According to the latest report by Fortune Business Insights, the hearing aids market was valued at USD 8.38 Billion in 2018 and is anticipated to reach USD 14.45 Billion by the end of 2026. The market is expected to rise at a CAGR of 7.2%.

In 2018, Starkey Hearing Technologies changed the way hearing aids are manufactured when it introduced Livio AI. The updated hearing aid uses artificial intelligence (AI) and integrated sensors, and it was the first device to trace cognitive health and physical activity as measured by hearing aid for utilizing in social situations. Innovations like helped boost the hearing aids market, according to the report.

The report is based on primary and secondary research methods and provides an in-depth global hearing aids market analysis. The report covers all important aspects of the market such as growth drivers, restraints, trends, and opportunities, says a press release.

As per the report, the hearing devices segment is currently dominating the market because of its numerous advantages. These include flexibility for patients with both mild and moderate hearing loss, easily removable, cost-effective, and can be used during sports activities as well.

The rising prevalence of hearing disorders is a major factor behind the growth of hearing aids market. An estimated 900 million people worldwide are likely to suffer from hearing loss by the end of 2050, according to a study conducted by the World Health Organization (WHO) in 2019.

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Another factor promoting the market growth is the rise in the geriatric population. Besides this, governments are taking initiatives such as health benefit programs, awareness programs, setting up more ENT clinics, and others and this is also anticipated to boost the global market in the coming years.

However, term use of hearing aids may cause moisture in the ears or ear wax, and feedback problems. Moreover, the wrong size hearing aid may also result in handling problems. Therefore, manufacturers are focusing on production of a cleaning kit in order to maintain the cleanliness of these hearing devices. This may create lucrative growth opportunities for the market in the forecast period.

The report states North America to emerge as one of the dominant regions in the global hearing aids market.

Read more Lifestyles of Baby Boomers are Transforming the Way Tech Companies Upgrade Hearing Aids

In Europe, the number of aging populations in countries like Germany, France, and UK are expected to promote the market in Europe and help this region grow significantly in the forecast period. On the other side, the surge in disposable incomes of people across Asia Pacific is estimated to boost the hearing aids market in China and India. The rise in awareness about hearing disorders and the availability of cures and devices for improving hearing ability will help the market in the region grow rapidly

Key Companies Covered in Hearing Aids Market Research Report are Sivantos Pte. Ltd., Cochlear Ltd., Sonova, Starkey, MED-EL, Medtronic, GN Store Nord A/S, Widex A/S, among others

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Leading research and advisory firm Gartner highlighted the top strategic technology trends that organizations need to explore in 2020. Findings were presented during Gartner IT Symposium/Xpo, which took place last week.

According to Gartner, a strategic technology trend is one with substantial disruptive potential that is beginning to break out of an emerging state into broader impact and use, or which is rapidly growing with a high degree of volatility reaching tipping points over the next five years, reports Business Wire.

“People-centric smart spaces are the structure used to organize and evaluate the primary impact of the Gartner top strategic technology trends for 2020,” said David Cearley, vice president and Gartner Fellow.

The top 10 strategic technology trends as Gartner predicts for 2020 are:

Hyperautomation

Hyperautomation is the combination of multiple machine learning (ML), packaged software and automation tools to deliver work. Understanding the range of automation mechanisms, how they relate to one another and how they can be combined and coordinated is a major focus for hyperautomation.

Multiexperience

Through 2028, the user experience will undergo a significant shift in how users perceive the digital world and how they interact with it. Virtual reality (VR), augmented reality (AR) and mixed reality (MR) are changing the way in which people perceive the digital world. This combined shift in both perception and interaction models leads to the future multisensory and multimodal experience.

Read more How IoT is Shaping the Smart Cities of Tomorrow

Democratization of Expertise

Democratization is focused on providing people with access to technical expertise (e.g. ML, application development) or business domain expertise (e.g. sales process, economic analysis) via a radically simplified experience and without requiring extensive and costly training. Through 2023, Gartner expects four key aspects of the democratization trend to accelerate, including democratization of data and analytics, democratization of development, democratization of design and democratization of knowledge (non-IT professionals gaining access to tools and expert).

Human Augmentation

Human augmentation explores how technology can be used to deliver cognitive and physical improvements as an integral part of the human experience. Over the next 10 years increasing levels of physical and cognitive human augmentation will become prevalent as individuals seek personal enhancements.

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Transparency and Traceability

Consumers are increasingly demanding control of their valuable information. Organizations recognize the increasing risk of securing and managing personal data, and governments are implementing strict legislation to ensure they do. Transparency and traceability are critical elements to support these digital ethics and privacy needs.

The Empowered Edge

Edge computing is a computing topology in which information processing and content collection and delivery are placed closer to the sources, repositories and consumers of this information. It tries to keep the traffic and processing local to reduce latency, exploit the capabilities of the edge and enable greater autonomy at the edge.

Read more Wearable Devices to Help Improve Performance and Safety in a Fleet

Distributed Cloud

A distributed cloud is the distribution of public cloud services to different locations while the originating public cloud provider assumes responsibility for the operation, governance, updates to and evolution of the services.

Autonomous Things

Autonomous things are physical devices that use AI to automate functions previously performed by humans. The most recognizable forms of autonomous things are robots, drones, autonomous vehicles/ships and appliances.

