Medidata has announced the launch of Sensor Cloud, a platform for managing a broad range of sensor and digital health technology data during the clinical trial process.

Read more: Clinical Trial Services Company VeraSci Joins Forces with ActiGraph to Expand Wearables Use in Clinical Trials

The New York-based company, which is a wholly-owned subsidiary of French software firm Dassault Systemes, said the Sensor Cloud seamlessly integrates Medidata’s existing clinical cloud technology, the Medidata Rave Clinical Cloud, and supports continuous patient data collection from both Medidata and third-party medical-grade sensors, reports Medidata.

“With the ability to measure a wide variety of biometric data including vital signs, movement, sleep patterns, and more, Sensor Cloud presents an unparalleled opportunity for researchers to derive new insights from vast amounts of data,” said Anthony Costello, president, Patient Cloud at Medidata. “As sensor usage in clinical trials is projected to surge up to 70% by 2025, it is imperative that we create the platform needed to rapidly standardize and integrate sensor data in order to harness the full power of these technologies for the benefit of patients.”

Following Medidata’s recent acquisition of digital biomarker business MC10, the launch of Sensor Cloud further strengthens the company’s unique data ingestion, analytics and insights capabilities that currently provide differentiated value to patients, trial sites, trial sponsors, and contract research organizations (CROs).

Using Sensor Cloud, researchers can access sensor data through a single Application Programming Interface (API, a software intermediary that allows two applications to talk to each other) and integrate new sensor technologies in weeks rather than months. Sensor Cloud provides the ability to:

• Enable greater insights through proprietary analytics including novel digital biomarker discovery
• Lower costs and enable greater operational efficiency by making it easier for patients to share data and stay enrolled in trials
• Standardize data from ingestion through delivery via a common data model
• Reduce site and patient burden by cutting down on-site visits, time, and travel through a more flexible engagement model

Read more: Impact of Mobile Devices on Clinical Trial Data Collection

“Social distancing and other prevention protocols necessitated by the COVID-19 pandemic have greatly accelerated the adoption of remote technologies as a way to ensure the continuation of clinical trials,” added Costello. “These advancements will continue to grow in popularity, outlasting the pandemic and, as trials continue to improve and become more patient-centric, communication and engagement become increasingly important. Patient involvement and the quality of the data generated by sensors will be integral to the overall evolution of this innovative research model.”w

Across the world, as vaccine rollout accelerates and people start returning to work, employers are grappling with making their workplaces safe from COVID-19. Many are turning to wearable technology to maintain social distancing and safety among their employees.

Read more: Safe Spacer Wearable Helps Workers And Others Maintain Social Distance Amid COVID-19 Outbreak

Wearable tech in the workplace is not new. According to a report by PwC, more than 75 million wearables have been used in the workplace in 2020. In the US, approximately 90% of companies now operate "wellness programs" for their employees which include competitions and team building to improve fitness and increasingly use wearable technology to record results.

Fitbit announced a new Ready for Work solution amid the pandemic. The solution gives employees access to key health metrics from their Fitbit device along with exposure, symptom, and temperature logging, all within an easy-to-use Daily Check-In feature that provides employees with guidance on whether to go into the workplace. Daily reporting and analytics enable employers to quickly assess and monitor workplace health and safety and provide support for employees.

Other wearable makers like Halo, Nymi, Modjoul, Kinetic, Estimote, and Safe Spacer developed wearables to ensure employees’ safe return to work. US Air Force’s innovation-pushing startup AFWERX is planning to buy around 10,000 wearable devices that can pinpoint and tip-off personnel of potential COVID-19 infections early on.

However, there are challenges that wearables must overcome. Many employees will naturally be uncomfortable about having their activity monitored in this way. They may find it intrusive or unreasonable, especially if they suspect data could be used in a disciplinary context, reports People Management.

Employers must clearly state why they’re using the wearable device. Is it to track whether social distancing guidelines are being adhered to, for example, or is it to prevent the spread of COVID-19?

HIPAA too may apply to wearables and their collection of health-related data when related to the operation of a group health plan. Employers will need to consider the implications of this popular set of privacy and security standards.

As wearable technology develops, it may eventually provide a viable solution for many employers to help detect COVID-19 symptoms early, and to enforce social distancing measures to reduce the risk of infection in the workplace.

Read more: Nymi Launches Wearable Wristband For Health and Safety of Workers

If used properly, wearable technology could be a vital part of ensuring our safe return to workplaces and in the long run it may help protect employee health and wellbeing.

Designers are often challenged with the tradeoff between small size and long runtime for wearable and IoT applications. Addressing that challenge is MAX20361, a single-/multi-cell solar harvester with maximum power point tracking (MPPT) from Maxim Integrated. The industry’s smallest solar harvesting solution is ideal for space-constrained applications such as wearables and emerging internet of things (IoT) applications.

Read more: Maxim Integrated and Mouser Launches New eBook that Explores Next-Gen Healthcare Wearables

By enabling solar charging in these highly space-constrained products, the MAX20361 can extend the runtime of those devices by providing a supplemental power source. This solar harvester reduces solution size by at least half compared to the closest competitor. In addition, the MAX20361 increases harvested energy with up to 5 percent better boost efficiency than the closest competitor, coupled with an adaptive MPPT approach which can improve the overall system-level efficiency even further, reports Maxim Integrated.

