Whoop, a Boston-based sports tech and analytics company that makes discreet wearables, has a $55 million Series D funding. The funding round was led by Foundry Group, with participation from Two Sigma Ventures, Accomplice, Thursday Ventures, Promus Ventures, Silicon Valley Bank and other individual investors. The funding brings the total to more than $100 million for the company.

Read more WHOOP Introduces Subscription Service to Its Fitness Watch

The series D round adds up to a mix of equity and debt. While Whoop hasn’t revealed the specific breakdown, the money will be put towards expanding consumer acquisitions, membership services and product development, reports MobiHealthNews.

“We will continue to grow our membership globally and make Whoop the best experience for our members,” Will Ahmed, Whoop founder & CEO, said in a statement. “Human performance is a new category and Whoop has emerged as both the pioneer and the market leader.”

The company’s WHOOP strap is a wrist-worn wearable device that is designed to improve training, sleep and lifestyle choices with real-time feedback on the body. Its effortless social media integration further augments the user experience with compelling graphic design and easy in-app capture for ultimate connectivity. The new WHOOP Strap 3.0 allows users to share live data and progress with trainers, coaches, friends, and connect with the WHOOP community at large, said the company in a press release.

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Whoop also provides a membership for 24/7 coaching to improve performance. The company’s membership comes with free hardware (the new Whoop Strap 3.0), a coaching platform designed to optimize behavior, and a community of high performers. Members range from professional athletes such as sports teams in the National Basketball Association (NBA) and Major League Baseball (MLB), and Fortune 500 CEOs to fitness enthusiasts and military personnel.

Read more Duke Athletes Develop Wearable That Can Predict Injuries Before They Happen and Accelerate Healing

After the 6-months subscription ends, the user is free to cancel their membership and keep their Whoop wearable along with access to all the data leading up to the membership’s end date.

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Ams, leading worldwide supplier of high-performance sensor solutions, based in Austria, introduced AS621x-generation of temperature sensors that deliver best-in-class performance across a broad range of products – including wearables, health-related monitoring systems and heating, ventilation and air conditioning (HVAC) systems.

Read more Tiny Sensors Pave Way For New Wearable Medical Diagnostic Devices

“The new AS621x family of temperature sensors from ams is ideally suited for battery-operated devices, including wearables, laptops and tablets. We are making thermal management easy for our customers as the family’s ultra-low power consumption – in addition to its tiny size – enables a tight thermal control,” says Michael Leitner, Vice President and General Manager for the business line Medical + Specialty Sensors at ams.

In this era of IoT (Internet-of-Things), the new AS621x family of temperature sensors uniquely enables ams’ customers more simply to integrate this tiny 1.5mm2 Wafer Level Chip Scale Package (WLCSP) into their designs – without paying a power or space penalty. Prototyping and design verification becomes easier than ever before due to the product family’s industry-standard serial interface with eight I²C addresses and a factory-calibrated sensor. This combination allows the AS621x family to be used in a broad spectrum of applications ranging from industrial process control solutions, IoT applications such as cold-chain monitoring, medical data acquisition through to battery-powered mobile and wearable devices, says a press release.

“The new AS621x family of temperature sensors from ams is ideally suited for battery-operated devices, including wearables, laptops and tablets. We are making thermal management easy for our customers as the family’s ultra-low power consumption – in addition to its tiny size – enables a tight thermal control,” says Michael Leitner, Vice President and General Manager for the business line Medical + Specialty Sensors at ams.

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The temperature sensors come in three accuracy versions to give customers a wide choice to best match their requirements: ±0.2°C for the AS6212; ±0.4°C for the AS6214; and ±0.8°C for the AS6218.

Read more Printed Electronics Paves the Way for Bandages, Electric Tattoos and Biosensors

As the AS621x is a complete digital temperature system, which has been factory-calibrated to an accuracy up to +/-0.2°C, customers only need to solder the sensor solution onto their PCB to enjoy highest accuracy without requiring further calibration. For greater sensitivity to temperature change, the resolution of the temperature value output has also increased to 16 bit.

The AS621x temperature sensor family is now available in production volumes. Unit pricing starts at EUR 0.62 in order quantities of 1,000.

Skin friendly fixation, haptic, design, cost conscious / R2R
In many cases, chronic diseases need permanent monitoring and treatment at the same time. New medical technologies like wearable electronic patches give patients higher mobility. But permanent skin contact and fixation is an extraordinary challenge for the human skin. Skin friendliness (no sensitization) but safe fixation, design, haptic and acceptable cost are achievable with the right choice of materials and production technologies. Manufacturer of high-tech polymer materials for key industries Covestro, is introducing soft electronic embedding on R2R technology + skin friendly fixation – high performance materials for maximum wearing comfort. www.covestro.de

Electronic components for Wearable and IoT applications  
Specialists in European semiconductor distribution EBV Elektronik adds value at all stages of a customers' supply chain. Services range from in-depth design expertise and application know-how through value-added services right up to full logistics solutions. The disciplines of sensor technology, data preparation and data processing, data output, actuator engineering, connectivity and security come together in the Internet of Things – and EBV has been continuously active in all these areas for over a decade. www.avnet.com/wps/portal/ebv/

A holistic view on a product´s life cycle – development and manufacturing of secure wearables and solutions for patient monitoring
In healthcare and medical technology, wearable electronic devices offer a wide range of uses. Under everyday conditions and with no undue loss of comfort, these devices record vital parameters, analyze them and make them available to medical personnel for diagnosis. Kontron electronics, a provider of secure hardware, middleware and services for IoT and Industry 4.0, works closely with its customers to develop and manufacture innovative medical devices, body wearables and portables, and to ensure secure connectivity for these products. www.kontron-electronics.ch

Revolutionizing the Textile Interface
Being the largest apparel manufacturer in South Asia, MAS Holdings operated along the intersection of fashion, lifestyle and technology. Consumer centric design has helped them juxtapose aesthetics with function and due to advancements of traditional apparel manufacturing processes (bonding, knitting, sewing etc.), they have acquired skillsets and capabilities for advanced engineered textiles. www.masholdings.com