Practical Blockchain

Blockchain has the potential to reshape industries by enabling trust, providing transparency and enabling value exchange across business ecosystems, potentially lowering costs, reducing transaction settlement times and improving cash flow.

AI Security

AI and ML will continue to be applied to augment human decision making across a broad set of use cases. While this creates great opportunities to enable hyperautomation and leverage autonomous things to deliver business transformation, it creates significant new challenges for the security team and risk leaders with a massive increase in potential points of attack with IoT, cloud computing, microservices and highly connected systems in smart spaces. Security and risk leaders should focus on three key areas — protecting AI-powered systems, leveraging AI to enhance security defense, and anticipating nefarious use of AI by attackers.

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Integrated Device Technology, a wholly owned subsidiary of Renesas Electronics Corporation, introduced a fully integrated all-in-one biosensor module for mobile and wearable devices. The smallest sensor of its kind, OB1203 Sensor module integrates a multi-channel light sensor (LS), a proximity sensor (PS) and a photoplethysmography sensor (PPG). This module comes in a tiny, optically-enhanced package at only 4.2 mm x 2 mm x 1.2 mm, and includes two LEDs, drivers, the sensors and a signal conditioning chip.

Read more Wearable Biosensors Help Wound Healing Process by Mimicking Skin

A key feature of the OB1203 is its antiallergenic glass cover, which allows it to be used in applications requiring direct skin contact. An additional advantage of the OB1203 is the ability to operate when covered with IR-inked glass, allowing product designers to almost entirely conceal the OB1203 for a cleaner, more aesthetically pleasing product design, says a press release.

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A major application of the device is in smart phones or other mobile devices to enable brightness control of display panels. OB1203 can also determine proximity of nearby objects in order to support the deactivation of touch screen displays during phone calls.

The OB1203 comes with clinical-grade heart rate (HR) and SP02 algorithms, an easily customized Android app, and only requires power and three data lines to operate.

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

“Our OB1203 is the most advanced biosensor for front and upward facing applications, such as in mobile and wearable devices,” said Rudi Hechfellner, director of sensing technology at IDT. “Unlike other sensor technologies, the OB1203 can operate behind IR cover ink so that the sensor components are virtually invisible. This allows for a more pleasing industrial design and improved ergonomics for a better user experience. The tiny, fully integrated and calibrated all-in-one biosensor comes with a complete design toolkit and doesn't require subject matter design expertise.”

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Spark Biomedical, a neurostimulation device company based in Dallas, received an SBIR grant totaling $217,690 from the National Institutes of Health HEAL initiative. Spark develop wearables to treat opioid withdrawal symptoms. The company said the money will be used to validate the use of transcutaneous auricular neurostimulation to relieve withdrawal symptoms in infants born with neonatal abstinence syndrome (NAS).

Read more This Wearable Detects Opioid Overdose and Automatically Calls for Help

According to the latest statistics from the National Institute on Drug Abuse, an estimated 32,000 babies were born with NAS in the United States in 2014, a more than 5-fold increase since 2004. That equates to a baby born every 15 minutes in opioid withdrawal. NAS is a condition where a fetus is exposed to opioids or other substances in the womb and experiences withdrawal symptoms hours after birth.

“These are the most innocent and often overlooked victims of the opioid epidemic, whose first days on earth include experiencing the painful process of withdrawal,” said Daniel Powell, CEO of Spark Biomedical. “The current NAS treatment is to administer either morphine or methadone every few hours to titrate these infants down over a couple of weeks, simply because there are no other options. That, to us, is just not acceptable. If our technology can reduce or prevent the pain as well as the need to use opioids on a newborn, we believe it could give these infants a significantly better start in life and set them on a better path from the beginning.”

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Spark Biomedical's battery-powered wearable device delivers mild electrical stimulation through the skin around the ear, targeting cranial nerve branches. The battery lasts the entire 10-day treatment period, said the company in a press release.

A clinical study, hosted by the Medical University of South Carolina, is set to start in November. The study will be overseen by Principal Investigator Dr. Navid Khodaparast, Spark Biomedical's Chief Science Officer.

Read more Neurometrix Unveils Its Latest Innovation Quell 2.0: A Wearable Pain Relief Technology

“The incidence of neonatal abstinence syndrome continues to reach new highs and is too debilitating for us to accept current treatment,” said Dr. Khodaparast. “We have designed a study that will test a safe, therapeutic option to restore quality of life for infants and ultimately, families. In addition to our adult clinical trial beginning in October, we look to quickly follow with this study and extend the indication into the neonatal segment.”

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Portland, OR-based performance wearables maker MIO has launched mioPOD, an advanced heart rate monitor that provides accurate heart rate tracking for performance training. mioPOD uses optical sensors by Valencell, a company that is an exhibitor of the WT | Wearable Technologies Conference Series.

Aimed at elite athletes, trainers and fitness enthusiasts, the wristband-type wearable device is meant to be worn on the upper arm or forearm. It delivers reliable heart rate monitoring, haptic alerts and glanceable color zones for real-time heart rate intensity.