“This device offers exciting possibilities for a new supplemental power source to continually charge the battery of a device,” said Frank Dowling, director of the Industrial and Healthcare Business Unit at Maxim Integrated. “For example, if you can harvest just 30mW of solar power per day on a 300mAHr battery system which typically runs for three weeks, you can, as a result, extend that runtime by over 50 percent.”

Key Advantages

• Smallest Size: Industry’s smallest solar harvesting solution due to reduced component size and smaller, fewer external components; at least 50 percent smaller solution size compared to the closest competitor
• Higher Efficiency: Increased boost efficiency maximizes harvested energy with up to 5 percent better boost efficiency than the closest competitor; additional harvesting gains can be achieved through adaptive MPPT features coupled with the unique integrated harvesting gauge for real-time indications of efficiency to optimize performance

“Innovation continues to drive adoption of consumer wearables with global revenue estimated to grow at a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 15 percent in the next four years,” said James Hayward, principal analyst at IDTechEx Research. “For device manufacturers, longer battery life and smaller form factor remain key product features toward market differentiation and user satisfaction.”

Read more: Maxim’s New Wrist Form Factor Reference Design Reduces Health Wearable Development Time By Six Months

Availability and Pricing

The MAX20361 is available at Maxim Integrated’s website for $2.64 (1000-up, FOB USA); also available from authorized distributors. The MAX20361EVKIT# evaluation kit is available for $57.

Researchers at Penn State University have developed a new kind of wearable sensor that would deliver real-time medical data to those with eye or mouth diseases, according to Huanyu “Larry” Cheng, Dorothy Quiggle Career Development Professor in the Penn State Department of Engineering Science and Mechanics (ESM).

Read more: Penn State Engineers Print Sensors Directly On Human Skin Without Using Heat

Published in Microsystems & Nanoengineering, the small wearable device is designed to be placed near the eyes or mouth to collect data from tears or saliva. Data collected would then be sent to a user’s smartphone or sent to their doctor, reports Mariah Chuprinski in Penn State News.

“We sought to create a device that collects both small and large substances of biofluids such as tears and saliva, which can be analyzed for certain conditions on a rapid, continuous basis, rather than waiting on test results from samples in a lab,” said Cheng, who is also the lead author of the research.

“But a device like this would have to be discreet, soft and comfortable for a patient to agree to wear it,” he said. “And it would have to be a low-cost option for patients.”

The tears- and saliva-sensing technology can help manage diseases like oral ulcers, oral cancer, eye wrinkles, and oral or eye infections like keratitis, which is inflammation of the clear tissue on the front of the eye.

Last year, Cheng published a similar wearable skin patch that collects sweat and tests for pH, sodium, and glucose levels — most helpful for those with hypoglycemia or diabetes.

This new device not only collects data but also administers medicine with a microneedle through the skin around the eye, mouth, or tongue.

“Through nano- to micro-steel ports on the device, we can probe the cell to deliver molecular drugs for treatment in a very efficient process at the cellular level,” Cheng said. “Conversely, the ports can allow us to get access to the gene and coding information on the cell.”

The researchers are developing working prototypes and are in talks with local manufacturers as well as the National Institutes of Health and Amazon for manufacturing the device on a large scale.

“This is a mature technology with a lot of interest behind it,” Cheng said. “There are many possible uses for the device if it makes it to the commercial marketplace.”

With future support from the National Science Foundation, Cheng hopes to extend the technology to other applications as well.

Facebook has started rolling out Messenger on Oculus Quest and Quest 2 headsets. With the v25 software update, users will be able to bring Facebook Messenger to Oculus Quest and Oculus Quest 2. This will allow them to chat with Facebook friends who own any device with Messenger. Facebook said that without taking off the headset you’ll be able to write messages by typing with a virtual keyboard, select from pre-written texts, or use Quest’s voice-to-text function. However, Messenger will only be available to those who have already connected their Facebook accounts to their Quest or Quest 2 headset.

Read more: Facebook Reportedly Set Up New Group for Building Augmented Reality Glasses

“We also want to bring people together and make it easier than ever to join your friends and family in VR. That means making it easier to find your friends and family in VR. This week we’ll begin rolling out Messenger in VR, helping you communicate with the special people in your life—whether you’re looking to compete in Beat Saber, meet up and watch a performance in Venues, or just chat about what’s for dinner without removing your headset,” Oculus said in its blog.

Users can also send private Oculus Party invites to make jumping into multiplayer games more simple. Facebook says the v25 update is rolling out starting this week, however may take a few weeks to arrive to all users, reports RoadToVR.

Users can choose to sign out of Messenger at any time via the settings, in case they want to lend the headset to others. The signing back in the process is easy and can be done by selecting the Messenger profile and re-entering the password.

Read more: Oculus Rift S vs. Oculus Quest: Which VR Headset Should You Buy?

Alongside, the Messenger update, Facebook also shared that with the new update, they will be rolling out what they call App Lab, essentially a TestFlight-like feature to allow Quest users to download content outside of the curated Oculus Store.

For the tenth consecutive year, Epic Systems was awarded the top overall software suite in 2020 Best in KLAS health IT rankings. Overall, Epic earned eight awards, including top overall physician practice vendor.

Read more: Global Software-Defined Perimeter Market Expected To Grow At A CAGR of 5% During 2020-2025

Best in KLAS 2020 Software & Services recognizes the leading vendors for solutions, services and management consulting offered in the United States. Global Best in KLAS 2020, also released today, recognizes the leading software and service organizations that serve the global healthcare market outside the United States.