Health Applications of Sports Wearables
Wearable technology developed for sports has a large usage potential in the health sector. Movesense, Suunto’s open sensor development platform for motion sensing and biometrics, is accelerating the expansion of sports wearables into the health market. With their solutions they are serving the need of a low-cost, lightweight wearable sensor for health monitoring and management. www.movesense.com

A technology platform to enable wearable health
Quad Industries is specializing in the development and manufacturing of user interfaces and control panels for both consumer and industrial applications and has extended their activities in developing and manufacturing printed, flexible sensor solutions. Together with Henkel and Byteflies, Quad Industries has developed a smart health patch, worn 24/7 and continuously measuring and recording motion (IMU), electrocardiogram (ECG) and respiration (RES). www.quad-ind.com

Securely and wirelessly connect patients with caregivers
Our world is moving fast, soon you will carry your doctor in your pocket. u‑blox is setting the beat delivering the core technology to locate and wirelessly connect people, machines and everything else. Together with their partner Leikr, they are introducing a cryptograhically encrypted and power-efficient wearable eHealth gateway with LTE-M, NB-IoT and BLE connectivity. www.u-blox.com

Human-friendly man-machine interface
Xenoma develops the next-generation smart apparel ‘e-skin’ as a human-friendly man-machine interface. Their proprietary process integrates sensors and devices comfortably into circuits on fabric called Printed Circuit Fabric (PCF). The technology can be used in various fields and applications. www.xenoma.com

Commercialization, Manufacturing and Development of Biosensors and Printed Electronics
Zimmer and Peacock see that sensors are a critical part of a number of Social and Commercial Revolutions, including the Internet of Things (IoT), Sensor Web and the growth of the Invitro Diagnostics Market (IVD).  The company is partnering with academia and industry to ensure that there are enough good and commercially available sensors to meet the requirements of these new and growing markets. www.zimmerpeacocktech.com

The above listed companies will present their exciting innovations at the WT | Wearable Technologies Show MEDICA on Nov 18-21 in Hall 13 Booth D46.

Press Material: www.bit.ly/PRESS_WTMED19

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Millions of people with diabetes around the world use handheld electrochemical sensors to monitor their blood sugar levels with electric glucometers. These sensors improved at-home medical testing for diabetics but they haven’t yet been successfully applied to diagnosing other conditions. Now researchers at the Wyss Institute for Biologically Inspired Engineering at Harvard University have developed a platform called “eRapid” that enables the creation of low-cost, handheld electrochemical devices that can simultaneously detect a broad range of biomarkers with high sensitivity and selectivity in complex biological fluids, using as little as a single drop of blood. The researchers described their new technology in the journal Nature Nanotechnology, reports Lindsay Brownell at Wyss Institute.

“As long as an antibody exists for a given target molecule, eRapid can detect it,” said co-author Pawan Jolly, Ph.D., a Senior Research Scientist at the Wyss Institute.

Read more Sticker-Like Thin Wearable Sensor Monitor Biomarkers without Needing External Power Source

While developing the antifouling coating, the challenge faced by researchers was to prevent accumulation of off-target substances on the sensor’s metal electrodes while still maintaining their conductivity to allow sensing of the target. The researchers experimented with a variety of recipes and finally developed a simple, porous, 3D matrix consisting of bovine serum albumin (BSA) crosslinked with glutaraldehyde and supported by a network of conducting nanomaterials, such as gold nanowires or carbon nanotubes.

The research team tested their nanomaterial-coated sensors in human blood serum and plasma, and found that they retained more than 90% of their ability to detect signal even after being stored for one month in those biofluids, whereas sensors coated with best previously published anti-fouling coatings lost significant signal sensitivity when incubated for one hour, and were completely inactivated after one day, said the Wyss Institute report.

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To demonstrate the commercial viability of the sensors the researchers created a multiplexed sensor with three separate electrodes, each coated with the BSA/gold nanowire matrix and a layer of antibodies against a specific clinically relevant target molecule: interleukin 6 (IL6), insulin, or glucagon. They observed excellent electrical signals with picogram-per-mL sensitivity.

Read more The Diabetes Epidemic is Driving Med Tech Companies to Develop Wearable Devices to Manage the Condition

The researchers so far have been able to detect more than a dozen different biomarkers ranging from 100 Da to 150,000 Da in size with eRapid, and they are continuing to experiment with conductive nanomaterials to optimize the electrode coating and the system’s performance, as well as reduce the cost even further.

“eRapid emerged from pursuing one innovation that led to another that has the potential to transform medical diagnostics. Hopefully, this simple technology will enable great advances in our ability to develop handheld diagnostic devices that can be used at home, as well as in pharmacies, ambulances, doctor’s offices, and emergency departments in the near future,” said Donald Ingber, M.D., Ph.D., Founding Director of Wyss Institute.

Attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) is the most commonly diagnosed mental disorder of children. It affects children and teens and can continue into adulthood. Children with ADHD may be hyperactive and unable control their impulses. Or they may have trouble paying attention. These behaviors interfere with school and home life. There are drugs available to treat this disorder but they usually have pretty serious side effects. Now, researchers in Singapore are using a novel way to treat ADHD. A team of scientists from the country’s Institute of Mental Health (IMH), Duke-NUS (National University of Singapore) Medical School, and A*STAR (Agency for Science, Technology, and Research) have developed a system that combines neuromonitoring with video games to help improve symptoms among patients with ADHD. Neeuro Pte Ltd. is a local company that has been spun off to commercialize the technology, reports MedGadget.

So far, a randomized controlled trial of this technology has shown success in the laboratory setting. But Neeuro has further developed a version of the technology that is now being offered to a group of children with ADHD for use in their own homes.

Read more This Biofeedback Therapeutic Wearable May Ease Symptoms of ADHD

This system is composed of Neeuro’s electroencephalography “SenzeBand” and a Samsung tablet. The child simply places this brainwave-reading band on their head and plays a game called CogoLand. The system tracks their mental focus and adjusts the gameplay accordingly.

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In the video game study, children showed improvements in areas of the brain related to attention and task-orientation. These improvements were confirmed via functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI).

The researchers are planning a new study which will use this technology to analyze children with ADHD being treated by Singapore’s Institute of Mental Health. These children will continue receiving their regular therapy, will evaluate the longer term effects of the new therapy under normal at-home conditions.