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mioPOD was designed to capture accurate heart rate during intense exercises, such as cycling, high intensity interval training, gym and personal trainer workouts, body resistance, weight training, TRX, resistance training and for any athlete serious about performance training, said the company in a press release.

Since it is worn on your arm rather than your wrist, mioPOD is more resilient to blood flow, generating a more consistent signal with less noise and allows for reliable heart rate tracking. While wrist-based devices perform well on flat roads or during even-paced exercises, they are often susceptible to inaccuracies during irregular exercises and training.

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"We set out to create a performance training tracker for those serious about personal training, delivering EKG-accurate heart rate data at performance-level speeds without the need for an uncomfortable chest strap," said MIO Vice President of Sales, Marcelo Aller. "Our mission for the last two decades has been to empower everyone to reach his or her goals using our innovative technology, to achieve personal records, better themselves, and – most importantly – to train with heart."

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Some of the features include:

Cardio Pilot. A glanceable technology with color zones that delivers real-time heart rate intensity, helping to keep the user in their cardio zone, according to their personal training goals.

Haptic Alerts. Warns the user if the signal is on, low battery status or when they simply traversed into a new selected cardio training zone.

Recovery Time Advisor. Predicts the amount of time required to be in a ready state for the next challenging effort

Training Load. Delivers report on how hard the athlete has been working over the past week, calculating the accumulated impact of all heart rate recorded training.

Valencell Optical Sensor. mioPOD uses Valencell Optical technology, an ultra-low-power tech that provides more accurate signal process of heart beat.

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Baby boomers make up the largest portion of healthcare service consumer group. Their expectations and lifestyles are therefore making an impact on how technology companies upgrade their devices, including hearing aids.

“They are the largest consumer of healthcare services, and they are very avid consumers of healthcare information and seek out information themselves,” Daniel Shen, founder of hearing aid company Eargo, said at the Connected Health Conference last week in Boston. “They approach the healthcare providers with greater initiative than older generations. What that means is from a medical device or solution standpoint, they are a very important generation and they may be able to seek out their own sources of information and not just from their doctors.”

Read more Signia Styletto: High-tech Hearing Aids with Stylish Design

Approximately 30 million Americans are affected by hearing loss, according to the National Institute on Deafness and Other Communication Disorders, and older people are most affected by hearing loss. But many seniors still find it difficult to get hearing aids, reports MobiHealthNews. A single hearing aid costs around $2,300. Since these devices are not covered by Medicare, many senior citizens find it very hard to buy one.

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The baby boomer population is mostly tech savvy. Around 68% of this population uses smartphone, according to the Pew Research Center. Their familiarity with technology and their particular needs is driving tech companies to develop hearing aids that fit their needs.

“Designing for the baby boomer population isn’t about designing for millennials with grey hair. There are certain things designers have to keep in mind,” Charlotte Yeh, chief medical officer at AARP, told MobiHealthNews. “First of all, the common trends of consumer electronics which use small text or unlabeled or nearly invisible buttons or unintuitive interfaces may not cut it. Designers have to keep in mind there may be limitations in terms of the hearing, vision and dexterity of this population.”

Read more Eargo Launches Eargo Neo Invisible Hearing Aids

Tech companies like Apple, Eargo and Google are getting involved in the hearing aid space. While Eargo team narrowed in on comfort, affordability, natural sound and a discrete look, Apple partnered with several hearing aid companies to stream the technology. Google teamed up with Cochlear and GN Hearing to launch a new service that uses Bluetooth Low Energy to stream content from Android devices directly to hearing aids.

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Mobile ECG maker AliveCor has raised $5.78 million in new funds, according to an SEC filing. First spotted by Exits & Outcomes’ Brian Dolan, the filing lists the company’s total offerings at $9.1 million, leaving roughly $3.4 million left on the table to be sold to potential investors. This investment grows on the Mayo Clinic and Omron Healthcare-led $30 million funding the company raised in 2017, reports MobiHealthNews. The company hasn’t yet said how it will use the new funds.

AliveCor focuses on single- and six-lead smartphone ECGs and AI-based reading interpretations. The company’s latest product, KardiaMobile 6L, delivers six times more data. KardiaMobile 6L has two electrodes on the top for your fingers, and one on the bottom to contact the skin of your left leg. KardiaMobile 6L delivers EKG leads I, II, III, aVL, aVR, and aVF. All without messy gels and wires. When the user places his or her thumb on the device’s front electrodes, a third node on the back is pressed against the user’s knee or ankle. This enables the technology to give cardiologist six perspectives on the heart’s electrical activity.

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Read more AliveCor Stops Selling KardiaBand, Its ECG Accessory for Apple Watches

KardiaMobile 6L detects AFib, Bradycardia, Tachycardia & Normal heart rhythm. It provides doctors more detailed heart information and visibility into certain arrhythmias that are leading indicators of cardiovascular disease, the company says.

The company’s KardiaAI, a dual-update to its existing KardiaMobile and KardiaStation platforms for consumer and point-of-care-use recently received clearance from the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA).

In April, Complete™, a blood pressure monitor with EKG capability, which Omron developed in collaboration with AliveCor, received FDA clearance. The device is an upper arm blood pressure monitor that allows users to simultaneously monitor EKG and blood pressure readings at home. EKG readings can be measured by touching electrodes conveniently located on the top face and both sides of the monitor for easy access and comfort.

