For Amazon, the year 2020 was a very busy year. The company expanded its employee health offerings and launched its first wearable device.

Read more Amazon Reportedly Working on an Emotion Tracking Wearable

Amazon’s third-quarter 2020 fiscal results show that the e-commerce giant was able to increase its sales and cash flow, despite disruption due to the pandemic.

Amazon started the year by launching Amazon Care, virtual primacy care for its employees and their families living in Seattle. Amazon Care enabled patients to access care through multiple channels including texting, video chat and a mobile care clinic, where a nurse will come to the patient’s home or office. The patients are also able to get their medications to deliver via a “Care Courier” at their home or office.

2020 was also the year when the world was devastated by Coronavirus. There were several outbreaks at Amazon warehouses. In June, the company announced that it was ramping up plans to test its fulfillment center workers for coronavirus, reports MobiHealthNews.

In August, Amazon entered the wearables space by launching Amazon Halo, an on-wrist health tracker with an accompanying app. The device has a fabric band and doesn’t have a screen. The sensors track activity, temperature, and heart rate.

Amazon inked a deal with Oral-B to launch a voice-integrated toothbrush system that gives users tips on their brushing habits. The joint system includes an Oral-B electric toothbrush, an Alexa built-in smart charger base, an Oral-B brush head, and a Quick-Start guide. Besides the health focus, the Amazon built-in can play music, listen to the news and let users order more brush heads, MobiHealthNews reported.

Read more Amazon’s Halo Fitness Tracker Can Detect Your Body Fat and Tone of Voice

In November, launched a digital pharmacy, called Amazon Pharmacy, that lets customers order and manage their prescription medications online and get them delivered at home.

Novartis is partnering with German digital health company smartpatient to launch a new app feature on the MyTherapy app for patients with wet macular degeneration (AMD). Called “See What’s Next,” the new feature is designed to encourage people living with this condition to improve their treatment adherence, which is crucial to reducing the risk of vision loss.

Read more Comcast Partners with NuEyes to Help Customers with Visual Disabilities Watch TV

“Non-adherence is a challenge in most health conditions, but in few are consequences as direct and severe as in wet AMD,” says Sebastian Gaede, chief executive officer of smartpatient. “I was truly impressed seeing Novartis and us working as one team, with every single team member highly motivated by our shared goal of supporting patients in avoiding complications and reducing the risk of vision loss,” he added.

Patients are able to tap into a personalized app that will show them the tools most applicable to their needs. Ophthalmologists can provide patients with access to the system, reports MobiHealthNews.

Novartis initially reached out to smartpatient when it noticed a pattern of patients who would come in for one or two injections of its anti-vascular endothelial growth factor therapy treatment Beovu, but not return.

Wet AMD affects more than 20 million people worldwide, and is the leading cause of blindness in people over the age of 65 in the US, Europe, Australia, and Asia. It develops when abnormal blood vessels grow into the macula of the eye. These vessels leak blood or fluid which leads to scarring of the macula and rapid loss of central vision.

Early symptoms include distorted vision and as the disease progresses, cell damage increases, resulting in a further reduction in vision quality.

Read more Pfizer Teams Up with Popit to Improve Medication Adherence

Big pharma companies like Novartis are increasingly turning towards the digital health space to support adherence measures, drug discovery and digital therapeutics.

“See What’s Next” is currently available in Italy and Spain, with other markets to follow.

Novartis is partnering with German digital health company smartpatient to launch a new app feature on the MyTherapy app for patients with wet macular degeneration (AMD). Called "See What’s Next," the new feature is designed to encourage people living with this condition to improve their treatment adherence, which is crucial to reducing the risk of vision loss.

Read more: Comcast Partners with NuEyes to Help Customers with Visual Disabilities Watch TV

“Non-adherence is a challenge in most health conditions, but in few are consequences as direct and severe as in wet AMD,” says Sebastian Gaede, chief executive officer of smartpatient. “I was truly impressed seeing Novartis and us working as one team, with every single team member highly motivated by our shared goal of supporting patients in avoiding complications and reducing the risk of vision loss,” he added.

Patients are able to tap into a personalized app that will show them the tools most applicable to their needs. Ophthalmologists can provide patients with access to the system, reports MobiHealthNews.

Novartis initially reached out to smartpatient when it noticed a pattern of patients who would come in for one or two injections of its anti-vascular endothelial growth factor therapy treatment Beovu, but not return.

Wet AMD affects more than 20 million people worldwide, and is the leading cause of blindness in people over the age of 65 in the US, Europe, Australia, and Asia. It develops when abnormal blood vessels grow into the macula of the eye. These vessels leak blood or fluid which leads to scarring of the macula and rapid loss of central vision.

Early symptoms include distorted vision and as the disease progresses, cell damage increases, resulting in a further reduction in vision quality.