Read more FDA Approves Breakthrough Medical Device for Children with ADHD

“Our technology can accurately quantify a person’s attention level in real-time using a machine learning algorithm and, from there, develop a unique patented personalized training program using a feed-forward concept for cognitive training,” explained Professor Guan Cuntai, technical lead of the system and scientific advisor to Neeuro. “Further improvements have been made in recent iterations by capitalizing on the latest deep learning approaches with our large dataset.”

The study was published in the journal PLOS One.

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A connected medical kegel trainer loved by users to stop urinary leaks and break down the taboo  
Fizimed develops innovative connected medical devices for worldwide markets. The first product is EMY, a connected and fun device for women to strengthen their pelvic floor at home to stop urinary leaks.  EMY has been developed with women and health professionals to ensure the perfect balance between the clinical relevance and a nice user experience. EMY combines the safety and quality of a medical device with fun exercises to ensure motivation and autonomy. www.fizimed.com

The Relevance of Vital Parameters for Health Insights
No matter if in home health, mHealth, remote patient monitoring or in a hospital setting: Collection of vital data from the patient is the first step and the basis for health insights all decisions afterwards. cosinuss° in-ear vital sign monitoring devices are non-invasive and painless. The cosinuss° One wearable monitors heart rate precisely and the new degree° thermometer measures a child´s body temperature continuously. With several new innovations for home health solutions cosinuss° is addressing COPD, fertility tracking, stress management and elderly care. www.cosinuss.com

Empowering people every day by revolutionising healthcare through wearables
Urine loss affects 1 in 3 people at some point in their lives. This condition is uncomfortable and embarrassing for the sufferers and can be expensive and difficult to treat effectively. LifeSense Group is facing this challenge with a combination of smart textiles, wearables sensors and tailored exercise programs. Their smart underwear Carin for women and Wil for men is designed for curing urine incontinence in 8-10 weeks by tracking urine loss data and providing personalized exercises. And lately there is also a tiny sensor for kids teaching them to make it to the toilet on time at night. www.lifesense-group.com

The above listed companies will present their exciting innovations at the WT | Wearable Technologies Show MEDICA on Nov 18-21 in Hall 13 Booth D46.

Press Material: www.bit.ly/PRESS_WTMED19

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Weaving smart healthcare solutions with intelligent textiles
Being renowned for the world’s leading source of functional textiles, advanced manufacturing capabilities in electronics, and high medical quality, Taiwan has gained itself strong advantages in developing intelligent healthcare textiles, where the three aforementioned industries intersect. Asiatic Fiber Corporation (AFC®) is a long-established medical textile company dedicated to devise smart healthcare solutions to enhance the quality and efficiency of traditional healthcare with their iQmax® Intelligent Textile Modules for thermotherapy, electrotherapy, and monitoring of health & safety. www.asiatic.com.tw

The usage of physiological insights to unlock health and performance potential
How is your body reacting to your daily routine? What is making you stressed? Are you recharging your batteries overnight? Heart rate variability insights answers these questions, and more. The Firstbeat Lifestyle Assessment uses HRV to give you the data and context you need to make lifestyle changes, spot potential red flag issues, and, ultimately, reach your health and performance potential with science-backed confidence. www.firstbeat.com

Activate yourself with light
Natural light runs our body clock. Working late at night, getting up while it is still dark, feeling jet-lagged after a long flight or suffering from winter blues - all too often we are out of synch with our environment. Fatigue, low spirits, performance and health issues and are the result. Pocket Sky’s blue light frequency found in daylight biochemically signals to our body that it’s a bright and sunny morning. By transmitting this biologically active light, this elegant and lightweight wearable boosts your energy and mood in just 20 minutes, whenever you need it. www.pocket-sky.com

Wearable breath analysis: the next level of personal health technology
Sports medicine available for everyone - VitaScale has successfully developed a wearable breath analysis device that can quickly and conveniently measure gas components in a person’s breath. The patented headset system provides real-time performance and metabolism measurement, to optimize a person’s health based on breathing gas composition. www.vitascale.com

The above listed companies will present their exciting innovations at the WT | Wearable Technologies Show MEDICA on Nov 18-21 in Hall 13 Booth D46.

Press Material: www.bit.ly/PRESS_WTMED19

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Renesas Electronics, a premier supplier of advanced semiconductor solutions, introduced its RE Family, which encompasses the company’s current and future lineup of energy harvesting embedded controllers.

Most low-power electronics, such as sensors and wearable devices, are powered by batteries. However, these batteries have a limited lifespan and need regular recharging. That’s why wearable device manufacturers are now turning to energy harvesting technology, which provide unlimited operating life of these devices and remove the need to replace batteries where it is costly, impractical, or dangerous.

Read more Researchers Develop Stretchable Thermoelectric Coils for Energy Harvesting in Flexible Wearable Devices

“Energy harvesting eliminates the labor and costs associated with battery maintenance and is a key solution contributing to environmental conservation,” said Hiroto Nitta, Senior Vice President, Head of SoC Business, IoT and Infrastructure Business Unit at Renesas. “I am extremely pleased that Renesas’ technology innovation with SOTB has enabled these alternative energy solutions, and with the new RE01 Evaluation Kit, Renesas will be making it possible for engineers around the world to quickly start the evaluation. We hope this will accelerate the spread of IoT equipment powered by energy harvesting.”

The RE Family is based on Renesas’ proprietary SOTB™ (Silicon on Thin Buried Oxide) process technology, which dramatically reduces power consumption in both the active and standby states, eliminating the need for battery replacement or recharging, reports Business Wire.

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The new RE01 Evaluation Kit includes an evaluation board which features an RE01 embedded controller, an interface for the energy harvesting device and a rechargeable battery interface. The Kit also includes an Arduino-compatible interface for easy expansion and evaluation of sensor boards and a Pmod™ connector to expand and evaluate wireless functionality. In addition, there is an ultra-low power MIP LCD expansion board so that users can evaluate display functions faster.