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For a partnership between a startup and a hospital to function properly, various components must work in sync. For example, the startup must be willing to listen to the hospital’s problems and provide help that addresses the issues and for the hospital, it needs enthusiastic executive buy-in and a strong champion, according to MobiHealthNews.

In February, Ada Health formed a partnership with Sutter Health, a leading U.S.-based not-for-profit healthcare network to offer personalized, on-demand health guidance to help patients make informed decisions about next steps for care. As part of the collaboration, Ada’s AI-powered symptom assessment and care navigation platform was integrated into Sutter Health’s website and My Health Online patient portal, giving more than 3 million current Sutter patients, as well as new website visitors, a personalized care experience.

Read more How Mobile Monitoring Solutions are Improving Healthcare

While having a conversation with patients, Ada Health’s chatbot uses AI and asks them about symptoms. It then generates different questions based on their symptoms and eventually produces a list of possible causes with associated probabilities.

Working with Sutter Health, Ada built a version of its technology that users could access from Sutter’s website or patient portal that would ultimately send them to the appropriate place for care.

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“What we’ve done is we’ve mapped our triage options to Sutter Health’s healthcare options, and we then geolocate a patient, show them the closest facilities, we map it for them, and then we allow them to go into MyChart and book that appointment,” Cutler told MobiHealthNews.

Since the start of deployment five months ago, the partnership has completed 20,000 assessments, averaging 100 per day. They did two-thirds of those between 6 p.m. and 9 a.m., and half of them ended up directing users to non-emergency care.

“We want to get the roadmap right, we want to get the integration with the industry tools right, and we want to prove the ROI,” Cutler said. “So, we’re literally defining the value of moving someone from a high-priced or potentially unnecessary venue of care like an emergency room to a lower-cost more relevant service, and once we define that value we’re going to define some metrics around it and make sure we move the relationship in that direction.”

Read more Embracing Artificial Intelligence and Machine Learning in Healthcare

Ada and Sutter are planning to continue their partnership and keep making improvements. A Spanish language version of the platform and integration with telemedicine are on the cards, reports MobiHealthNews.

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Beddr, the maker of SleepTuner, an FDA-registered consumer wearable that can measure your sleep, launched a new program that provides employees with a sleep tracking device, weekly coaching and referrals to experts, reports MobiHealthNews.

“Sleep is the foundation to every employee’s mental and physical health. High-quality sleep has been shown to both reduce healthcare costs, as well as improve productivity, but most employers haven’t found a comprehensive program that addresses the primary root causes of sleep issues and that benefits their entire workforce,” Michael Kisch, CEO and cofounder of Beddr, said in a statement. “Beddr’s program helps people who have a combination of physiological, psychological, and lifestyle causes of their chronic sleep issues. By enabling people to understand the root causes of their sleep problems and providing easier access to coaching and physicians, we have seen a dramatic increase among our users relative to the overall population in their understanding of their sleep health and how their choices impact their overall sleep quality.”

Read more Sleep Health Solution Dreem 2 Smart Headband Launches in the US

Beddr’s SleepTuner is an FDA-registered sensor that the company launched late last year. The device sticks to the user’s forehead, where it measures blood oxygenation, heart rate, sleep position and stopped breathing events. These data are then transmitted to the connected mobile app for the users to view trends describing their sleep quality and potential approaches to addressing them.

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The Beddr program costs $349 per person and includes the SleepTuner, mobile app. A four-week sleep coaching is also included in the program. At the end of the four-week program, participants can choose a monthly subscription service and continue working with a coach and further enhance their sleep. While Beddr’s solution is first being offered to employers, it will be available directly to consumers in the near future.

“Beddr is making sleep health more affordable and accessible by bringing the power of a sleep lab into the comfort of your home, combining clinical data and sleep science with guided behavioral change. Whether a person has insomnia, sleep apnea or poor sleep hygiene, Beddr can help people understand, improve and achieve their true sleep,” said Kisch.

Read more WatchPAT One, a Fully Disposable Home Sleep Apnea Test Receives FDA Clearance

Beddr was founded in 2016 and is based in Mountain View, California. The company also has offices in Seattle.

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Healx, an UK-based health tech firm that specializes in treatments for rare diseases, has raised $56 million in a Series B financing round, led by one of Europe’s largest VC firms Atomico and joined by Intel Capital, Global Brain and btov Partners. All previous investors, including Balderton Capital, Amadeus Capital Partners, and Jonathan Milner also participated in the round. Healx said it will use the money to develop the company’s therapeutic pipeline and to launch its global Rare Treatment Accelerator program.

Read more Top 5 Health Tech Companies That Are Developing Wearable Medical Devices

“The size of this Series B financing, especially this quickly after our Series A round last year, is an endorsement of the value of our platform and the pace at which we have developed. It allows us to scale our impact with the launch of our Rare Treatment Accelerator program and to progress into clinical trials,” said Healx Co-Founder and CEO, Dr Tim Guilliams.

“The trials for our fragile X treatments are just the start of the impact we believe our technology is capable of having on drug discovery. Rare diseases affect over 400 million patients world-wide. Of the 7,000 rare diseases known today, 95% are still without an approved treatment.”