Read more: Pfizer Teams Up with Popit to Improve Medication Adherence

Big pharma companies like Novartis are increasingly turning towards the digital health space to support adherence measures, drug discovery and digital therapeutics.

“See What’s Next” is currently available in Italy and Spain, with other markets to follow.

For Amazon, the year 2020 was a very busy year. The company expanded its employee health offerings and launched its first wearable device.

Read more: Amazon Reportedly Working on an Emotion Tracking Wearable

Amazon’s third-quarter 2020 fiscal results show that the e-commerce giant was able to increase its sales and cash flow, despite disruption due to the pandemic.

Amazon started the year by launching Amazon Care, virtual primacy care for its employees and their families living in Seattle. Amazon Care enabled patients to access care through multiple channels including texting, video chat and a mobile care clinic, where a nurse will come to the patient’s home or office. The patients are also able to get their medications to deliver via a “Care Courier” at their home or office.

2020 was also the year when the world was devastated by Coronavirus. There were several outbreaks at Amazon warehouses. In June, the company announced that it was ramping up plans to test its fulfillment center workers for coronavirus, reports MobiHealthNews.

In August, Amazon entered the wearables space by launching Amazon Halo, an on-wrist health tracker with an accompanying app. The device has a fabric band and doesn’t have a screen. The sensors track activity, temperature, and heart rate.

Amazon inked a deal with Oral-B to launch a voice-integrated toothbrush system that gives users tips on their brushing habits. The joint system includes an Oral-B electric toothbrush, an Alexa built-in smart charger base, an Oral-B brush head, and a Quick-Start guide. Besides the health focus, the Amazon built-in can play music, listen to the news and let users order more brush heads, MobiHealthNews reported.

Read more: Amazon’s Halo Fitness Tracker Can Detect Your Body Fat and Tone of Voice

In November, launched a digital pharmacy, called Amazon Pharmacy, that lets customers order and manage their prescription medications online and get them delivered at home.

The U.S. Patent and Trademark Office officially granted Apple a patent for a future Apple Watch band with embedded batteries.

Read more Patent Reveals Future Apple Watches with Dazzling Designs, New Health Features and More

The new patent is named Battery Watch Band. It describes how the Apple Watch could get more battery capacity without having to increase the size of the Watch casing or find a more efficient power cell. The battery cells are sealed with the strap in order to prevent them from coming into contact with the metal casing of the watch.

“Apple’s invention covers a watch band for a future Apple Watch that houses a series of embedded batteries in order to provide additional battery life.  This can provide an additional power source for Apple Watch without increasing the size of the Apple Watch body,” reports PatentlyApple.

The watch band will be connected to the watch via pins. The watch will get recharged wirelessly through induction coils, wrapped around one of the battery elements.

Apple Watches have fairly short battery life. For example, Apple Watch Series 6 is rated for 18 hours of use, while the Samsung Galaxy Watch 3 gets a rating for 2 days of battery life. The battery on the Fitbit Sense can last up to six days.

The future Apple Watches need longer battery life as they will be loaded with health features. The updated watchOS 7.2 will bring a new cardio fitness score that uses your VO2 max to measure your cardiorespiratory health or aerobic endurance.

Read more Apple’s Patent Suggests Smart Ring That Could Let You Control Other Devices

It may take a while for Apple to turn this new patent into reality, but some major changes on the Apple Watch 7 are on the card. It should also be noted that Apple has previously played with the idea for the band, suggesting that various sensors and batteries could be put inside each element in its Link band but Apple didn’t show us a final product.

A new feature on Apple Watch will give you a review on your fitness levels. When you update your watch’s software to watchOS 7.2, it will bring a new cardio fitness score that uses your VO2 max to measure your cardiorespiratory health, or aerobic endurance. Cardiorespiratory fitness, as measured by VO2 max, is the maximum amount of oxygen the body can use during exercise, and it can be increased through physical activity. Apple Watch already estimates average and higher levels of VO2 max during vigorous outdoor walks, runs, or hikes, which many runners and other athletes monitor to improve performance.

Read more Apple Gets FDA Clearance for its Updated Version of ECG to Detect AFib

Now, with watchOS 7, Apple Watch uses multiple sensors, including the optical heart sensor, GPS, and the accelerometer, to estimate lower levels, too. This is significant because direct measurement of VO2 max typically requires a rigorous clinical test with specialized equipment that is not readily accessible to most people. watchOS 7 also allows Apple Watch to take cardio fitness measurements as users walk throughout the day, whether or not they are tracking a workout. With this innovation, Apple Watch is better able to measure VO2 max for users with low cardio fitness, who may not complete high-intensity workouts, reports Apple.