“Providers and payers demand better performance, usability, and interoperability from their vendor partners every year,” says Adam Gale, President of KLAS. “Best in KLAS winners set the standard of excellence in their market segment. Earning a Best in KLAS award should both excite and humble the recipients. It serves as a signal to providers that they can expect the best from the winning vendors.”

2020 Best in KLAS definitions. Best in KLAS is awarded only in those software and services market segments that have the broadest operational and clinical impact on healthcare organizations, KLAS Research said Global Software-Defined Perimeter Market Expected To Grow At A CAGR of 5% During 2020-2025.

Category Leader is reserved for use in select, niche market segments that don’t qualify for Best in KLAS but in which at least two products meet minimum KLAS data levels. Like Best in KLAS winners, vendors awarded Category Leader also stand out for helping healthcare organizations deliver quality patient care.

Overall Software Suite is reserved for those vendors that provide a suite of products clients would purchase to address their core IT needs. Vendors that have both a fully rated clinical and financial system, as well as ancillary systems qualify for this overall suite ranking. Additional detail has been provided around how each vendor performs against the other enterprise suites and against the various ancillary markets in which a vendor has a product offering currently rated by KLAS.

Here is the list of KLAS overall software suite rankings, based on a 100-point scale:

1. Epic: 85.9
2. Meditech C/S: 77.1
3. Allscripts Paragon: 71.5
4. Cerner: 70.6
5. Allscripts: 67.6
6. CPSI Evident Thrive: 66.9

Best in KLAS is based on information obtained from the approximately 2,500 interviews KLAS conducts with providers and payers each month. Annually, these interviews represent the opinions of healthcare professionals and clinicians from more than 4,500 hospitals and 2,500 clinics, and account for 1,200 products and services from more than 450 vendors.

Read more: Valencell Launches Software Library, Helping Manufacturers to Integrate the Company’s Software Into Their Wearables

KLAS is a research and insights firm on a global mission to improve healthcare delivery by amplifying the provider's voice. Working with thousands of healthcare professionals and clinicians, KLAS gathers data and insights on software, services and medical equipment to deliver timely reports, trends and statistical overviews.

Google’s Pixel phones will soon be able to track heart rate and respiratory rate using only your phone’s camera. The feature will be made available in Google Fit app for Pixel phones, the company announced in a blog post. Google also said it’ll expand the feature to more Android phones in the future, but did not specify which devices will get this next.

Read more: Google Is Working On A New Generation Of Wearables, Including Holographic Glasses And Smart Tattoos

Google Pixel isn’t the first smartphone to track heart rate. Samsung’s Galaxy S5 through the Galaxy S10 could track heart rate, reports The Verge. Google’s heart rate monitor is similar to Samsung’s, which used a physical photoplethysmography (PPG) sensor on the back of the phone. Users could simply press a finger against the sensor and get a heart reading in seconds.

The Pixel phones do not have a PPG sensor, but it uses the actual rear camera. This works by tracking color change as blood moves through your fingertip. Google says, "To measure your heart rate, simply place your finger on the rear-facing camera lens.”

Measuring your respiratory rate works with the selfie camera, where you position yourself within a frame and then just breathe.

“A lot of people, especially in disadvantaged economic classes right now, don’t have things like wearables, but would still really benefit from the ability to be able to track their breathing rate, heart rate, et cetera”, said Jack Po, a product manager at Google Health.

Heart rate data from Google’s app will not be as comprehensive as the types of readings delivered by smartwatches and other wearables. But an at-home feature that can check in on these metrics on demand is still a useful tool, Po said.

Google said it is relying on its own customary algorithms to calculate the heart rate and respiratory rate. It also claims these will work “in a variety of real-world conditions and for as many people as possible.”

Read more: Samsonite’s New Smart Backpack Powered By Google’s Jacquard Tag Can Control Your Phone

The Fit app explicitly tells users that:

“These results are not intended for medical purposes and should not be used to diagnose, treat, cure, or prevent any disease or medical condition.”

Sepsis, a life-threatening emergency, happens when an infection you already have triggers a chain reaction throughout your body. One of every three patients who dies in the hospital has sepsis. The life-threatening response to infection is difficult to detect in its earliest stages, and every hour the condition goes untreated increases a patient's mortality risk by 4%.

Read more: University of Missouri Engineers Develop On-Skin Device that Works as Personal Air Conditioner

The University of Missouri Health System consists of five hospitals with 602 beds in total. After implementing Cerner’s Sepsis Management solution in February 2017, teams at the University of Missouri Health Care and the Tiger Institute focused on turning early detection into prompt action. Their work helped increase proactive intervention from the organization’s rapid response team (RRT) — the Tiger Team — while reducing sepsis mortality rates and decreasing code blue calls to resuscitate patients, reports MU Health Care.

The teams configured Cerner solutions to automatically calculate each patient's national early warning score (NEWS) and help care teams follow MU Health Care’s NEWS-driven nursing protocol. NEWS summarizes a patient's risk for clinical decline based on commonly tracked vital signs. The higher the NEWS, the more serious the patient's condition.

“A patient’s NEWS helps aggregate small changes that, on their own, might seem harmless,” explained the project's physician champion, Catherine Jones, MD, hospitalist and medical director for medical specialties. “The scores help us catch sepsis early, when it's difficult to spot but easier to treat, and trigger prompt action.”

The researchers at MU Health Care analyzed historical patients’ scores to identify when patients typically require RRT intervention or transfer to the intensive care unit (ICU). Guided by those thresholds, they developed an algorithm and a NEWS-driven nursing protocol to help caregivers act appropriately based on the patient’s status and location within the hospital.