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Traditional method of drug discovery and clinical development of new medicines is very expensive in terms of costs, timelines and efficacy. “To bring a new drug to market typically costs $2-3 billion, takes 12-14 years to develop and has a 95% failure rate,” Guilliams told TechCrunch.

Healx’s AI-driven approach makes the process faster, more efficient and more cost-effective, the company said. With the launch of the Rare Treatment Accelerator, Healx and partnering patient groups will be able to scale the impact of this approach by leveraging the power of AI and combining their knowledge, information and expertise so that, together, they can discover new treatments and move them towards the clinic within 24 months.

Read more Tiny Bluetooth-Driven Implant Deliver Drugs for Chronic Disease Management

The company said its mission is to advance 100 rare disease treatments towards the clinic by 2025. Healnet, Healx’s AI platform, delivers data-driven treatment predictions, which shortens the discovery-to-clinic timeline to as little as 24 months. It is the world’s leading AI platform on rare diseases and integrates scientific literature, clinical trial results and proprietary data in the form of a biomedical knowledge graph, pinpointing the potential therapeutic relationships between drugs and diseases.

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Garmin announced its latest swimming smartwatch, the Garmin Swim 2, promising hardened swimmers a new way to monitor their fitness, progress and health. The watch can be used in the pool or in open water to monitor heart rate at the wrist while also tracking distance, pace, SWOLF score, stroke count and distance per stroke. It can also track rests, timed sets, and log drills. If you like to exercise out of the pool, you can also log running and cycling.

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“No matter where you decide to swim, the new Garmin Swim 2 will track your workout,” said Dan Bartel, Garmin vice president of global consumer sales. “Designed for all types of swimming enthusiasts, from frequent fitness swimmers to competitive, Masters or open water swimmers, this GPS smartwatch will not only help you train better in the water, but also monitor other key health metrics throughout the day.”

The open-water swim mode uses built-in GPS for swims in lakes, oceans or rivers while additionally recording stroke distance, reports Business Wire.

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Garmin Swim 2 is designed to be worn all day. It can also track steps, monitor sleep quality and more. With an array of connected features, the Garmin Swim 2 lets users stay in touch with the rest of the world, even while on the move. When paired with a compatible smartphone, it automatically uploads to Garmin Connect™, an online fitness community where users can analyze their activity, track their progress and create custom workouts. Directly from the wrist, users will be able to receive text messages and view social media updates, emails and more.

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The Garmin Swim 2 features up to 7 days of battery life in smartwatch mode, up to 13 hours in GPS and optical heart rate (OHR) mode and up to 72 hours in pool and OHR mode. It is available now for sale via Garmin’s website and Amazon. The watch comes in 2 colors: Slate and Whitestone. The suggested retail price is $249.99.

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Tech giant Apple has won a patent for a smart ring that could let you control your other devices without touching them.

Based on the patent application filed by Apple, the electronic ring computing device will feature a touchscreen, wireless transceiver, processor, sensors, and a rechargeable power source.

Read more Apple’s Patent Suggests Health Tracking via Smart Clothes

The patent was originally filed in 2015 and it is unclear if this will become a commercial Apple product.

In the patent Apple explains that touchscreen devices can be seen as "cumbersome, inconvenient, or inefficient for certain tasks and applications,” reports The Sun. The company says the Apple Ring could be a more efficient way to control iPhone or iPad from a distance because holding these devices for too long could fatigue some users.

Apple also underlines the potential safety features of the ring. It says that the light emitted from some touchscreen devices such as a smartphone, could be “inappropriate in certain social environments or even dangerous if it gives away the position of a threatened user.” Therefore, the company says that in a dangerous situation the smart ring could be a safer and more discreet way for people to get help.

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Apple also suggests that the ring might contain a telephone module for making phone calls and that the touch surface could be either a pad or a small screen.

The Apple ring can communicate to the device it’s paired with in various ways, like Wi-Fi, Bluetooth, cellular, and NFC. The patent draws a scenario where the user is able to transfer money to someone else with a handshake, and authorize the transaction with a voice command. This could also be used to transfer messages or share files with another ring user. The ring also has biometric sensors and can monitor the wearer’s heart rate.

Read more Oura Ring’s New Feature ‘Moment’ Tracks Your Meditation

According to The Sun report, if this smart ring is meant to be a supplementary device for other wearables like the rumored Apple Glasses then the Apple ring could be launching around 2020.

Back in the day a visit to the doctor’s office was a more fulfilling experience for the patient. The doctor would ask them questions about their health condition and their medications. The entire time the doctor’s focus would be on the patient and not on a computer screen and the doctor wouldn’t be pecking on the keyboard or search for the patient’s medical record on the computer. However, this scenario is far from the norm today.

Read more Fitbits could help save the lives of chemo patients by helping doctors predict patient reaction

But all these might change because of artificial intelligence (AI). According to experts, in an exam room of the future, the doctor would be able to call up a lab result or prescribe a new medicine with a simple voice command. The doctor wouldn’t be distracted by entering symptoms into your electronic health record (EHR).

Now, software provider Nuance Communications and Microsoft have partnered to transform the clinical experience for doctors and patients. The companies said their partnership will accelerate the delivery of ambient clinical intelligence (ACI) technologies that will power the exam room of the future where clinical documentation writes itself, reports Microsoft.