“Cardio fitness is increasingly recognized as a powerful predictor of overall health, and with today’s update to watchOS 7, we are making it even more accessible to more people,” said Jeff Williams, Apple’s chief operating officer. “Using its advanced sensors, Apple Watch now brings estimation of low cardio fitness levels from clinics directly to a user’s wrist, so people have more insight into how they can improve their long-term health through daily activity.”

iOS 14.3 and watchOS 7.2 enable Apple Watch users to visit the Cardio Fitness category in the Health app on iPhone to review whether their cardio fitness level is classified as high, above average, below average, or low, relative to people in their same age group and of the same sex, according to data from the Fitness Registry and Importance of Exercise National Database (FRIEND).

Read more Apple Joins Forces with Researchers to Conduct Health Studies Using Apple Watch

Here’s How to Set Up Cardio Fitness

1. From the Health app on your iPhone, tap the Summary tab.
2. Tap Set Up under Cardio Fitness, then tap Next.
3. Confirm your details. Any changes you make here will be saved to your Health Details in Settings.
4. Tap Next.
5. Follow the onscreen prompts to learn about other factors that can lower your cardio fitness, as well as the cardio fitness levels for your age and sex.
6. Tap Next.
7. Tap Turn on Notifications to receive a notification if your Apple Watch detects that your cardio fitness level is low. You must be at least 20 years old to turn on notifications.
8. Tap Done.

A new feature on Apple Watch will give you a review on your fitness levels. When you update your watch’s software to watchOS 7.2, it will bring a new cardio fitness score that uses your VO2 max to measure your cardiorespiratory health, or aerobic endurance. Cardiorespiratory fitness, as measured by VO2 max, is the maximum amount of oxygen the body can use during exercise, and it can be increased through physical activity. Apple Watch already estimates average and higher levels of VO2 max during vigorous outdoor walks, runs, or hikes, which many runners and other athletes monitor to improve performance.

Read more: Apple Gets FDA Clearance for its Updated Version of ECG to Detect AFib

Now, with watchOS 7, Apple Watch uses multiple sensors, including the optical heart sensor, GPS, and the accelerometer, to estimate lower levels, too. This is significant because direct measurement of VO2 max typically requires a rigorous clinical test with specialized equipment that is not readily accessible to most people. watchOS 7 also allows Apple Watch to take cardio fitness measurements as users walk throughout the day, whether or not they are tracking a workout. With this innovation, Apple Watch is better able to measure VO2 max for users with low cardio fitness, who may not complete high-intensity workouts, reports Apple.

“Cardio fitness is increasingly recognized as a powerful predictor of overall health, and with today’s update to watchOS 7, we are making it even more accessible to more people,” said Jeff Williams, Apple’s chief operating officer. “Using its advanced sensors, Apple Watch now brings estimation of low cardio fitness levels from clinics directly to a user’s wrist, so people have more insight into how they can improve their long-term health through daily activity.”

iOS 14.3 and watchOS 7.2 enable Apple Watch users to visit the Cardio Fitness category in the Health app on iPhone to review whether their cardio fitness level is classified as high, above average, below average, or low, relative to people in their same age group and of the same sex, according to data from the Fitness Registry and Importance of Exercise National Database (FRIEND).

Read more: Apple Joins Forces with Researchers to Conduct Health Studies Using Apple Watch

Here's How to Set Up Cardio Fitness

1. From the Health app on your iPhone, tap the Summary tab.
2. Tap Set Up under Cardio Fitness, then tap Next.
3. Confirm your details. Any changes you make here will be saved to your Health Details in Settings.
4. Tap Next.
5. Follow the onscreen prompts to learn about other factors that can lower your cardio fitness, as well as the cardio fitness levels for your age and sex.
6. Tap Next.
7. Tap Turn on Notifications to receive a notification if your Apple Watch detects that your cardio fitness level is low. You must be at least 20 years old to turn on notifications.
8. Tap Done.

‍

The U.S. Patent and Trademark Office officially granted Apple a patent for a future Apple Watch band with embedded batteries.

Read more: Patent Reveals Future Apple Watches with Dazzling Designs, New Health Features and More

The new patent is named Battery Watch Band. It describes how the Apple Watch could get more battery capacity without having to increase the size of the Watch casing or find a more efficient power cell. The battery cells are sealed with the strap in order to prevent them from coming into contact with the metal casing of the watch.

“Apple's invention covers a watch band for a future Apple Watch that houses a series of embedded batteries in order to provide additional battery life.  This can provide an additional power source for Apple Watch without increasing the size of the Apple Watch body,” reports PatentlyApple.

The watch band will be connected to the watch via pins. The watch will get recharged wirelessly through induction coils, wrapped around one of the battery elements.

Apple Watches have fairly short battery life. For example, Apple Watch Series 6 is rated for 18 hours of use, while the Samsung Galaxy Watch 3 gets a rating for 2 days of battery life. The battery on the Fitbit Sense can last up to six days.

The future Apple Watches need longer battery life as they will be loaded with health features. The updated watchOS 7.2 will bring a new cardio fitness score that uses your VO2 max to measure your cardiorespiratory health or aerobic endurance.