“Once we identified critical NEWS thresholds, we could establish a preemptive protocol,” said Jones. “We try to stay a step ahead of the infection.”

Since MU Health Care turned on NEWS alerts at University Hospital in August 2019, rapid response calls increased 63% and code blue calls decreased 40%.

“Reaching patients with the rapid response team sooner helps avoid code blue calls,” said Mason Crawford, MHA, RN, performance improvement coordinator. “We’re avoiding patient decline.”

By comparing actual sepsis mortality to projections based on pre-implementation mortality rates, MU Health Care estimates NEWS and NEWS-driven nursing protocol helped avoid 12 sepsis-related deaths in nine months. University Hospital’s mortality index — a ratio of observed deaths to expected deaths, given the severity of septic patients’ primary diagnoses and comorbidities — dropped 22% during that time.

Read more: MU Engineers Develop New Method Of Allowing Patients To Draw Their Biomedical Sensors On Skin

“We knew the project would impact our sepsis mortality rates, but we didn’t realize how significant it would be,” said Benjamin Wax, BSN, RN, senior clinical informaticist at MU’s Tiger Institute.

Toronto technology company Nymi announced a partnership with ELATEC, a provider of RFID readers and NFC/BLE mobile device readers. The partnership will enable users of Nymi’s Workplace Wearables to seamlessly open doors and authenticate to systems, devices and machines that utilize ELATEC’s readers.

Read more: HID Global Employing Wearable Nymi Band For Employee Authentication

“This partnership with ELATEC provides important market reach and compatibility for our Workplace Wearables,” said Andrew Foxcroft, Vice President of Nymi. “The Nymi Band is being rapidly adopted in industries like pharma and medical device manufacturing with an emphasis on privacy, security, and a natural user experience. ELATEC reader compatibility will facilitate penetration of these and other industries and global regions.”

The Nymi Band enables organizations to incorporate Nymi's passwordless technology with applications that ensure the health, safety, and security of connected workers, enabling a range of use cases that includes COVID-19 social distancing and contact tracing, among others, the company says.

According to IDC, digital transformation (DX) spending will approach $1.3 trillion in 2020, with digitally-enhanced workers becoming more effective and functional by at least 35% next year. Workplace wearables for connected workers have become a vital component of DX strategies and are projected to exceed $60 billion globally by 2022 (Deloitte). The Nymi Band addresses the challenges of digitally-led initiatives that, coupled with unprecedented obstacles from the COVID-19 pandemic, require a unique approach to employee health, safety, and security.

The Nymi Band secures an individual's identity by using their unique fingerprint and heart rhythm to bind the user to the band. It uses On-Body Detection (OBD) and presence to ensure that the band is always on the intended user and the user is actually there. Finally, it uses cryptography to mathematically prove the user's identity to the network. Because the biometrics never leave the band, this provides the highest level of both security and privacy available.

Read more: Xyntek, Nymi Partner Up to Add Wearable Biometric Devices to their Platform

“We’re delighted to be working with Nymi in providing a frictionless and hands-free authentication, authorization, and access control solution for our customers across numerous industries,” said Paul Massey, CEO of ELATEC Inc. “Wearable technology enables a very positive user experience and exciting new applications for our reader solutions.”

Elon Musk has announced that his brain-computer interface Neuralink is looking to accelerate its pace to enable human trials as soon as possible. Provided that things go well, the Tesla and SpaceX CEO remarked that human trials for Neuralink’s technology could begin as early as this year.

Read more: Elon Musk Unveils Neuralink Brain Implant, Connecting Human Brains to Computers

“Neuralink is working super hard to ensure implant safety & is in close communication with the FDA. If things go well, we might be able to do initial human trials later this year,” Musk said.

The Neuralink is a microchip that is designed to implant artificial intelligence into human brains as well as potentially cure neurological diseases like Alzheimer's and Parkinson's, reports BusinessInsider.

Musk claims the brain-machine interface could do anything from cure paralysis to give people telepathic powers, referring to the device as "a Fitbit in your skull."

The Neuralink system has a small device with a rechargeable battery meant to last a full day. There are wires embedded in the cortical surface of the brain for continuously recording 1,024 channels of neural signals at once. A six-axis inertial measurement unit tracks head movement. There are also sensors for measuring temperature, and a Bluetooth antenna to connect with a smartphone app.

The device is less invasive than other Deep Brain Stimulation (DBS) systems that are implanted around the chest area, and a link implanted through the skull. Musk saying it could be implanted in less than one hour in an outpatient setting and without the use of general anesthesia, with options for removal or upgrades down the line.

Read more: Brain Computer Interface with Neurofeedback Can Improve Your Performance, Says Columbia Study

Musk is known for making awe-inspiring claims and then failing to deliver. He predicted one million self-driving taxis on the road by the end of 2020. But that didn’t happen. However, let’s just hope he’s right this time around. The idea behind Neuralink is so far-fetched that it could transform the world.

US connected care medical technology company Hillrom announced today that it has acquired contact-free continuous monitoring technology from Israeli company EarlySense for $30 million, potential milestone payments, and a portion of Hillrom's equity investment in EarlySense.

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

EarlySense will receive licensing for all intellectual property and technology sold to Hillrom for use outside the hospital, as well as a cash consideration of $30 million, potential payments based on the achievement of certain commercial milestones, and a portion of Hillrom’s equity investment in EarlySense, Globes reports.

