled robots – known as ‘Cobots’ – were trialed in the Isle of Wight and Hampshire. The robotic devices are worn around the waist and lower back to support carers in lifting, holding, and moving people without assistance.

The Cobots lessen the risk of injury and fatigue among carers, as well as reduce the need for two carers to work together. This cuts the risk of infection caused by involving an extra person, which has been especially important during the pandemic.

The Social Care Digital Innovation Program and the Social Care Digital Innovation Accelerators – both part of NHS Digital’s five-year Social Care Program - supported local authorities across England to develop and share new digital approaches and technologies in adult social care.

Various apps, such as one which monitors the hydration levels of care home residents, another which helps prevent falls, and another to coordinate health, care, transport, and voluntary staff when a patient leaves the hospital, were also among 49 innovative projects trialed as part of the initiative.

More social care organizations are now being encouraged to adopt the technologies, which reduced hospital admissions, increased people’s independence, and saved social care staff time and resources.

James Palmer, Program Head of the Social Care Program at NHS Digital, said: “Digital technology can make a huge difference to people’s lives and the projects funded through these programs have improved social care as well as empowered people by giving them more control over their own wellbeing.”

Viz.ai Receives CE Mark

Viz.ai has been awarded a CE Mark for its artificial intelligence (AI) powered stroke care software, affirming its conformity with European health, safety, and environmental protection standards for products sold within the European Economic Area. Viz.ai’s intelligent care coordination system connects multidisciplinary care teams earlier, coordinates care, and puts patients first with the company’s software suite, which has been clinically proven to synchronize stroke care, decrease time to treatment, and greatly improve patient outcomes.

Viz.ai is the most studied stroke workflow software available today. A recent, large, real-world multi-center study using Viz.ai found a median time-to-notification of five minutes and 45 seconds across all of the sites involved when using Viz LVO. In the study, containing the largest health AI data set to date, Viz LVO achieved 96 percent sensitivity and 94 percent specificity in identifying LVOs in 2,544 consecutive patients from 139 hospitals using scanners from multiple manufacturers. Faster triage with Viz LVO enables the identification and treatment of more patients who are eligible for thrombectomy, which improves patient outcomes and reduces the chances of long-term disability.

Read more: SynPhNe Wearable Trains Brain And Muscle As One System, Helps With Stroke Rehabilitation

“Minutes matter when you’re having a stroke, which is why Viz.ai is dedicated to reducing time to treatment and improving patient outcomes through improved care coordination,” said Chris Mansi, co-founder and CEO of Viz.ai. “The CE Mark allows us to bring our leading AI software to the EU, significantly expanding the number of patients we can help get access to life-saving therapy.”

For years, women have been getting help from an app called Natural Cycles to track their ovulation cycles as a form of contraception. Now, the FDA has given clearance to Natural Cycles to integrate third-party thermometers—including consumer wearables into its app to help pinpoint a user's fertility status.

Read more: Garmin Adds Pregnancy Tracking Alongside Health and Wellness for Moms-To-Be

Women’s temperature rises slightly after ovulation. Charting body temperature is not a new birth control method. However, Natural Cycles pairs this traditional method with an algorithm that learns the pattern of your unique cycle and can predict your fertile window.

Previously users were required to manually take their temperature and add it to the app. However, thanks to this FDA revision, Natural Cycles can use its new software to integrate wearable data including a user's temperature and heart rate into the fertility algorithm.

Natural Cycles has now studied the use of the app in combination with Oura Ring. Oura ring is a smart ring that records body temperature and heart rate as part of its overall sleep-tracking functionality. According to the study, the Natural Cycles algorithm was able to predict when a woman was ovulating using the temperature data from the Oura Ring. “This data was measured against at-home ovulation test strips that indicate whether a person’s levels of the luteinizing hormone are surging, which happens ahead of ovulation. Using the Oura Ring, Natural Cycles was able to better predict non-fertile days, as it noted in its application to the FDA,” reports Fast Company.