Read more: Apple’s Patent Suggests Smart Ring That Could Let You Control Other Devices

It may take a while for Apple to turn this new patent into reality, but some major changes on the Apple Watch 7 are on the card. It should also be noted that Apple has previously played with the idea for the band, suggesting that various sensors and batteries could be put inside each element in its Link band but Apple didn’t show us a final product.

Wearing Fitbit devices with Health2Sync, the number one diabetes management app in Taiwan has been clinically proven to help both users and healthcare providers to control and better manage the symptoms of Type 2 diabetes, according to a study was conducted with four of Taiwan’s leading diabetes clinics.

Related Fitbit and Solera Health Expand Collaboration to Reduce Type 2 Diabetes Risk

Results from the study in Taiwan revealed an improvement in patients’ health conditions, with participants recording higher levels of physical activity, reduced HbA1C, fasting blood glucose and LDL-C, and higher blood glucose measurement frequency, Fitbit said in a press release.

“We are thrilled to see such optimistic results in the clinical study. We believe that innovations in Fitbit wearable devices and Fitbit health solutions have a major role to play in the global effort against diabetes – whether it is in reducing the onset of diabetes, or helping patients to better manage their condition – and we look forward to further expanding on our partnership with Fitbit,” said Ed Deng, CEO at Health2Sync.

The Health2Sync Patient Management Platform allows healthcare providers to seamlessly monitor patients’ information and provide remote consultative advice where necessary.

The study found:

• Average glycated hemoglobin (HbA1C) decreased 0.33%, while patients who did moderate to high-intensity activity duration of at least 150 mins per week, saw their average HbA1C decreased 0.66%
• Average fasting blood glucose (BG) decreased 10.92 mg/dL
• Average low-density lipoprotein cholesterol (LDL-C) decreased 11.55 mg/dL
• Weight reduction of up to 2 kilograms among some patients
• Increased frequency in moderate to high-intensity activity to 7.03 times a week among some patients

Conducted over a three-month period ending in July 2020 in conjunction with the Neng-Chun Diabetes Clinic, Da-Ya Chang-An Clinic, Yier Clinic and Banqiao Da-Jun Clinic, the study, with patient consent, lets the patients’ doctors track the progress and lifestyle changes of 95 participants with T2DM. Prior to the commencement of the study, doctors at the four clinics established benchmarks for all participating patients based on blood glucose tests at the start of the trial, then on a self-monitored weekly basis throughout the study period.

Each participant was given a Fitbit Inspire HR and the participants voluntarily agreed to connect their Fitbit wearable data with the Health2Sync diabetes management app to track their progress throughout the program. Physical activity data generated from each person’s Fitbit device was integrated into the Health2Sync app, which housed other health metrics such as patients’ HbA1c, BG and cholesterol levels. This let doctors seamlessly monitor patients’ information on the Health2Sync Patient Management Platform and provide remote consultative advice where necessary.

“The results speak for themselves. We saw a reduction in some of our patients’ weight by an average of two kilograms and fasting BG levels of study participants from Da-Ya Chang-An clinic decreased 11.10 mg/dL within 3 months, leading to significant health improvements, said Dr. Kuo-Liang Lu of Da-Ya Chang-An Clinic in Taiwan.

Related UnitedHealth Group Launches New Digital Therapy To Improve Lives Of People With Type 2 Diabetes

Dr. Neng-Chu Yu of Neng-Chun Diabetes Clinic said: “Type 2 diabetes, with the right lifestyle changes – medication adherence, increased activity, and better diet – can lead to major improvements in control of blood glucose levels. The integration of Fitbit data with Health2Sync let me easily view my patients’ activities and self-monitored data, enabling me to make necessary suggestions and give guidance to help patients for further improvement.”

A new study published in The Lancet found that using heart rate variability (HRV), wrist-worn health trackers can provide a range of predictive cardiovascular health metrics.

Researchers gathered data from over eight million users of smartwatches made by Fitbit, the company that funded the study. Over 70 countries were represented in this user group, though nearly half were based in the United States.

Read more Combining Fitbit Wearables With Health2Sync Glucose Control App Improves Diabetes Management

Data collected were from several Fitbit device models, but primarily from Charge 2, Alta HR, Blaze, Versa, and Ionic.

Heart rate variability (HRV) refers to the variation in time between successive heartbeats and represents a non-invasive index of the autonomic nervous system. Because the autonomic nervous system regulates heart rate during sinus rhythm, HRV summarizes complex non-linear cardiovascular accommodative responses, which are dictated by the parasympathetic and sympathetic nervous systems, to dynamic physiological variations.

Researchers analyzed HRV metrics across the time (measured via the root mean square of successive RR interval differences and SD of the RR interval, frequency (measured by high-frequency and low-frequency power), and graphical (measured by Poincare plots) domains.

Findings show that HRV metrics decrease with age across each type of measurement used in the study, reports MobiHealthNews.