EarlySense CEO Matt Johnson said, "We set out to save lives and improve care by implementing AI-based contact-free patient monitoring in healthcare facilities across the globe. We made great progress by becoming the standard of care in Hillrom’s flagship Centrella Smart+ hospital bed. Our technology has already monitored more than one million patients and helped clinicians save tens of thousands of lives, and we expect to accelerate this significant impact as a result of this technology sale to Hillrom."

He added, "The Covid-19 pandemic has created historic opportunities for smart health technologies outside the hospital, and this transaction will allow us to continue serving our global customer base and apply our clinically proven technology to this high-growth sector. Our more than one hundred million patient-monitored hours uniquely position us to deliver intelligent, predictive, and patented solutions that elevate remote patient care without increasing the risk of harmful infection."

EarlySense technology allows for the continuous monitoring – more than 100 times per minute – of patient heart and respiratory rates without anyone ever touching the patient.

Hillrom President and CEO John Groetelaars said, "EarlySense’s contact-free continuous monitoring technology provides caregivers with a full picture of patient health, allowing for intervention at the earliest signs of patient deterioration," said "We look forward to bringing this critical technology to additional customers around the world as we deliver on our vision of Advancing Connected Care.”

Read more: Medtronic Buys Smart Insulin Pen Company Companion Medical

Wells Fargo Securities served as exclusive financial advisor to EarlySense in the deal and Goldfarb & Seligman and Polsinelli served as legal counsel. Hillrom was represented by Advs. Mark Cohen, Hili Rashkovan, Tal Rotman and Maya Lakstein of the Pearl Cohen law firm.

Market Industry Reports (MIR) has published a new report titled “Wearable Medical Devices Market – Global Industry Analysis, Size, Share, Growth, Trends, and Forecast, 2019–2030.” According to the report, the wearable medical devices market is estimated to be over US$ 12.5 billion in 2019. It is anticipated to grow at a ~22% CAGR from 2019 to 2030.

Read more: Global Medical Wearables Market Size to Reach US $85.6 Billion by 2027: Polaris Market Research

The growth of the wearable medical devices market can be attributed to several factors such as technological advancements, innovations in the field of healthcare, and the rising adoption of smartphones among others. Moreover, growing consciousness regarding benefits associated with a healthy lifestyle has been critical in contributing to the wide-scale adoption of wearable medical devices, worldwide. A sample copy of Wearable Medical Devices Market is available at: https://www.marketindustryreports.com/pdf/249

Key players in the medical device market, according to Market Industry Reports are:

• Fitbit
• Koninklijke
• Philips N.V.
• Omron Healthcare
• Drägerwerk AG & Co.
• KGaA,
• Polar Electro
• VitalConnect
• World Global Network
• Garmin Ltd.
• Xiaomi and ten3T Healthcare

The rising prevalence of chronic diseases such as diabetes and cardiovascular diseases coupled with the rising geriatric population is fueling the demand for wearable medical devices market. According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), in the U.S., approximately 18.2 million adults aged above 20 years suffer from Coronary Artery Disease (CAD).

Technological advancements in the sector of wearable medical devices have been significant in encouraging manufacturers to explore and develop advanced devices with superior functionalities. Moreover, Many devices have been introduced in the market by key players to help individuals track their health and manage diverse conditions. For instance, in January 2019, Omron Healthcare, Inc., a global leader in personal heart health and wellness technology launched HeartGuide, a wearable blood pressure monitoring system. The company has also received the 510K FDA clearance for the same.

The Wearable Medical Devices Market is segmented on the basis of Product, Modality, Cancer Type, End-Users and region.

By Type:

Smart Watches, Activity Monitors, Smart Clothing, Smart Patches

Distribution Channel:

Online Channel, Pharmacies and, Hypermarket

Device Type:

Diagnostic & Monitoring Devices and Therapeutic Devices

Application:

Sports & Fitness, Remote, Patient Monitoring and, Home Healthcare

Research Approach:

As a standard protocol at MIR, all research assignments go through the following rigorous processes.

• Secondary Research
• Primary Research
• Market Size Estimation & Forecasting
• Data Validation & Triangulation
• Report Generation

Read more: Diagnostic Wearable Medical Devices Market Anticipated to Grow Substantially Through 2025

Market Industry Reports is a global leader in market measurement & advisory services, Market Industry Reports is at the forefront of innovation to address the worldwide industry trends and opportunities. We identified the caliber of market dynamics & hence we excel in the areas of innovation and optimization, integrity, curiosity, customer and brand experience, and strategic business intelligence through our research.

Most machine learning algorithms can’t learn from experiences beyond initial training. Now, MIT researchers have developed a type of neural network that learns on the job, not just during its training phase. These flexible algorithms, dubbed “liquid” networks, change their underlying equations to continuously adapt to new data inputs. This liquid neural network has a kind of built-in “neuroplasticity.” That is, as it goes about its work—say, in the future, maybe driving a car or directing a robot—it can learn from experience and adjust its connections on the fly.

Read more: MIT Researchers Develop Skin-Like Device That Can Help ALS Patients Communicate

“This is a way forward for the future of robot control, natural language processing, video processing — any form of time series data processing,” says Ramin Hasani, the study’s lead author. “The potential is really significant.”

Hasani said the system is inspired by a tiny worm the C. elegans, which has 302 neurons in its nervous system yet it can generate unexpectedly complex dynamics.