Read more Toppan Printing’s Electronic Paper Display Is Powered by Energy Harvesting Technology

The Kit also contains sample code and application notes that serve as references for power management design that eliminates the need for battery maintenance, and driver software that supports CMSIS, Arm®’s Cortex Microcontroller Software Interface Standard. Sample code for ultra-low power A/D converters, digital filter and Fast Fourier Transform (FFT) routines, 2D graphics MIP LCD displays, and secure boot and secure firmware update functions for improved security are available. With these features, this kit makes it possible to adopt energy harvesting based on RE01 Group devices at the system level and will accelerate the development of equipment that does not require battery maintenance.

Pricing and Availability

The RE01 Evaluation Kit is available now with a reference price of USD 344 per unit (excluding tax).

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The medical sector is one of the most important markets for wearables and mobile patient monitoring in conjunction with EHR (Electronic Health Records) could benefit the healthcare industry by saving $700 billion over 15 to 20 years, according to the National Broadband Plan drafted in 2018 by the FCC. We have looked at wearable technologies in eHealth and telemedicine and how certain processes for patients and healthcare providers will become more efficient, self-determined and cost saving.

AiQ Smart Clothing is an expert in combining textiles with smart technology. The company offers solutions for a variety of markets ranging from health and fitness to extreme sports to home care and health care. Their smart clothes are made of King’s Metal Fiber, a company that is known for their fashion and functionality. Stainless steel yarn allows for flexibility and will stand up to any and all washing conditions. www.aiq.com

Hypertension is one of the major disease burdens of today’s society, affecting every third adult worldwide. Aktiia believes that wearable monitoring technologies can play a major role towards reaching WHO’s target of reducing the prevalence of raised blood pressure by 25% by 2025. In fact, today’s advances in technology allow for the integration of a blood pressure monitoring system in a small bracelet, enabling easy and long-term tracking of the condition. Consistent and mobile monitoring through a commercially available wearable device will facilitate early detection of the disease and, coupled with digital prevention campaign, it will improve adherence to medical treatment and healthy lifestyle. www.aktiia.com

August International undertakes the research and development of wearable electronic products, with world leading patented technology and advanced features. The company has developed the Audar Smart Fall Detection and Healthcare Information System, consisting of Smart Audar Watches and a Smart IoT.  Audar Watches monitor health information of wearers with the IoT processing the data with AI algorithms, outputting information to healthcare services providers, such as insurance companies and healthcare clinics. www.augustint.com

Biovotion provides integrated solutions with connected hardware and value-added monitoring services. This Switzerland-based company actively promotes the consumerization of healthcare, providing solutions that integrate medical grade quality and reliability with ease-of-use and design of the consumer markets. Biovotion’s solutions support users in keeping a healthy lifestyle, improve healthcare treatment outcomes, and aiming to reduce cost of health provisions. The company’s multi-sensor platform measures various vital signs on your upper arm (e.g. heart rate, stress, respiration). Biovotion’s wearable solutions have been awarded with multiple prestigious prizes and high-caliber endorsements. www.biovotion.com

As patient monitoring moves from single use in clinical setting to continuous or extended use in domestic and clinical environments, it is essential that the vital signs monitoring device maintains performance for longer durations and provides a more comfortable experience for the patient.  Intexar™ soft electronics and DuPont silicone adhesives enable the next generation of wireless wearable health patches, giving improved performance through enhanced conformability, skin compatibility and breathability. www.dupont.com

greenTEG has added a new dimension to patient monitoring by enabling the continuous and non-invasive monitoring of the core body temperature with their novel heat flux sensor solution. Due to its small size (2x2mm), it can be easily integrated into all kinds of wearables and its accuracy has been proven in multiple studies. www.greenteg.com

Holst Centre is an independent R&D center that develops technologies for wireless autonomous sensor technologies and flexible electronics, in an open innovation setting and in dedicated research trajectories. Together with their collaboration partners from industry and academia, they design and manufacture wearable electronics for comfortable, long-term monitoring of a range of key health parameters. www.holstcentre.com

Karl Otto Braun has been developing medical textiles for 115 years. With the current shift in the medical market from merely healthcare professional driven care to patients’ self-care the company offers a range of interesting new solutions. A pretty simple example of support for these patients e. g. in the scope of chronic wound treatment is the KOB compression bandage with an indicator for secure and functional application. The company also has several development projects of more sophisticated medical textiles with integrated sensors wirelessly connected with mobile devices. www.kob.de

MEDISANA operates in the home health care market and works continuously to develop, manufacture and market healthcare products for end users. Their latest innovation on the market is the home care robot Medisana temi, designed to help people live independently within their own four walls until they reach old age. With smart services and artificial intelligence, it makes everyday life easier – and increases safety thanks to various health services and emergency response functions. www.medisana.de

Medtor aims leveraging patented optical technology to bring medical grade vital signs monitoring to wearable platforms. The company has already developed a complete medical OEM solution, including wired sensors and hardware module, which has been validated in several independent clinical studies. Their current focus is on completing the development of a wearable optical sensor algorithm and hardware, implemented in a single-patient-use medical biosensor as well as a wrist-wearable module for use in smartwatches. www.medtorllc.com

The moio.care smart patch, developed by German start-up MOIO, increases the quality of life for patients and healthcare providers. The flat, smooth and flexible sensor module constantly processes sensor information and interprets it independently. Only when it recognises a concrete need, the moio establishes a data connection and transmits the necessary information to the moio.cloud. From there, everybody responsible for care will be notified via the moio.app on their mobile end device and can provide help where needed. www.moio.care

PLUX creates innovative products for physiotherapists and researchers, by developing an advanced bio signal monitoring platform that integrates wearable body sensors such as electromyography (EMG), electrocardiography, respiration, and accelerometers combined with wireless connectivity and software applications. www.plux.info

Patients die because signs of deterioration are missed. There is a huge unfulfilled need for better monitoring of vital signs and other data to identify high-risk patients in hospitals or at home. Patient deterioration is often overlooked or not detected at all as the intensity of care and the frequency of vital sign monitoring is decreasing from the point of care towards home. Early detection of physiological instability is crucial to prevent death and disability. Raiing Medical is addressing this issue with a combination of wearable sensing technology, early warning system and AI. www.raiing.com

The elderly population and related diseases have increased dramatically. Dedicated to better remote monitoring solutions for every-day life, Sky Labs has developed a ring-type Cardio Tracker that detects and monitors atrial fibrillation which is difficult to detect in a hospital. By simply wearing CART on a finger, it continuously detects atrial fibrillation without any user intervention. Also, the proprietary arrhythmia detection algorithm detects atrial fibrillation and normal sinus rhythm very accurately. www.i-skylabs.com

The above listed companies will present their exciting innovations at the WT | Wearable Technologies Show MEDICA on Nov 18-21 in Hall 13 Booth D46.