This finding suggests a more rapid decline of parasympathetic function with increasing age than of sympathetic activity, the study said.

HRV metrics varied throughout the day, reaching peak values in the early morning hours. Several authors have discussed the effect of physical activity on HRV, and studies have shown beneficial results. According to a study by one group, the correlation between the number of steps measured by Fitbit devices compared with steps counted by researchers is variable during walking and jogging, but this variation is within 7%.

“We aimed to characterize HRV metrics to understand variations by age, sex, time of day, and physical activity level, and to provide benchmarks for HRV metrics among users of Fitbit,” the authors wrote.

The study also found a correlation between physical activity and HRV, such that increased activity could optimize HRV metrics.

Read more Fitbit CEO Reveals He’s Planning to Transform Fitbit To A Digital Healthcare Company

“Our results might have important implications for the remote monitoring of human health given the widespread availability of wrist-worn trackers,” said researchers. “Although HRV metrics have been previously correlated with cardiovascular health and mortality, our technical advance in the analysis of wearable data at large scale and descriptions of the data now permit its potential use for health promotion through tens of millions of currently available wrist-worn commercial trackers.”

A new study published in The Lancet found that using heart rate variability (HRV), wrist-worn health trackers can provide a range of predictive cardiovascular health metrics.

Researchers gathered data from over eight million users of smartwatches made by Fitbit, the company that funded the study. Over 70 countries were represented in this user group, though nearly half were based in the United States.

Read more: Combining Fitbit Wearables With Health2Sync Glucose Control App Improves Diabetes Management

Data collected were from several Fitbit device models, but primarily from Charge 2, Alta HR, Blaze, Versa, and Ionic.

Heart rate variability (HRV) refers to the variation in time between successive heartbeats and represents a non-invasive index of the autonomic nervous system. Because the autonomic nervous system regulates heart rate during sinus rhythm, HRV summarizes complex non-linear cardiovascular accommodative responses, which are dictated by the parasympathetic and sympathetic nervous systems, to dynamic physiological variations.

Researchers analyzed HRV metrics across the time (measured via the root mean square of successive RR interval differences and SD of the RR interval, frequency (measured by high-frequency and low-frequency power), and graphical (measured by Poincare plots) domains.

Findings show that HRV metrics decrease with age across each type of measurement used in the study, reports MobiHealthNews.

This finding suggests a more rapid decline of parasympathetic function with increasing age than of sympathetic activity, the study said.

HRV metrics varied throughout the day, reaching peak values in the early morning hours. Several authors have discussed the effect of physical activity on HRV, and studies have shown beneficial results. According to a study by one group, the correlation between the number of steps measured by Fitbit devices compared with steps counted by researchers is variable during walking and jogging, but this variation is within 7%.

“We aimed to characterize HRV metrics to understand variations by age, sex, time of day, and physical activity level, and to provide benchmarks for HRV metrics among users of Fitbit,” the authors wrote.

The study also found a correlation between physical activity and HRV, such that increased activity could optimize HRV metrics.

Read more: Fitbit CEO Reveals He’s Planning to Transform Fitbit To A Digital Healthcare Company

“Our results might have important implications for the remote monitoring of human health given the widespread availability of wrist-worn trackers,” said researchers. “Although HRV metrics have been previously correlated with cardiovascular health and mortality, our technical advance in the analysis of wearable data at large scale and descriptions of the data now permit its potential use for health promotion through tens of millions of currently available wrist-worn commercial trackers.”

Wearing Fitbit devices with Health2Sync, the number one diabetes management app in Taiwan has been clinically proven to help both users and healthcare providers to control and better manage the symptoms of Type 2 diabetes, according to a study was conducted with four of Taiwan’s leading diabetes clinics.

Related: Fitbit and Solera Health Expand Collaboration to Reduce Type 2 Diabetes Risk

Results from the study in Taiwan revealed an improvement in patients’ health conditions, with participants recording higher levels of physical activity, reduced HbA1C, fasting blood glucose and LDL-C, and higher blood glucose measurement frequency, Fitbit said in a press release.

“We are thrilled to see such optimistic results in the clinical study. We believe that innovations in Fitbit wearable devices and Fitbit health solutions have a major role to play in the global effort against diabetes – whether it is in reducing the onset of diabetes, or helping patients to better manage their condition – and we look forward to further expanding on our partnership with Fitbit,” said Ed Deng, CEO at Health2Sync.

The Health2Sync Patient Management Platform allows healthcare providers to seamlessly monitor patients’ information and provide remote consultative advice where necessary.