The Nuance-Microsoft partnership will bring together leading technologies from both companies:

• Nuance’s healthcare-optimized speech recognition and processing solutions such as its Dragon Medical platform already used by more than 500,000 physicians worldwide; advanced conversational AI for ambient clinical documentation and decision support; voice biometrics; and specialized ambient sensing hardware
• Microsoft Azure, Azure AI and Project EmpowerMD Intelligent Scribe Service backed with advanced conversational AI and natural language understanding

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“The Microsoft partnership will accelerate our ability to solve for healthcare’s most pressing challenges — together,” said Mark Benjamin, Nuance CEO. “The ambient technologies we will jointly deliver can improve productivity and professional satisfaction, while empowering doctors to focus on what they do best: take care of patients.”

Physician burnout is at epidemic levels. A recent study shows that primary care doctors now spend two hours on administrative tasks for every hour they’re involved in direct patient care. Physicians reported one to two hours of after-hours work each night, mostly related to administrative tasks.

Microsoft CEO, Satya Nadella, said, “We have an incredible opportunity to use advances in cloud and AI technology to transform healthcare delivery. Together with Nuance, we will apply the power of Azure and Azure AI to this challenge, with the aim of improving the day-to-day life of firstline healthcare workers everywhere — so they can provide better care.”

Read more Microsoft Patents Multidimensional Heart Rate Sensor that Delivers Accurate Data on Wearables

The companies will expand upon Nuance’s early success with ACI and expect to introduce the technology to an initial set of physician specialties in early 2020. Built on Microsoft Azure, this new technology will marry the two companies’ strengths in developing ambient sensing and conversational AI solutions, including ambient listening, wake-up word, voice biometrics, signal enhancement, document summarization, natural language understanding, clinical intelligence and text-to-speech.

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The Vatican announced that it launched a wearable smart device that connects with a smartphone app for guided prayer.

Read more This Smart Bracelet Uses Your Heartbeat to Authenticate Access

Launched by the Pope's Worldwide Prayer Network, the "Click to Prayer eRosary" is a device targeted to young people as a tool to educate about praying the rosary, according to the Vatican News, the church's official communication channel, reports NBC News.

"Click to Prayer eRosary" is a project under the Pope’s Worldwide Prayer Network, a network focused on "mobilizing Catholics through prayer and action," said the Vatican.

The device is activated by making the sign of the cross and will keep track of a user's rosary progress. It consists of 10 black beads and a "smart cross" that stores data linked to the app.

“Physically, the device consists of ten consecutive black agate and hematite rosary beads, and of a smart cross which stores all the technological data connected to the app.  When activated, the user has the possibility to choose either to pray the standard rosary, a contemplative Rosary and different kinds of thematic rosaries that will be updated every year. Once the prayer begins, the smart rosary shows the user’s progress throughout the different mysteries and keeps track of each rosary completed,” said Vatican News.

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The smart rosary also has health features to encourage the faithful to pursue a healthy lifestyle. For example, it tracks the number of steps the user makes during the day and calories burned.

Read more Covestro Unveils Smart Bracelet that Regulates Body Temperature

“Aimed at the peripheral frontiers of the digital world where the young people dwell, the Click To Pray eRosary serves as a technology-based pedagogy to teach the young how to pray for peace, how to contemplate the Gospel,” said the Holy See's press office.

The eRosary is on sale now for 99 euros or $110 on Amazon and from Acer. The Business Insider reports that as of now, it’s not available in Italy and soon it’ll be available in the United States.

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Wearable device maker Fitbit and pharmaceutical giants Bristol-Myers Squibb and Pfizer have signed a multiyear partnership to speed up the detection and diagnosis of atrial fibrillation (AFib) to reduce the risk of life-threatening events such as stroke.

The alliance plan to collaborate on the development of educational content and guidance to support people at increased risk for AFib. Upon submission and FDA clearance of the AFib detection software on Fitbit devices, the parties will aim to provide users with appropriate information to help encourage and inform discussions with their physicians.

Read more Johnson & Johnson Collaborates with Apple to Use its App with Apple Watch in AFib Study

“We’re in a new era of healthcare, where we’re not only focused on developing treatments but also looking at the potential of technology and data to help patients learn more about their health,” said Angela Hwang, Group President, Pfizer Biopharmaceuticals Group. “We are excited about wearables and how our work with BMS and Fitbit may potentially help patients and physicians detect and understand heart rhythm irregularities.”

Atrial fibrillation is the most common type of irregular heartbeat and is a significant risk factor for stroke. During AFib, the heart's two upper chambers (the atria) beat chaotically and irregularly – out of coordination with the two lower chambers (the ventricles) of the heart. Approximately eight million people in the United States are projected to be affected by AFib in 2019. As the U.S. population ages, this number is expected to rise, as adults aged 65 and older are at an increased risk of developing the condition. Because AFib can be asymptomatic, it can often go undetected, and some studies suggest that more than 25 percent of people who have the condition find out after they have a stroke, says a press release.