Press Material: www.bit.ly/PRESS_WTMED19

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Savonix, a global leader in digital tests for cognitive health, and Boston University School of Public Health, announced the launch of a landmark population health study in dementia. The study, titled Alzheimer’s Disease Discovery Study (ASSIST), will digitally collect cognitive data, health history and lifestyle tracking data from 400,000 individuals. The study will capture data from multiple wearable technologies together with sensitive neuropsychology tests, giving researchers for the first-time knowledge of how lifestyle factors that increase dementia risk cluster to produce cognitive changes across an individual’s life space, to accelerate early intervention efforts and drug development in Alzheimer’s disease.

Read more Embracing Artificial Intelligence and Machine Learning in Healthcare

“By collaborating with Savonix on this landmark study in dementia, we are bringing together state-of-the-science thinking about how we can capture patient data with an innovative digital cognitive assessment platform that can help advance our understanding of dementia across individuals, communities and large populations,” said Dr. Sandro Galea, Dean and Robert A. Knox Professor at Boston University School of Public Health. “The ASSIST study stands to become a benchmark for future population health studies in dementia that will transform the health not only of Americans and their communities but also of global populations.”

The study will ask people to complete a short health history form with information on risk factors for the development of dementia such as smoking, alcohol intake, diet and exercise combined with direct measurements of daily behavior from their digital devices including sleep, heart rate variability, exercise, blood glucose levels, and other critical bio and psycho-social markers. Participants will also take a 15-minute Savonix Mobile cognitive assessment mapped to the DSM-V criteria for classification of minor and major cognitive impairment. Each participant will be asked to complete the health history and cognitive tests at two time points in a two-year period, said a press release.

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Upon completion of the study, participants will receive personalized results of their brain function across multiple domains, including memory, attention and focus. Participants need to be 22 years old or older, live in the United States and have access to an internet connected mobile device such as an android phone or table or an iOS device such as an iPhone or iPad.

Read more Artificial Intelligence Tool to Boost Alzheimer’s Disease Research

“We are excited to work with Boston University School of Public Health on the ASSIST study to lay the foundation for a population level understanding of both normal cognition and cognitive decline across the age span as well as the important modifiable risk factors that can lead to dementia. Our aim is to generate data on an unprecedented scale that will assist researchers, universities, biotech and pharma companies in the fight to better understand individual differences that the hold the key to treatment, prevention and ultimately the elusive cure for Alzheimer’s disease,” said Dr. Mylea Charvat, CEO & Founder at Savonix.

Noncommunicable diseases (NCDs) constitute one of the major public health challenges for development in the 21st century. Every year, 41 million deaths are attributable to NCDs, and of those, 15 million deaths are people aged between 30 and 69 years. In addition, NCDs are associated with considerable despondence, loss of quality of life and wellbeing and financial hardship. The burden of NCDs on health, society and development can be prevented by addressing modifiable behavioral risk factors of NCDs, such as physical inactivity. Let´s have a look at some innovative wearable tech companies that could help fighting against NCDs.

Bonbouton is an early stage technology company that is developing the world’s first graphene-sensor medical device—an easy-to-wear, easy-to-use smart insole with propriety graphene sensors that detects foot ulcers before they form in people living with diabetes. The continuous foot temperature monitoring system offers a remote readout, providing real-time notifications to the user, and a connected dashboard accessible to healthcare providers & caregivers. www.bonbouton.com

Swiss research and technology organisation CSEM has developed sensing technology for medical wearables. These cooperative devices work together to measure a large variety of physiological signals (e.g. multi-lead ECG, EIT or SpO2) in the highest-quality manner when at rest or in motion. They differ from existing sensing technology, thanks to a patented electronic circuit that enables them to be easily electrically connected, thereby simplifying their integration into wearables. www.csem.ch

FREE Walk by FREE Bionics is an exoskeleton device designed for people with lower limb weakness or paraplegia.  It mimics the most natural human gait and helps people to stand up and walk again. With user-oriented technology and intelligent control, FREE Walk recognizes user’s intention by detecting posture changes to walk or stop at any time. With normal upper limb function, users can strap in and out of the device independently. www.freebionics.com.tw

Health Care Originals develops products for the management of chronic respiratory diseases. ADAMM, with its three-part solution comprising a wearable, smartphone app and web portal, will benefit the 300 million people globally who have asthma. ADAMM provides Intelligent Asthma Management —automating management, increasing adherence and identifying precursor symptoms much earlier – giving caregivers peace of mind and improving asthmatics’ quality of life. www.healthcareoriginals.com

Minttihealth has developed a smart stethoscope, Mintti iSteso, which is a specialized auxiliary device intended for medical diagnostic use in respiratory diseases such as pediatric pneumonia, child asthma, elderly bronchitis etc. www.minttihealth.com

Wearables can help to improve the life of people who are suffering from neurodegenerative disorders. Within the field of Parkinson's disease, Sense4care is developing a Parkinson's Holter including gait parameters and a fall detector. The embedded algorithms were trained with a database performed with Parkinson’s disease patients. The dataset was created by European hospitals with meticulous methods being the source of several algorithms for detecting Parkinsonian symptoms in home-environment conditions. www.sense4care.com

The above listed companies will present their exciting innovations at the WT | Wearable Technologies Show MEDICA on Nov 18-21 in Hall 13 Booth D46.

Press Material: www.bit.ly/PRESS_WTMED19

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Ubimax, a leading provider of fully integrated industrial augmented reality (AR) solutions, has launched Everything-as-a-Service offering (XaaS) for smart glasses.