The research will be presented at February’s AAAI Conference on Artificial Intelligence. In addition to Hasani, a postdoc in the MIT Computer Science and Artificial Intelligence Laboratory (CSAIL), MIT co-authors include Daniela Rus, CSAIL director and the Andrew and Erna Viterbi Professor of Electrical Engineering and Computer Science, and PhD student Alexander Amini. Other co-authors include Mathias Lechner of the Institute of Science and Technology Austria and Radu Grosu of the Vienna University of Technology, reports MIT News.

“The real world is all about sequences. Even our perception — you’re not perceiving images, you’re perceiving sequences of images,” Hasani says. “So, time series data actually create our reality.”

He points to video processing, financial data, and medical diagnostic applications as examples of time series that are central to society. The vicissitudes of these ever-changing data streams can be unpredictable. Yet analyzing these data in real-time, and using them to anticipate future behavior, can boost the development of emerging technologies like self-driving cars. So Hasani built an algorithm fit for the task.

Hasani says his liquid network skirts the inscrutability common to other neural networks. “Just changing the representation of a neuron,” which Hasani did with the differential equations, “you can really explore some degrees of complexity you couldn’t explore otherwise.” Thanks to Hasani’s small number of highly expressive neurons, it’s easier to peer into the “black box” of the network’s decision making and diagnose why the network made a certain characterization.

In tests, the network performed promisingly in predicting future values in datasets, ranging from atmospheric chemistry to traffic patterns.

Read more: Scientists From NTU Singapore Develop AI System For High Precision Recognition of Hand Gestures

Hasani plans to keep improving the system and ready it for industrial application. “We have a provably more expressive neural network that is inspired by nature. But this is just the beginning of the process,” he says. “The obvious question is how do you extend this? We think this kind of network could be a key element of future intelligence systems.”

Chinese wearables giant Huami has just launched the Amazfit GTR 2e and Amazfit GTS 2e on the US market and now it seems there is already yet another model in the works to join the GTR 2 and GTS 2 family. The next in the lineup will be the LTE version of GTR 2 – the Amazfit GTR 2 LTE. The design is based on the regular GTR 2 smartwatches, so it has a round face with a classic watch design. The story was leaked by Niels Ahrensmeier, reports NoteBookCheck.

With the new Amazfit GTR 2 LTE you will be able to make 4G LTE phone connections. This way you won’t need to carry a smartphone around all of the time. It’s expected that only the GTR 2 will get an eSIM version.

Read more: Huami Amazfit Ranked No. 1 by Shipments in Spain, Indonesia and India

Huami announced the release of LTE versions of Amazfit GTR 2 at the CES 2021. However, there seem to be two versions. Along with the Amazfit GTR 2 LTE codenamed “volgaw”, there will also be an eSIM version called the Amazfit GTR 2 eSIM codenamed “volga”.

Amazfit GTR 2e will be available for purchase via Amazon and Amazfit's India website. It will be offered in Obsidian Black, Slate Grey, and Matcha Green color variants.

Amazfit T-Rex Pro / T-Rex 2

The Amazfit T-Rex was launched last year as the manufacturer's first reliable smartwatch. It was also one of the first products announced by the manufacturer in 2020. A successor is now on the way and it could be released as the Amazfit T-Rex Pro. This model also has the commercial name T-Rex 2. While there are no specs or details about the watch, it has been cleared through the FCC.

Read more: Huami Launches Amazfit Zenbuds With Sleep Monitoring Via Indiegogo Crowdfunding

Niels revealed in a tweet that the Amazfit T-Rex Pro is codenamed "blancw". Niels also mentioned another model – the Amazfit Health Watch Pro.

At the Innovation Conference 2021, Chinese wearable brand Huami announced that it will soon launch its third-generation wearable chip. Huami Founder and CEO, Huang Wang, has reportedly revealed that the company is planning to launch its third-generation self-developed Huangshan wearable chip.

Read more: Huami Launches Amazfit Zenbuds With Sleep Monitoring Via Indiegogo Crowdfunding

He feels that with the technology on chips advances, the capital investment also jumps up. This can look bad at the start; however, this is reaching the end consumer. As a result, the overall production cost can be reduced.

Huami, which has been a pioneer in Smartwatches, AI-based smart wearable, stepped into the world of self-developed wearable chips in 2018. It was the world’s first AI-powered Huangshan No.1 chipset. Huami used the chipset in many of its smart products. It has an architecture based on the RISC-V instruction set. It also has a C2 co-processor and an independent Neural Processing Unit. The AI deep learning depends on the NPU that enables it to make predictions from the available dataset. Hence, we can expect the company to upgrade the NPU and the instruction set to get a leap in performance on the third-gen, reports GizChina.

Although Mr. Wang didn’t name the chipset yet, we can guess that the company will keep its naming structure and call it Huangshan No.3.

Read more: Huami’s Amazfit Smart Scale Will Monitor A Slew Of Health Metrics In Addition To Weight

In other news, according to the 2019 financial report, Huami’s revenue in 2019 reached 834.9 million US dollars with 59.4% year-on-year growth and 42.3 million shipments in total. Mr. Wang Huang said in the earning call: "As a strategic partner, Huami and Timex have cooperated closely in product development and new technology exploration. At present, the first product with exciting experiences R300 GPS has been launched in the North American market. At the same time, the partnership with Xiaomi is continuing, and it is expected that the Mi Band 5 will be seen later this year.”