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Wearable technology has continued to become more integrated in the healthcare landscape5 as people have recognized the value that 24/7 health tracking can have for them. Fitbit’s user-generated data, in combination with its analytics talent, gives the company an advantage when it comes to determining how cost-effective certain health-related behavioral changes are.

Read more Alphabet and iRhythm Partner Up to Develop Health Management Solutions for Atrial Fibrillation Patients

“At Fitbit, we’re focused on making health more accessible and, through our efforts with the BMS-Pfizer Alliance, we have the potential to support earlier detection of atrial fibrillation, a potentially asymptomatic condition that affects millions of Americans,” said James Park, Co-founder and CEO of Fitbit. “With our continuous, 24/7 on-wrist health tracking capabilities, and our experience delivering personalized, engaging software and services, we believe we can develop content to help bridge the gaps that exist in atrial fibrillation detection, encouraging people to visit their doctor for a prompt diagnosis and potentially reduce their risk of stroke.”

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Not too long ago, the only way for people to precisely check their health status was to go to the doctor’s office and undergo a series of tests. Now, with the advent of wearable technology people can take more pro-active roles in monitoring their health. From big companies like Apple and Samsung to small startups like Kinetic, many have jumped on the wearable bandwagon. Here are top 5 companies that are developing wearable medical devices.

1. Apple

Apple is a top competitor in the health wearables market. Dramatic growth in Apple’s wearables means Apple Watch and AirPods will overtake both iPad and Mac by the end of next year. The Apple Watch Series 4 includes an ECG that alerts the wearer about their irregular heart rhythms and high/low heart rates. In September, the company said that it is collaborating with leading medical institutions to examine hearing, women’s health, and heart and movement study. The tech giant said it will begin enrolling consumers for the 3 studies later this year through an upcoming app.

2. Proteus

Proteus Digital Health is an industry leader in Digital Medicine – one of the latest categories of pharmaceuticals, reports Business Insider. The company’s product Proteus Discover is a smart pill with ingestible sensors, a small wearable sensor patch, an application on a mobile device and a provider portal. Once activated, Proteus Discover unlocks never-before-seen insight into patient health patterns and medication treatment effectiveness, leading to more informed healthcare decisions for everyone involved.

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3. Fitbit

Fitbit has been a leader in wearable technology for years. The San Francisco, CA-based company was the first to introduce wireless syncing with wireless devices. The company’s latest smartwatch, the Fitbit Versa 2 is a health & fitness smartwatch with 24/7 heart rate tracking, Sleep Score, apps and more.

Read more These Companies Are Showcasing Their Best Wearables for the Athletes at CES 2019

4. Athos

Athos is at the forefront of smart clothing. Its shirts and shorts are sensor-filled garments that can measure various factors, as you exercise. Athos Core can monitor your muscle activity, the heart rate, and even the breathing rate. ‘Core’ is the name chosen by Athos designers, according to its style as a small capsule glued to the garments. The device syncs with fabric embedded sensors and delivers the collected data, via Bluetooth, to your smartphone. The Core 2 shorts start at $340, and the shirt starts at $390 each.

5. Neurotech

Neurotech is the innovator of in-home EEG setups with remote real-time monitoring. Neurotech performs both Routine and Long-Term Monitored EEG studies. Their in-home, Long-Term Monitored EEG studies can be recorded for any clinically necessary duration. The company contacts patients within one business day of insurance preauthorization, and most EEGs can be started within a few days. All EEG results are available on Neurotech’s innovative Physician Database that includes an online reporting system.

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From muscle strains to ankle sprains, sports can bring about a number of injuries. Sometimes preventing common sports injuries is beyond our control, but many times sports injuries are preventable. Now, Fathom AI, a Durham-based startup founded by two former Duke athletes, developed a new wearable app and sensor that can help professional athletes minimize their risk of injury.

Read more Smart Pill that Protects Athletes from Overheating to Be Trialed in Doha

Ivonna Dumanyan, 24, and Gabrielle Levac, 27, the two former Duke athletes, recently launched their three-sensor wearable. The device consists of a smartphone app and three sticker-sized biosensors that are attached to the ankles and lower back of the wearer. It collects readings from more than 100 different biodata categories such as fatigue, variation in performance between days and between exercises. The wearable uses artificial intelligence and the athlete’s biodata to build a customized prep and recovery routine and prevent sports injuries.

“We’re really hoping to make a big difference in the lives of the people we serve,” Dumanyan told WRAL TechWire.

“Many people don’t realize that the most effective injury prevention may start with just 10 or 15 minutes daily of data-driven prep and recovery to keep small things from becoming serious injuries.”

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An AI analyzes the metrics in order to determine whether an athlete might be overtraining or pushing their body into states where injury could become more likely. The technology can also work together with other biometric data apps like Apple Health or Garmin's smartwatches.

“We essentially build this massive model on how you move that is unique to you,” Dumanyan said. “From that, we create a hyper- personalized exercise plan to balance the stresses on your body and correct those imbalances.”

Read more Gatorade’s GX Sweat Patch Helps Athletes Keep Track of Hydration and Lost Nutrients

Although the device is undergoing limited testing, anyone wishing to use it can order it via the company’s website.

The company plans to launch the wearables soon for a retail price of $299 plus a $29 monthly subscription.