Read more Vuzix to Showcase latest features of Vuzix Blade AR Smart Glasses

The Everything-as-a-Service (XaaS) offering from Ubimax allows customers to deploy Vuzix M400 Smart Glasses and Ubimax Frontline solutions at scale without the upfront capital investment traditionally required when deploying smart glasses solutions. For a $200 monthly fee (excluding taxes) with no additional upfront costs (subject to a 24-month subscription and minimum unit volume commitment), the XaaS solution includes use case-specific workflows for inspection, remote support and order picking, alongside all necessary hardware, software, and services.  The XaaS offering from Ubimax will allow enterprise companies to implement Vuzix M400 Smart Glasses and Ubimax Frontline solutions rapidly and without any upfront investment, resulting in almost immediate ROIs.  Both Ubimax and Vuzix will be selling this solution, says a press release.

“As we now see new scaling dimensions for our solutions, with customers like BMW or Coca-Cola deploying hundreds of devices in a very short time period, we’ve decided to launch the Everything-as-a-Service offering allowing companies to start with bigger roll-outs right away without the need to invest upfront and without any additional CAPEX on their balance sheet,” said Dr. Hendrik Witt, CEO of Ubimax.

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The all-new XaaS offering is limited to Q4 2019 and comes with pre-defined FastTrack Templates for “After-Sales” and “Order Picking”. These FastTrack Templates include use case specific workflows for inspection & remote support and order picking which can easily be edited and adapted using Frontline Creator, the inherent AR authoring tool. Ultimately, customers benefit from its affordable, easy-to-calculate, and easy-to-scale character and only pay as they go.

Read more DigiLens Unveils Augmented Reality Smartglasses

“The XaaS Everything-as-a-Service offering from Ubimax, coupled with the Vuzix M400 Smart Glasses, offers enterprise customers a tremendous value proposition right out of the gate,” said Paul Travers, President and CEO of Vuzix. “We are thrilled to be working alongside Ubimax to support the launch of their XaaS product offering and look forward to driving better business performance and ROIs across numerous industry verticals.”

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Suunto Expands its Open Sensor Platform to the Medical Field

Suunto is making it easier to rapidly develop and bring to market new, accurate, low-cost solutions for motion-sensing and biometrics with Movesense, a sophisticated sensor and development environment. In application areas as diverse as sports, agriculture, manufacturing, and health care, Movesense can cut product development of wearable sensors from years to days.

Suunto has decided to introduce a new medical version of the Movesense sensor to the platform, Movesense MD. The Movesense MD is capable of recording single channel clinical quality ECG, motion and temperature signals, processing and sending the measurement data wirelessly to smartphones via Bluetooth Low Energy. Movesense MD will be certified as a class IIa Medical Device, according to the CE medical directive and is manufactured under ISO 60601 and ISO 13485 standards.

The Movesense sensor, which is just 36.6mm in diameter and less than 10 grams, includes a built-in accelerometer, gyroscope, magnetometer, heart rate and ECG monitor, and temperature sensor, making it a powerful engine for health monitoring.

Versatile enough to replace years of hardware development for a startup and to integrate with established companies’ existing products, Movesense provides comprehensive data that can be used to monitor health status, support healthy lifestyle, and aid rehabilitation programs, among other varied applications.

“We have seen an increasing interest in the healthcare sector to use Movesense for preventive healthcare, remote monitoring, diagnostics and testing, tracking recovery and rehabilitation, among others. Therefore, we are expanding the platform with a medical version of the sensor,” says Jussi Kaasinen, General Manager at Movesense. “Movesense is a unique platform that enable fast development of cost-efficient wearable sensors for health use. With the new sensor, we want to make it easier for our customers to go through the regulatory process of medical products.”

“Developing, designing, and manufacturing hardware from scratch can take years and millions of dollars, draining the momentum of startups and enterprises alike. With Movesense, companies can leapfrog development to the actual application, focusing on their area of expertise and what will actually deliver value to customers,” says Terho Lahtinen, Senior Manager, Future Concepts at Movesense.

Movesense MD is currently undergoing reviews related to the medical certification and will be commercially available as soon as the registration has been granted. Developing applications for the Movesense MD sensor is already possible with existing elements of the Movesense platform.

Movesense development platform includes an open sensor API, software libraries and source code for building compatible mobile apps for iOS and Android, sample code modules for the sensor, desktop simulator for the sensor software, and physical accessories for attaching the sensor in different ways.

The Movesense MD sensor:

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• Measures single channel ECG, with a configurable sampling frequency
• Is a Class IIa Medical Device Accessory
• Has wireless data transfer via Bluetooth Low Energy
• Is available with OEM branding
• Supports custom firmware
• Can run custom algorithms developed by 3^rd parties
• Is swim- and shock-proof
• Is designed and made in Finland by Suunto
• Features a user-replaceable battery and state-of-the-art ultra-low-power components
• Is one of the lightest and smallest wearable sensors on the market at less than 10 grams (0.35 ounces) with the battery
• Will be available for patient use in during spring 2020.

More information at www.movesense.com/movesense-md-sensor/

Movesense will be present at the WT | Wearable Technologies Show at MEDICA on Nov 18-21, 2019 - visit them in Hall 13 at Booth D46!

About Movesense

Movesense is an open development environment for motion-sensing solutions. Developed in Finland by Suunto, a leading manufacturer of sports watches and dive computers, its easy and innovative tools accelerate measuring and sensing applications across sports, health care, manufacturing, and more. Learn more at www.movesense.com.

About Suunto

Suunto is a Finnish manufacturer of world renowned sports watches, dive computers and precision instruments for the toughest conditions. Suunto has been at the forefront of innovation and exploration since 1936.
Company website: https://www.suunto.com/

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By providing patients with an instant biofeedback, wearables not only have the possibility to prevent injury and overuse but also to optimize training - which becomes of special interest in rehabilitation where exercising optimally is paramount for your health. We gathered what applications are there for increasing a patient’s rehabilitation process.