Mental health in the workplace has long been a concern for employers. Covid-19 lockdowns and remote working have worsened the issue. Even before the pandemic depression and anxiety estimated to have cost the global economy $1 trillion, according to the World Health Organization. Now, a UK-based startup has developed a wristband that allows employers to track their workers’ emotional health. Called Moodbeam, the smart wristband allows its wearer to log how they feel at the click of a button.

Read more: Moodbeam Receives $583k Seed investment To Boost Workplace Wellbeing

Moodbeam links to a mobile app that you can download and to a web interface and features two buttons. One yellow and the other blue. The idea is you press the yellow one if you are feeling happy and the blue one if you're feeling, well, blue.

Moodbeam is aimed at companies that wish to monitor the wellbeing of staff who are working from home. Employees are encouraged to wear the wristband (it’s optional) and press the relevant button as they see fit throughout the working week, reports BBC.

Managers can then view an online dashboard to see how workers are feeling and coping. With bosses no longer able to check-in physically with their team, Moodbeam hopes to bridge the gap.

"Businesses are trying to get on top of staying connected with staff working from home. Here they can ask 500 members: 'You ok?' without picking up the phone" says Moodbeam co-founder Christina Colmer McHugh.

McHugh told BBC that she came up with the idea for this wristband after she found out that her daughter was struggling at school and she wanted a way for her child to let her know how she was feeling.

She said it started out as an anonymous system, but after lots of testing, they realized most people want to be identified when they send their mood.

Read more: Wearable Devices Can Predict and Stop Bad Mood Even Before They Strike

Some of its other features are that it is waterproof and has a five-day battery life, according to the website and also can count steps.

Available for both IOS and Android, the Moodbeam App is the perfect partner to visualize and understand more about your mood.

U-blox, a global provider of leading positioning and wireless communication technologies and services, announced the ALEX-R5, a miniature cellular module that integrates low-power wide-area (LPWA) connectivity and GNSS technology into an ultra-small system-in-package (SiP) form factor. Comprising hardware components designed fully in-house, ALEX-R5 is based on the secure UBX-R5 LTE-M / NB-IoT chipset platform with out-of-the-box Secure Cloud functionality and the u-blox M8 GNSS chip for location accuracy.

Read more: Maxim Integrated and Mouser Launches New eBook that Explores Next-Gen Healthcare Wearables

ALEX-R5 stands out for its miniature 14x14 mm footprint, achieved thanks to its SiP design, reducing its size compared to the functionally equivalent u-blox SARA-R5 module by half. Its tiny dimensions make it a perfect fit for size constrained applications, the company said in a press release.

Zero compromises on cellular and GNSS performance

ALEX-R5 makes zero performance compromises in terms of the technologies it features. Its 23 dBm cellular transmission power guarantees that end devices operate effectively in all signal conditions, even at cell edges, underground, or in other challenging scenarios. And a dedicated GNSS antenna interface enables fully independent, simultaneous operation of the u-blox M8 GNSS chip, matching the performance of a stand-alone u-blox M8 module. u-blox IoT Location-as-a-Service with CellLocate(R) and AssistNow (online, offline, and autonomous) further enhance positioning performance.

Optimized for power-sensitive and battery-dependent applications

ALEX-R5 is optimized for power-sensitive and battery-dependent applications, addressing common pain points of size-constrained applications such as wearables and connected medical devices. It achieves this by leveraging the lower power modes of the u-blox UBX-R5 and UBX-M8 chipsets and giving users options to further balance power consumption and performance using GNSS Super-E mode.

Its rugged SiP construction makes it a perfect fit for harsh environments, where moisture or vibration would be a concern for conventional modules. ALEX-R5 is rated at moisture sensitivity level 3 (MSL 3), offering reduced handling and device production complexity.

Designed to last an IoT lifetime and 5G-ready

By bringing all technology building blocks in house and having full hardware and software ownership, u-blox can guarantee long-term device availability and provide lifetime support for the entire platform, down to the chipset level. Secure Cloud functionality supporting IoT-Security-as-a-Service based on an internal, hardware-based secure element enables a lightweight pre-shared key management system specifically designed for LPWA devices.

Read more: Valencell Launches Software Library, Helping Manufacturers to Integrate the Company’s Software Into Their Wearables

ALEX-R5 future-proofs IoT devices and solutions by enabling customers to software upgrade deployed devices for compatibility with 5G networks, offering a seamless transition to the next generation of cellular technology as 5G networks are rolled out by mobile operators.

Engineering samples of the ALEX-R5 SiP will be available by Q1, 2021.

Mouser Electronics, Inc., the New Product Introduction (NPI) leader empowering innovation, announced a new eBook in collaboration with Maxim Integrated Products, Inc. highlighting the future of wearable technology in healthcare. In Empowering Design Innovation for Healthcare Wearables, subject matter experts from Maxim Integrated and Mouser provide in-depth technical explorations into the nuanced design and development of wearable devices, including challenges related to power supply, sensor data, and accurate monitoring technology.

Read more: Maxim’s New Wrist Form Factor Reference Design Reduces Health Wearable Development Time By Six Months

Wearable healthcare devices offer an important monitoring solution at a time when more and more patients struggle to access traditional face-to-face medical care. A combination of technological innovation and advanced artificial intelligence has facilitated a new generation of wearable devices, allowing healthcare professionals to better respond to incoming patients using remotely collected data. The new eBook from Maxim Integrated and Mouser features a combination of detailed technical walkthroughs, videos, and product information, providing engineers with the actionable knowledge required to begin developing wearable devices, reports EEJournal.