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ProGlove, a Munich, Germany-based leading provider of industrial wearables just launched a new wearable barcode scanner for companies with low-frequency scanning environments such as product returns or quality control. Dubbed ‘Reel’, the scanner features pull-to-action function. Its customizable attachment positions ensure there is no contact with the scanned items, so it is also a perfect option for those organizations that handle highly sensitive elements. Reel works with all scanners of the MARK product family, and a set of two sells for $199 USD.

Read more ProGlove Unveils Mark 2, State-of-the-Art Handsfree Barcode Scanner

When the highly durable 27.5-inch Aramid thread is pulled, Reel’s pull-to-action feature triggers the scan engine. Workers can easily scan items within their reach, without having to carry a heavy, bulky, conventional pistol scanner, said a press release.

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“The addition of Reel to our product portfolio opens a new set of use cases and further demonstrates our commitment to advancing the industrial wearables and software market in order to streamline workflow for our customers, said Thomas Kirchner, Vice President Product at ProGlove. “Reel is the latest example of how we continually innovate to ensure we are ahead of the curve when it comes to the application of industrial wearables and addressing the wants and needs of the market.”

ProGlove is a leading manufacturer of industrial wearables. In September the company raised $40 million investment from global growth equity firm Summit Partners. The smart solutions of ProGlove are used by more than 500 renowned organizations in manufacturing, production, logistics and retail. The company was founded in December 2014 after winning the Intel "Make it Wearable" Challenge in Silicon Valley. ProGlove is backed by growth focused investors Summit Partners, DIVC and Bayern Capital. ProGlove employs 160 people from over 40 countries at its two sites in Munich and Chicago.

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Electronics giant Sony has launched its new mSafety mobile health platform at the Connected Health Conference in Boston. The platform combines a connected wearable device, a wristwatch, with a cloud-based backend solution to enable payers, health systems, and digital health companies incorporate a straightforward wearable sensor into their existing remote monitoring services. Sony plans a formal rollout of the solution in 2020.

Read more How Mobile Monitoring Solutions are Improving Healthcare

“We’ve been talking to a number of remote monitoring companies and mobile health companies about if they are looking into this kind of make-or-buy decision for adding a wearable into their proposition,” Anders Stromberg, head of the wearable platform department in Sony’s European Network Communications group, told MobiHealthNews. “We’ve found in a number of companies [that] they definitely don’t want to spend money on developing their own wearable. And they find existing smartwatch solutions being too dependent on … having a mobile phone together with a smartwatch. And [they also want] to have a much more simple solution for their specific use case, so they [want] to remove all these bells and whistle that may be useful for emailing or other things, and really do a dedicated solution.”

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The platform comprises of two main components: 1) The wearable watch with sensors measure heart rate, heart rate variability and sleep position. External devices can be connected to it via Bluetooth. 2)The cloud-based backend gives providers the ability to monitor their patients, push messages to encourage compliance and update software. All data is encrypted – whether it comes from the device or the cloud.

Read more Current Health Partners with VivaLNK and MIR to Improve Remote Patient Monitoring

“It is something that will be around for a very long time. We are addressing that it can be used as a medical device, we will support it as a medical device,” Stromberg told MobiHealthNews. “We’re willing to keep it alive for them, … if we take the diabetes companies and cardiovascular companies, we see that by providing this deep management function, they can update and upgrade their application over the air in our backend and we will maintain the software, but we are also prepared if they need to have a very long lifespan to their [device].”

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Google showed off its Pixel 4’s “Motion Sense” features at the Made By Google unveiling event in New York City. Using gestures users can silence calls, skip tracks, and even interact with the Pokémon Pikachu, all without touching the phone.

Read more Google Files Patent for a Gesture-Based Smartwatch That Could Be Used for Video Conferencing

Google announced Project Soli back in 2015. The Soli chip uses a small radar sensor to monitor the movements of your hand. With the Pixels, users will be able to wave their hands at the device to control it. The chip will also be used to predict certain actions before users even tell the phone to carry them out.

“Pixel 4 has the fastest secure face unlock on a smartphone, because the process starts before you’ve even picked up your phone,” said Sabrina Ellis, Director of Product at Google.

“Motion Sense prepares the camera when you reach for your Pixel 4 so you don’t need to tap the screen.”

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Health Applications

While Pixel 4 announcement wasn’t around health, it had a quick reference to “personal wellness” as part of Google’s future plans for the technology. But health applications could be around the corner, reports MobiHealthNews.

“Radar’s been around for a long time and it’s still one of the best ways to sense motion. It’s precise, it’s low-power, and it’s fast. … But radar sensors have always been way too big to fit in a phone. So we shrank it down into a tiny chip,” Ellis said at the event. “The Soli team is working on a wide range of helpful new features, from gaming to personal wellness.”

Read more Kenyan Invents Smart Gloves that Turn Sign Language Gestures into Audio Speech

Last year, University of Waterloo researchers described a proof-of-concept system that uses Google’s Soli to track concentrations of glucoses within a solution. With further improvement, this technology could be used in diabetes management where patients can manage their blood glucose levels in a noninvasive and novel way.

Now, out of the box a Pixel 4 may not have the ability to noninvasively monitor blood glucose, it shows the potential of the underlying technology, according to MobiHealthNews report.

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