Read more: Smart Underwear Takes Health Tracking to the Next Level

Elina Berglund, CEO and co-founder of Natural Cycles, told Fast Company that the app’s use of temperature to estimate ovulation is distinct. “Period trackers are very different because they don’t know when you ovulate—they just guess that it’s somewhere in the middle of your cycle,” she says. “We really detect ovulation in your temperature curve and from that calculate when it’s really safe to not use protection.”

VTech, a global leader in children's electronics and a pioneer in the children's wearable technology category, today announced its 2021 Kidi Tech collection. VTech continues to be at the forefront of innovation with its new collection, offering children the on-trend technology features they want in kid-friendly, age-appropriate devices.

Read more: GizmoWatch 2: Kid-Friendly Smartwatch That Fosters Independence While Keeping Children Safe

"Our success lies in taking cues from adult tech trends and developing secure devices that support the way kids play," said Andy Keimach, President, VTech Electronics North America. "Our Kidi Tech line features the coolest, age-appropriate tech toys."

Following the success of its KidiZoom Smartwatch series, the best-selling smartwatch for kids for the past three years, VTech is introducing the KidiZoom Smartwatch DX3 with a new sleek, durable design, two cameras for selfies, photos, and videos and an LED that doubles as a flash and flashlight. Adults can share the photos and videos at their discretion by uploading them to a computer using the included micro-USB cable, according to a press release.

The KidiZoom Smartwatch DX3 is a kid-friendly smartwatch that doesn't compromise on innovative features like the ability to play two-player games and send preset messages to their friends just by scanning a code on their friend's DX3 (sold separately). The watch also comes pre-loaded with tons of apps including 60+ new customizable daily activity reminders from "OK to wake" to "Time for bed" to help keep things on schedule at home and on the go, as well as eight games, motion-tracking activities and a voice recorder.

The KidiZoom PrintCam lets kids create instant black and white printouts of photos taken with this exciting new digital camera. Using cost-effective thermal paper, kids can also print games, and design and print their own greeting cards, play money, comic strips, and more. There is a flip-up lens for selfies and three games to play too. Photos and videos can also be uploaded via the included USB cable.

Read more: Garmin Joins Forces with Children’s Mercy Kansas City to Keep Kids Active During COVID-19 Pandemic

KidiBuzz 3 is a kid-friendly smart device with the adult tech features kids are looking for, offering 3D screen effects, a new magnifying lens for up-close photos, and a new KidiCom Chat messaging app with video sharing. KidiCom Chat lets kids connect with parent-approved contacts to send texts, photos, and video clips over Wi-Fi with other KidiBuzz devices and iPhone or Android smartphones. KidiBuzz 3 also lets kids add live face filters and frames to photos and video clips, play 40+ interactive learning games that teach math, science, and spelling, and explore kid-friendly websites. In addition, they can load and play their favorite music and movies for on-the-go entertainment. With parent controls to set daily time limits, KidiBuzz 3 keeps children engaged and parents at ease.

These innovative new Kidi Tech electronics, for ages 4 and up, will be available this fall.

A new feasibility study through the University of Alberta could help those dealing with long-term, chronic respiratory issues, using Health Care Originals' novel wearable technology and artificial intelligence to monitor symptoms and warn of coming exacerbation episodes.

Read more: Noninvasive Wearable Sensors to Advance Chronic Respiratory Disease Management In Patients Around the World

Dr. Giovanni Ferrara, a professor with the University of Alberta Hospital's Division of Pulmonary Medicine, is currently working on a pilot project to test a new wearable technology, ADAMM-RSM, developed in the U.S. for patients with asthma, with the goal of expanding its use in predicting medical events in other respiratory conditions as well.

"You can fine-tune the intensity of treatment based on the intensity of symptoms depending on the phase of the pulmonary disease," Dr. Ferrara explained. "This device is able to track clinical signs and symptoms in an objective way, helping to inform treatment decisions tailored to patient's needs, thus providing a more precise control of their disease."

Currently, such conditions require patients to visit their physicians on a three- to six-month basis, but the wearable technology offers the opportunity for ongoing monitoring that would detect worsening symptoms, or anticipate respiratory events, on a more consistent and proactive level, according to a press release.