The study found:

• Average glycated hemoglobin (HbA1C) decreased 0.33%, while patients who did moderate to high-intensity activity duration of at least 150 mins per week, saw their average HbA1C decreased 0.66%
• Average fasting blood glucose (BG) decreased 10.92 mg/dL
• Average low-density lipoprotein cholesterol (LDL-C) decreased 11.55 mg/dL
• Weight reduction of up to 2 kilograms among some patients
• Increased frequency in moderate to high-intensity activity to 7.03 times a week among some patients

Conducted over a three-month period ending in July 2020 in conjunction with the Neng-Chun Diabetes Clinic, Da-Ya Chang-An Clinic, Yier Clinic and Banqiao Da-Jun Clinic, the study, with patient consent, lets the patients’ doctors track the progress and lifestyle changes of 95 participants with T2DM. Prior to the commencement of the study, doctors at the four clinics established benchmarks for all participating patients based on blood glucose tests at the start of the trial, then on a self-monitored weekly basis throughout the study period.

Each participant was given a Fitbit Inspire HR and the participants voluntarily agreed to connect their Fitbit wearable data with the Health2Sync diabetes management app to track their progress throughout the program. Physical activity data generated from each person’s Fitbit device was integrated into the Health2Sync app, which housed other health metrics such as patients’ HbA1c, BG and cholesterol levels. This let doctors seamlessly monitor patients’ information on the Health2Sync Patient Management Platform and provide remote consultative advice where necessary.

“The results speak for themselves. We saw a reduction in some of our patients' weight by an average of two kilograms and fasting BG levels of study participants from Da-Ya Chang-An clinic decreased 11.10 mg/dL within 3 months, leading to significant health improvements, said Dr. Kuo-Liang Lu of Da-Ya Chang-An Clinic in Taiwan.

Related: UnitedHealth Group Launches New Digital Therapy To Improve Lives Of People With Type 2 Diabetes

Dr. Neng-Chu Yu of Neng-Chun Diabetes Clinic said: "Type 2 diabetes, with the right lifestyle changes – medication adherence, increased activity, and better diet – can lead to major improvements in control of blood glucose levels. The integration of Fitbit data with Health2Sync let me easily view my patients’ activities and self-monitored data, enabling me to make necessary suggestions and give guidance to help patients for further improvement."

The effects of the COVID-19 pandemic are transforming global socioeconomic structures. Experts are expecting an impact that is astronomical in terms of the number of lives lost and jobs disappeared. As the whole world is taking measures to contain the pandemic, digital technology is helping in the fight.

Read more Oura Ring Detects Fever, A Common Symptom of COVID-19, Before It Occurs

Scientists are making efforts to develop diagnostic tests to detect the virus in order to correctly diagnose patients, enact measures such as isolation and quarantine, and manage their treatment accordingly. Companies are developing artificial intelligence solutions for the detection of respiratory diseases quickly tailored their software to differentiate COVID-19 from other respiratory infections, decreasing image analysis time to a matter of seconds.

According to Ahmad AbuSalah, health informatics and intelligence officer at King Faisal Specialist Hospital and Research Centre, the pandemic is highlighting the need to drive digital maturity with investment, while addressing data sharing models, reports MobiHealthNews. “One of the challenges that we face here in the Middle East are data collaboration and data sharing. As you know, data is the backbone of digital transformation. Using data discovery tools, I can tell in a secure way how many patients are available in the hospital in that region,” Mr. AbuSalah said.

Wearables have also been explored by countries as a means of contact tracing and safe reopening. British telecommunications firm Vodafone is deploying heat detection cameras at the entrance or reception area of workplaces. The cameras are made by surveillance tech maker Digital Barriers.

Canadian technology company Proxxi launched Halo, a wearable band to help employees maintain social distancing at work. Halo notifies wearers that another band is within 6 feet (2 meters), reminding them of the need to maintain social distance.

Read more BlueCats Launches Fully Configurable Wearable Contact Tracing Solution

Rapid innovation and implementation of digital technology has allowed healthcare firms to navigate the challenges from the covid-19 pandemic and safely care for their patients. Willingness to rapidly adopt technology has truly helped healthcare professionals during this time of fear and uncertainty.

Digital therapeutics company Kaia Health is partnering with Italian pharma firm Chiesi Group to commercialize its chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) rehabilitation app in Europe.

Read more Hexoskin Smart Shirt Accurately Measures Breathing, Could be Useful for Monitoring COPD

The agreement marks one of the first times in respiratory care that a digital therapeutics company and pharmaceutical company are partnering to bring patients a digital therapeutic that supports COPD treatment outcomes through behavior change, rather than relying on pharmacology.

“Our strategic partnership with Chiesi, a growing global company with an established European commercial presence, brings a wealth of experience in navigating the respiratory health landscape in Europe, while expanding patient access to evidence-based, digital physical pulmonary rehabilitation,” said Konstantin Mehl, Founder and President, Kaia Health. “The entire Kaia Health team is excited to join forces with Chiesi to enhance COPD patient care and quality of life through digital therapeutics”.

COPD is a long-term condition that causes inflammation in the lungs, damaged lung tissue and a narrowing of the airways, making breathing difficult. It is an enormous cost for healthcare systems in Europe.