Next Generation Optoelectronics
Drug-free pain relief can get you back in action fast, without side effects’ risks and dangers. The Care­Wear light patch produces blue and red light to re­duce pain and improve tissue recovery by increasing local blood circulation and elevating tissue tem­perature. The FDA cleared (and soon CE marked) patches emit wavelengths of light that warm tissues to relax muscles, stimulate increased nitric oxide production to improve circulation, de­crease inflammation to relieve pain, and stimulate energy production to improve cellular function that facilitates healing and repair. www.carewear.net

Bring gait analysis out of the lab using wearable sensors
Movement analysis is a major driver when it comes to performance tracking and improvement. Making sense of motion for therapeutic virtual reality in various applications is the mission of Gait Up. Gait, i.e. walking or locomotion, is our 6th vital sign and its analysis helps diagnose a wide range of neurological and orthopaedic disorders such as stroke, multiple sclerosis, or osteoarthritis. Yet there are several limitations to the current Motion Capture Laboratory gold standard: high cost, long procedures, and biased patterns. Gait Up is introducing PhysiGait®: the fully accurate medical wearable solution for a point-of-care gait analysis. It improves clinical outcomes and reduce costs. www.gaitup.com

Gamified physical rehab: Better outcomes for patients & higher revenue for rehab centers
Raccoon.Recovery is a toll for physical rehabilitation after injuries or neurological disorders. The patient is treated with a hand controller and 3D motion sensors by playing video games. By adopting this innovative approach with remote monitoring and treatment correction, rehab centers can increase profits by 150%. www.raccoon.world

Remote patient monitoring technology for physiotherapy clinics and orthopaedic hospitals
Physiotherapy hasn’t changed much over the last 100 years. But when technology evolved up to the point where the physiotherapist was able to deliver video exercises for patients to continue their workout at home, everything changed. New opportunities and challenges were created. Now remote monitoring technologies proved to do an even better job than video exercises. The wearable sensors of re.flex are showing how this new method of delivering orthopaedic rehab treatment will benefit healthcare providers and insurers in the future. www.reflex.help

The above listed companies will present their exciting innovations at the WT | Wearable Technologies Show MEDICA on Nov 18-21 in Hall 13 Booth D46.

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Consumer Electronics Show (CES) has chosen Human Capable’s Augmented Reality (AR) Norm Glasses as a CES 2020 Innovation Awards best of innovation. In addition, Norm Glasses are innovation award honorees in 8 other categories, for a total of 9 awards. Human Capable is a Florida-based startup that develops AR glasses. CES, the world's largest annual consumer technology trade show, will take place in Las Vegas, January 9th to the 11th.

Read more Snap to Release Spectacles 3 AR Glasses with 3D Video Camera

Norm Glasses were showcased at CES Unveiled New York, at the Metropolitan Pavilion on November 7th. An invite only media event, CES Unveiled New York is the official kickoff party to mark the start of the CES season, featuring the emerging tech trends that will dominate the CES show floor in January. Human Capable is proud to be recognized, reports BusinessWire.

Engineered for comfort, functionality, and style, Norm Glasses are everyday AR smartglasses that look and feel like normal frames. The glasses are equipped with a wearable mini-computer that runs on an Android-based operating system. The glasses also feature dual speakers for voice command, open-ear sound and a heads-up display (HUD). They fold up and fit in a standard glasses case.

Weighing only 30-36g, Norm Glasses are the lightest among all smart glasses with a head-up display, even lighter than a vintage pair of classic Ray-Ban Wayfarer.

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Users can stay on top of communication, obtain or share information in heads-up, hands-free manner, without holding or touching their phone.

Read more Smart AR Glasses, Smart Helmets: Market Analysis and Forecasts

Here are More Features

• Make and receive phone calls. Hassle-free phone calls
• Read, listen & reply to text messages
• Take Photos and Videos. The HD built-in camera lets you take photos and videos with ease
• Visual Navigation. Turn-by-turn navigation is displayed in the field of view so you never miss a turn
• Comfortably listen to music, audiobooks, watch videos, and do so much more.
• Email and Social media

Norm Glasses are priced at US $349 and can be pre-ordered via Indiegogo.

The Swiss ETH Spin-off, IDUN Technologies has launched its first product, the Dryode™, two years after its foundation. IDUN develops and manufactures accurate and comfortable sensors for wearable devices. The new product is available through OpenBCI, Inc. an open source platform for neuroscience.

Read more Pitt Researchers Develop Tiny Light-Activated Electrode for Neural Stimulation

Current disposable wet electrodes for biopotential monitoring can cause skin irritations and dry out over time. This limits usability as well as long-term monitoring applications. Additionally, disposable wet electrodes are prone to motion artifacts and are not water resistant.

The soft and flexible dry electrode allows high precision biopotential monitoring (ECG, EMG, EEG) with an unobtrusive user experience. The Dryode™ Kit addresses researchers, developers and makers with its reusable high-end electrodes. The Dryode™ Kit is compatible with the OpenBCI Ganglion and Cyton. OpenBCI allows anyone interested in biosensing, brain-computer interfacing and neurofeedback to purchase high-quality equipment at affordable prices, says a press release.

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“We are very excited to work with IDUN Technologies in offering affordable biosensing equipment to our community” says Conor Russomanno, CEO and founder of OpenBCI.

Read more Graphene to Protect Implantable Neurostimulators in People with Neurological Disorders

About IDUN

IDUN Technologies is a leading producer of customized soft and dry electrodes – the DRYODES™. The company was founded in 2017 following three years of academic R&D at ETH Zürich. Its Dryodes are used around the world for wearable technology and research. Preparation-free and skin compliant biopotential electrodes with recording quality enable wearables for future healthcare and the Internet of Humans. The Swiss ETH Spin-off aims to be the best interface between the user’s skin and wearable devices to connect humans in everyday life. The Dryode™ is the first product in a development pipeline working towards continuous body monitoring for sports diagnostics, wellbeing and brain-computer interfaces.

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Being renowned for the world’s leading source of functional textiles, advanced manufacturing capabilities in electronics, and high medical quality, Taiwan has gained itself strong advantages in developing intelligent healthcare textiles, where the three aforementioned industries intersect.

Asiatic Fiber Corporation (AFC®) is a long-established and the most professional medical textile company in Taiwan. Our team is dedicated to devise smart healthcare solutions to enhance the quality and efficiency of traditional healthcare. At present, we are proud to introduce our revolutionary iQmax® Intelligent Textile Modules, which are uniquely designed to pair with corresponding iQmax® mobile apps for thermotherapy, electrotherapy and muscle training.