Featuring a combination of detailed technical walkthroughs, videos, and product information, the new eBook from Maxim Integrated and Mouser provides engineers with the actionable knowledge required to begin developing wearable devices. Maxim Integrated’s medical solutions include sensors, ICs, power supplies, and evaluation kits, providing the key components for the development of wearable healthcare devices such as rings, wristbands, patches, and earpieces. Empowering Design Innovation for Healthcare Wearables includes convenient links and ordering information for 10 of the latest cutting-edge products from Maxim, including the MAX32630FTHR Pegasus rapid development platform.

The MAX32630FTHR platform supports battery-optimized solutions for wearable devices through advanced power conversion and battery management. The platform includes a variety of peripherals, offering a versatile solution for rapid proof-of-concept and development. Maxim Integrated’s MAXREFDES117 reference design is a low-power optical heart rate module that can be placed on a finger or earlobe to accurately detect heart rate. The minuscule board can be easily integrated into a range of wearable devices using either Arduino or mbed platforms.

Read more: Healthcare Wearables Market to Reach $60 Billion by 2023, Says Juniper Research

As a global authorized distributor, Mouser offers the world’s widest selection of the newest semiconductors and electronic components — in stock and ready to ship. Mouser’s customers can expect 100% certified, genuine products that are fully traceable from each of its manufacturer partners. A Berkshire Hathaway company, Mouser’s website hosts an extensive library of technical resources, including a Technical Resource Center, along with product data sheets, supplier-specific reference designs, application notes, technical design information, engineering tools and other helpful information.

Garmin has designed a smartwatch specifically for women and it is just around the corner, according to the German site WinFuture. The Garmin Lily, as it is named, is yet to launch but we found out some details from the leak.

WinFuture.de reports that the smartwatch will come in two variants – Classic version and a Sport version. What sets these two apart are the choice of material. The classic version has a metal casing with leather straps while the sport version has a fiber-reinforced plastic casing with silicone straps. It comes with a variety of color, metal and interchangeable band options — including leather and silicone.

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

According to the leaked report, the LCD screen only displays (display size 1.00” x 0.84” (25.4 mm x 21.3 mm) white over a colored background. And that may be the reason the smartwatch boasts five days of battery life.

This stylish smartwatch is the first of its kind from Garmin with an incredibly small, 34 mm watch case and a stylish patterned lens. Just tap or twist your wrist to reveal the bright touchscreen display.

The watch tracks your steps, sleep, hydration, respiration, stress, and energy levels. The Body Battery energy monitoring lets you see your energy levels throughout the day so you can find the best times for activity and rest.

The watch constantly samples your heart rate and can be set to alert you if it stays too high or too low.

The Pulse Ox Sensor spot-checks your blood oxygen saturation at any point during the day, or for part of the night as you sleep, to show how well your body is absorbing oxygen.

With advanced sleep monitoring, get a full picture of how you’re sleeping, with a breakdown of your light, deep and REM sleep stages as well as Pulse Ox and respiration data.

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

Smart notifications. Receive emails, texts and alerts right on your watch when paired with a compatible smartphone. You can even respond to texts if you have an Android phone.

San Francisco-based chipmaker Atlazo announced the launch of its first-generation AI SoC, AZ-N1, for smart tiny devices like TWS earbuds, smart hearing aids, and more. The device is the industry's first fully-integrated AI SoC featuring a highly power-efficient Artificial Intelligence and Machine Learning processor (Axon ITM) for audio, voice, health monitoring, and sensors. Atlazo's hyper-low-power AZ-N1 AI SoC also integrates a low-power CODEC supporting up to 4 microphones, a battery charger, DC/DC regulators, and Bluetooth connectivity. The AZ-N1 AI SoC can handle the most challenging tasks required to process audio, sound, biometrics, and other sensor signals, and classify activities in a fraction of the power budget used by comparable solutions on the market today.

Read more: MediaTek Launches New Dimensity 5G Smartphone Chipsets with Unrivaled AI and Multimedia

A single Axon ITM processor supports a variety of AI/ML networks including DNN, LSTM, and GRNN and popular feature extraction techniques such as MFCC. Computing an audio DNN network, for example, Axon ITM performs more than 130 inferences per second, Altazo said in a press release.

Customer applications currently being developed with the AZ-N1 AI SoC include smart TWS earbuds, hearing aids, Personal Sound Amplification Products (PSAPs), and fitness and health monitoring devices.

“Atlazo's mission is to enable smart tiny edge devices with a new level of always-on AI capabilities and analytics in an SoC form to unleash new features and applications. We provide comprehensive support to our customers from system design to algorithm development enabling them to add new features to expand their addressable market,” said Dr. Karim Arabi, co-founder and CEO of Atlazo, Inc.

AZ-N1 AI SoC is sampling to select customers now with a complete hardware and software development kit and key AI algorithms such as keyword spotting and speaker verification.

Read more: Raspberry Pi Launches $4 Microcontroller Running on a Custom Processor

Atlazo is a leader in always-on AI processor, sensor interface design, and energy management for tiny edge devices. Founded in 2016, the company is dedicated to addressing the global demand for smarter and more power-efficient tiny devices targeting the rapidly growing smart TWS earbud, hearing aid, wearable and health-monitoring devices. Atlazo brings cutting edge innovations in hyper-low power semiconductor design, on-device AI processor, and accurate sensing.