Under the partnership arrangement, the evidence-backed Kaia Health COPD digital therapeutic, which delivers a personalized, physical pulmonary rehabilitation experience, will be highly focused on key markets in Europe., Chiesi Group said in a press release.

The Kaia COPD solution consists of a mobile app-based software program, accessed via an iOS or Android smartphone or tablet, and an interface for motivational support that can be delivered by a provider such as health coaches or healthcare professionals. It digitizes and delivers affordable, accessible, physical Pulmonary Rehabilitation – an essential component of COPD treatment – directly to patients’ homes on their smartphone. The app also delivers comprehensive education and customized daily training sessions, along with mindfulness and stress relief exercises, augmented with human coaching support and individualized therapy. The Kaia COPD solution has been investigated in one pilot trial and is currently the subject of an ongoing RCT in Europe. The Kaia Health COPD app is CE Marked in Europe as a Class 1 medical device.

Kaia Health is a member of the Digital Therapeutics Alliance (DTA), an international non-profit trade association of industry leaders and stakeholders engaged in the evidence-driven advancement of digital therapeutics.

Read more Spry Health’s the Loop System Wearable Gets FDA Clearance for Monitoring COPD Patients

“We’re pleased to partner with Kaia Health to complement and further strengthen our portfolio in the respiratory therapeutic area, expanding our ability to address patient care through a non-pharmacological approach” said Ugo Di Francesco, Chief Executive Officer of the Chiesi Group. “This agreement embodies Chiesi’s commitment to providing the highest level of care and quality of life possible for people living with COPD and other respiratory diseases, going beyond merely those issues addressable through medication. We have been impressed with Kaia Health’s experience to date bringing impactful digital solutions to the European market and are looking forward to helping European COPD patients benefit from their expertise”.

Digital therapeutics company Kaia Health is partnering with Italian pharma firm Chiesi Group to commercialize its chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) rehabilitation app in Europe.

Read more: Hexoskin Smart Shirt Accurately Measures Breathing, Could be Useful for Monitoring COPD

The agreement marks one of the first times in respiratory care that a digital therapeutics company and pharmaceutical company are partnering to bring patients a digital therapeutic that supports COPD treatment outcomes through behavior change, rather than relying on pharmacology.

“Our strategic partnership with Chiesi, a growing global company with an established European commercial presence, brings a wealth of experience in navigating the respiratory health landscape in Europe, while expanding patient access to evidence-based, digital physical pulmonary rehabilitation,” said Konstantin Mehl, Founder and President, Kaia Health. “The entire Kaia Health team is excited to join forces with Chiesi to enhance COPD patient care and quality of life through digital therapeutics”.

COPD is a long-term condition that causes inflammation in the lungs, damaged lung tissue and a narrowing of the airways, making breathing difficult. It is an enormous cost for healthcare systems in Europe.

Under the partnership arrangement, the evidence-backed Kaia Health COPD digital therapeutic, which delivers a personalized, physical pulmonary rehabilitation experience, will be highly focused on key markets in Europe., Chiesi Group said in a press release.

The Kaia COPD solution consists of a mobile app-based software program, accessed via an iOS or Android smartphone or tablet, and an interface for motivational support that can be delivered by a provider such as health coaches or healthcare professionals. It digitizes and delivers affordable, accessible, physical Pulmonary Rehabilitation - an essential component of COPD treatment - directly to patients' homes on their smartphone. The app also delivers comprehensive education and customized daily training sessions, along with mindfulness and stress relief exercises, augmented with human coaching support and individualized therapy. The Kaia COPD solution has been investigated in one pilot trial and is currently the subject of an ongoing RCT in Europe. The Kaia Health COPD app is CE Marked in Europe as a Class 1 medical device.

Kaia Health is a member of the Digital Therapeutics Alliance (DTA), an international non-profit trade association of industry leaders and stakeholders engaged in the evidence-driven advancement of digital therapeutics.

Read more: Spry Health’s the Loop System Wearable Gets FDA Clearance for Monitoring COPD Patients

“We’re pleased to partner with Kaia Health to complement and further strengthen our portfolio in the respiratory therapeutic area, expanding our ability to address patient care through a non-pharmacological approach” said Ugo Di Francesco, Chief Executive Officer of the Chiesi Group. “This agreement embodies Chiesi’s commitment to providing the highest level of care and quality of life possible for people living with COPD and other respiratory diseases, going beyond merely those issues addressable through medication. We have been impressed with Kaia Health’s experience to date bringing impactful digital solutions to the European market and are looking forward to helping European COPD patients benefit from their expertise”.

The effects of the COVID-19 pandemic are transforming global socioeconomic structures. Experts are expecting an impact that is astronomical in terms of the number of lives lost and jobs disappeared. As the whole world is taking measures to contain the pandemic, digital technology is helping in the fight.