"ADAMM-RSM is able to collect the respiratory rate, heart rate, temperature, coughing, wheezing, and level of activity for at least eight hours per day," Dr.  Ferrara outlined. "This is important because we want to detect any variations as they occur before the patient needs to go to the ER."

"The study will explore the possibility to predict when it's the right time to see your physician based on the data collected by the device and artificial intelligence algorithms before you get in trouble. That's what we really want to see in health care today. We don't want a different way to look at the same thing — we want new tools."

Health Care Originals initially developed this technology to assist asthmatics in living a better life, with early studies conducted out of Rochester, N.Y. The technology is currently available for research, chronic respiratory disease monitoring, telemedicine, and remote patient monitoring. The new Edmonton-based feasibility study expands upon the science and works conducted in the U.S., tailoring it to be suitable for numerous respiratory conditions including cystic fibrosis, idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis, recent lung transplants, and tuberculosis, among others.

"The beauty of the technology is that Dr. Ferrara is looking at a lot of conditions using the same platform," said Jared Dwarika, Co-Founder of Health Care Originals, the New York-based company behind the ADAMM-RSM monitoring technology that is now supporting Dr. Ferrara's project.

"This could include conditions that he might not be considering now. ADAMM-RSM can collect a vast amount of data, and he can retroactively and review the data to apply this technology to other diseases."

Should the pilot project prove successful, the next steps will include running a second and third trial that target specific populations and larger sample sizes, with the initial feasibility study focusing on 40 patients. Further work would include analyzing and finding algorithms that will enable the prediction of major respiratory events such as admissions or ER visits.

"If everything works, it could easily be done within two to three years," Dr. Ferrara said.

In total, the study will include three phases, with the technology being narrowed for use with specific respiratory conditions over time.

"This is the future of healthcare," Dwarika said, "feedback on your treatment is going to be tailored to you, rather than using a generic set of parameters."

The device is worn on the torso, under the clothes, and is placed on the chest, side, or back, to suit patient comfort.

Read more: StethoMe At-Home Stethoscope for Detecting Respiratory Problems in Kids Gets CE Mark

"It was designed with privacy in mind," said Sharon Samjitsingh, Co-Founder of Health Care Originals. "A common problem with these types of devices is that you don't want to advertise that you're monitoring a medical condition — you don't have to broadcast it."

Currently, chronic respiratory diseases are among the most common cause of admission to the University of Alberta Hospital's Emergency Department.

Researchers at Chalmers University of Technology, Sweden, have developed a new material that prevents infections in wounds. The new material, a specially designed hydrogel, works against all types of bacteria, including antibiotic-resistant ones. This innovation offers great hope for combating a growing global problem.

Read more: New Wearable Device Treats Antibiotic-Resistant Infections And Wounds

​The World Health Organization describes antibiotic-resistant bacteria as one of the greatest threats to global health. To deal with the problem, there needs to be a shift in the way we use antibiotics, and new, sustainable medical technologies must be developed.

“After testing our new hydrogel on different types of bacteria, we observed a high level of effectiveness, including against those which have become resistant to antibiotics,” says Martin Andersson, research leader for the study and Professor at the Department of Chemistry and Chemical Engineering at the Chalmers University of Technology, reports the Chalmers University of Technology.

Research and development of the material have been ongoing for many years at Martin Andersson’s group at Chalmers, growing in scope along the way, with a particular focus on the possibilities for wound care. The results have been published in the journal ACS Biomaterials Science & Engineering.

The main purpose of the studies so far has been to explore new medical technology solutions to help reduce the use of systemic antibiotics. Hospital-acquired infection is a life-threatening condition that is increasing in incidence worldwide.

Mimicking the natural immune system

The active substance in the new bactericidal material consists of antimicrobial peptides, small proteins which are found naturally in our immune system.

“With these types of peptides, there is a very low risk for bacteria to develop resistance against them since they only affect the outermost membrane of the bacteria. That is perhaps the foremost reason why they are so interesting to work with,” says Martin Andersson.

Researchers have long tried to find ways to use these peptides in medical applications, but so far without much success. The problem is that they break down quickly when they come into contact with bodily fluids such as blood. The current study describes how the researchers managed to overcome the problem through the development of a nanostructured hydrogel, into which the peptides are permanently bound, creating a protective environment.