Thermotherapy

iQmax® Heated Module is best known for its superior quality, washability, bendability, and customizable heating temperatures. They can be easily integrated into
apparel for heating and soothing. Today, we present our APP+ Heated Module, offering a high-tech while user-friendly interface that is easily controllable with smart devices. They are demonstrated in the forms of Smart Heated Eye Mask, Smart Heated Gel Pad, and any possible design that suits the healthcare needs.

Electrotherapy & Muscle Training

Replacing the bulky TENS & EMS devices and gel electrodes, we now offer a state-of-the-art solution for rehab, improving blood circulation and relieving muscle pain by stimulating your nerves with our APP+ Wearable TENS Textiles, which can be easily operated by connecting to your smartphones. On the other hand, we also showcase our APP+ Wearable EMS Supports that can be paired with smartphone App via Bluetooth, bringing comfort, convenience and creativity together, and making the exercises and trainings much simpler than ever.

Visit AFC® at the WT | Wearable Technologies Show at MEDICA 2019 in Hall 13 Booth D46 and learn more about iQmax®.

Medopad, the U.K. startup that’s seeking to battle Alzheimer's with artificial intelligence has raised $25m in series B funding. The funding round was led by Leaps by Bayer, an investment unit of Germany-based pharmaceutical company Bayer. Others participating in the round were investors NWS Holdings and Healthbox.

Read more AI Health Tech Firm Healx Raises $56 Million in Series B as It Looks to Accelerate Rare Disease Treatments

“Medopad has a bold mission to help people live their life to the fullest, one that requires long-term commitment and partnership to achieve,” said Medopad founder and CEO Dan Vahdat.

“We are delighted that Leaps by Bayer who participated in our Series A round have now become the lead investor in our Series B. We have found the ideal partner with the dedication to help us reach our vision of creating a world where each person lives their life to the fullest.”

With this funding round, Medopad has so far raised more than $50m. The company said it will use the money to boost its clinical research operations, including digital therapeutics (DTx) and digital biomarker discovery for treatment of conditions such as Alzheimer’s disease, diabetes and heart disease. It also plans to expand its international operations.

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Some of the investment will be directed towards AI projects with life sciences firms such as Janssen, a Belgian business owned by US behemoth Johnson & Johnson. Medopad is also working with Tencent Medical AI Lab, an arm of Chinese tech giant Tencent.

“Our joint Tencent/Medopad lab uses AI techniques to solve clinical problems such as motion disorder syndromes such as Parkinson’s disease, cancer, psoriasis and the early detection of heart failure,” said Dr. Wei Fan, Executive Director of Tencent Medical AI Labs.

Founded in 2011, Medopad partners with scientists, technologists, and healthcare and pharmaceutical professionals to use artificial intelligence to collect and analyze data and then predict different medical conditions and outcomes, reports MobiHealthNews.

Digital biomarkers is a new category in medicine. It seeks to collect data and use digital technologies to predict risk and condition progression and diagnosis through digital technologies.

The platform is designed to save clinicians time in an effort to drive better diagnosis, care, and treatment for patients with chronic illnesses.

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The US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has issued a recall for Senseonics’ Eversense Continuous Glucose Monitoring (CGM) system.

Read more Senseonics & Glooko Partner Up for Integrated Diabetes Management

“Eversense Sensors have prematurely stopped functioning due to inadequate hydration of the sensor s glucose-sensing surface,” the FDA stated as the manufacturer reason for recall.

In September, Eversense posted a notice alerting providers and distributors in the US that the sensors of certain devices may stop working prematurely, reports MobiHealthNews.

“Our investigation found the presence of residual sodium chloride solution used during the manufacturing process from one specific manufacturer. In such cases, the Eversense CGM System stopped displaying glucose information to the user and ended sensor life earlier than expected (within first 3 weeks following insertion),” the company said.

The recall will affect 844 sensors that Eversense shipped between March 19 and August 19. “It does not affect systems marketed outside of the US, or the company’s Eversense Smart Transmitter, Eversense Insertion Kit or Eversense App,” according to MobiHealthNews report.

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Senseonics said it knew that as of September 4, only 1.4% of the sensors (24 sensors) that were inserted into patients stopped functioning prematurely.

Read more Senseonics’ New Program Geared Towards Patients with High-Deductible Insurance Plans

The Eversense CGM System comprises of a fluorescence-based sensor, a Bluetooth transmitter for data communication and a mobile app that displays glucose levels, trends and alerts. The sensor lasts up to 3 months and needs to be inserted subcutaneously in the upper arm by a physician in a brief in-office procedure. Traditional CGMs require patients to self-administer insertions of the sensors weekly or biweekly. Additionally, CGM’s transmitter can be removed and recharged without discarding the sensor.

The FDA and Senseonics asked providers not to use the devices on patients and return them to the company. The company also said it didn’t receive any report on injuries related to the faulty sensors.

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Xenoma Inc. (Headquarter: Tokyo City, Omori; CEO: Ichiro Amimori; hereafter ”Xenoma”), developer of smart apparel, will present their newest prototypes at the MEDICA 2019 in Düsseldorf, Germany. For the first time, this will include the e-skin ECG shirt as well as the e-skin MEVA. This combination of IMU pants and motion capture software has just entered beta-stage.

The ECG shirt targets especially the long-term ECG market. While it looks and feels like any regular casual shirt, it attaches via 5 buttons on the inside directly to 5 electrodes on the patient’s body. There is no need for any cables, external batteries or other external devices. Additionally, the shirt features an embedded IMU unit for motion tracking. Not only will the shirt allow patients to move freely, these movements can be also linked precisely to cardiac events.

The e-skin MEVA system combines comfortable, washable sports pants with IMU sensors and a specialized software application. Simply by wearing the pants and following an easy 30 seconds set-up, anyone of any age can translate their motions in real-time to 3D animations and data sheets. This motion capture system works without cameras or markers.

Xenoma will be part of the WT | Wearable Technologies Show in hall 13, booth D46.

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