“The material is very promising. It is harmless to the body’s own cells and gentle on the skin. In our measurements, the protective effect of the hydrogel on the antimicrobial peptides is clear– the peptides degrade much slower when they are bound to it,” says Edvin Blomstrand, a doctoral student at the Department of Chemistry and Chemical Engineering at Chalmers, and one of the main authors of the article.

“We expected good results, but we were really positively surprised at quite how effective the material has proven,” adds Martin Andersson.

According to the researchers, this new material is the first medical device to make successful use of antimicrobial peptides in a clinically and commercially viable manner. There are many varied and promising opportunities for clinical application.

Read more: Swedish Woman Receives First Dexterous and Sentient Prosthetic Hand

A spinoff company called Amferia AB, developed by researchers, is working on commercializing the technology.

“Amferia has recently entered into a strategic partnership with Sweden’s largest distributor of premium medical & diagnostic devices to jointly launch these wound care products for the Swedish veterinary market during 2021,” says Martin Andersson.

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Neurolutions, Inc., a MedTech company with offices in Santa Cruz, California, and St. Louis, Missouri, announced that the U.S. FDA granted De Novo market authorization for its groundbreaking IpsiHand Upper Extremity Rehabilitation System.

Read more: Connextyle Smart Shirt Provides Multi-Sensory Healing For Stroke Patients

“The approval of the IpsiHand System represents an important step forward in the care and rehabilitation of stroke patients,” said Leo Petrossian, Ph.D., CEO of Neurolutions. “For the first time, we are able to combine advanced robotics with brain-computer interface technology to augment traditional stroke rehabilitation, allowing patients to improve upper extremity function after stroke.”

There are approximately 6 million stroke survivors living in the United States. Approximately 800,000 American adults experience a stroke each year, of which approximately 300,000 are left with upper extremity movement dysfunction. Muscular weakness or partial paralysis frequently persists into the chronic stage of stroke with 65% of chronic stroke patients reporting reduced motor function six months after stroke.

The IpsiHand system takes advantage of the uninjured side of the brain to trigger the opening and closing of a robotic exoskeleton placed over the affected arm. The system also includes a tablet computer and an EEG-based biometric headset. The system translates brain signals from the uninjured, or ipsilateral, a hemisphere of the brain, into a movement of the exoskeleton. As a result, when the patient thinks about opening their hand, the device physically opens the patient’s impaired hand. This ability to physically open and close the patient’s hand based on the patient’s thoughts facilitates muscle reeducation, improving upper extremity rehabilitation. Developed by a team of innovators in Silicon Valley and neuroscientists from Washington University in St. Louis. the neuro-prosthetic and robotic capabilities of the IpsiHand System have been shown in clinical trials to provide both statistically and clinically significant outcomes for chronic stroke patients, reports GlobeNewsWire.

“The IpsiHand System represents the cutting-edge of medical technology and is the first FDA-authorized brain-computer interface for robotic rehabilitation,” said Kern Bhugra, Chief Operating Officer of Neurolutions. “This milestone would never have been possible without the partnership with the FDA, who diligently worked with us to ensure we brought this benefit to patients.”

“Progress in improving rehabilitation outcomes for stroke patients has historically been challenging, but the market authorization of the IpsiHand System promises to usher in a bright future for our stroke patients and allows us to support their recovery throughout the rehabilitation process,” said Eric Leuthardt, MD, Chief Scientific Officer of Neurolutions and Chief of Division of Neurotechnology and Professor of Neurosurgery and Neuroscience at Washington University.

Read more: SynPhNe Wearable Trains Brain And Muscle As One System, Helps With Stroke Rehabilitation

IpsiHand is indicated for use in patients 18 and older undergoing stroke rehabilitation to facilitate muscle re-education and for maintaining or increasing range of motion. All participants in an unblinded 40-patient study over 12 weeks demonstrated motor function improvement with the device over the trial. Adverse events reported included minor fatigue and discomfort and temporary skin redness.

Neurolutions intends to begin commercialization of the IpsiHand Upper Extremity Rehabilitation System in the U.S. later this year.

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