Read more: Oura Ring Detects Fever, A Common Symptom of COVID-19, Before It Occurs

Scientists are making efforts to develop diagnostic tests to detect the virus in order to correctly diagnose patients, enact measures such as isolation and quarantine, and manage their treatment accordingly. Companies are developing artificial intelligence solutions for the detection of respiratory diseases quickly tailored their software to differentiate COVID-19 from other respiratory infections, decreasing image analysis time to a matter of seconds.

According to Ahmad AbuSalah, health informatics and intelligence officer at King Faisal Specialist Hospital and Research Centre, the pandemic is highlighting the need to drive digital maturity with investment, while addressing data sharing models, reports MobiHealthNews. “One of the challenges that we face here in the Middle East are data collaboration and data sharing. As you know, data is the backbone of digital transformation. Using data discovery tools, I can tell in a secure way how many patients are available in the hospital in that region,” Mr. AbuSalah said.

Wearables have also been explored by countries as a means of contact tracing and safe reopening. British telecommunications firm Vodafone is deploying heat detection cameras at the entrance or reception area of workplaces. The cameras are made by surveillance tech maker Digital Barriers.

Canadian technology company Proxxi launched Halo, a wearable band to help employees maintain social distancing at work. Halo notifies wearers that another band is within 6 feet (2 meters), reminding them of the need to maintain social distance.

Read more: BlueCats Launches Fully Configurable Wearable Contact Tracing Solution

Rapid innovation and implementation of digital technology has allowed healthcare firms to navigate the challenges from the covid-19 pandemic and safely care for their patients. Willingness to rapidly adopt technology has truly helped healthcare professionals during this time of fear and uncertainty.

Wearables can predict the onset of illnesses using longitudinal temperature data even before symptoms appear, according to new research published in the journal Scientific Reports.

The study showed that temperature data collected by Oura ring detected the onset of fevers, a leading symptom of both COVID-19 and the flu, according to a team of researchers from the University of California San Diego, UC San Francisco and MIT Lincoln Lab.

Read more NBA Players To Wear Oura Smart Ring To Track COVID-19 Symptoms

The Scientific Reports paper is the first published result from TemPredict, a study of more than 65,000 people wearing a ring manufactured by Finnish startup Oura, that records temperature, heart rate, respiratory rate and levels of activity. The goal of the study is to develop an algorithm that can predict the onset of symptoms such as fever, cough, and fatigue, which are characteristic of COVID-19. Researchers say they hope to reach that goal by the end of the year. They also hope the algorithms will allow public health officials to act faster to contain the virus’ spread, reports UC San Diego News Center.

“This isn’t just a science problem, it’s a social problem,” said Benjamin Smarr, the paper’s corresponding author and a professor in the Department of Bioengineering and the Halicioglu Data Sciences Institute at UC San Diego. “With wearable devices that can measure temperature, we can begin to envision a public COVID early alert system.”

The 50 subjects in the study all owned Oura rings and had had COVID-19 before joining TemPredict. They provided symptom summaries for their illnesses and gave researchers access to the data their Oura rings had collected during the period when they were sick. The signal for fever onset was not subtle, Smarr said. “The chart tracking people who had a fever looked like it was on fire.”

Smarr is TemPredict’s data analytics lead. Ashley Mason, a professor in the Department of Psychiatry and the Osher Center for Integrative Medicine at UC San Francisco, is the principal investigator of the study.

“If wearables allow us to detect COVID-19 early, people can begin physical isolation practices and obtain testing so as to reduce the spread of the virus,” Mason said. In this way, an ounce of prevention may be worth even more than a pound of cure.”

Wearables such as the Oura ring can collect temperature data continuously throughout the day and night, allowing researchers to measure people’s true temperature baselines and identify fever peaks more accurately. “Temperature varies not only from person to person but also for the same person at different times of the day,” Smarr said.

The study, he explains, highlights the importance of collecting data continuously over long periods of time. Incidentally, the lack of continuous data is also why temperature spot checks are not effective for detecting COVID-19. These spot checks are the equivalent of catching a syllable per minute in a conversation, rather than whole sentences, Smarr said.

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

In the Scientific Reports paper, Smarr and colleagues noticed that fever onset often happened before subjects were reporting symptoms, and even to those who never reported other symptoms. “It supports the hypothesis that some fever-like events may go unreported or unnoticed without being truly asymptomatic,” the researchers write. “Wearables therefore may contribute to identifying rates of asymptomatic [illness] as opposed to unreported illness, [which is] of special importance in the COVID-19 pandemic.”

A new study authored by researchers at Johns Hopkins University, the University of California at San Francisco (UCSF) and Big Health, a leading digital therapeutics provider, finds that digital Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (dCBT)—when compared to other care options such as sleep medication, group and individual CBT—is the most cost-effective intervention for helping people overcome poor sleep.

Read more Wearable Maker Zepp Reveals Sleep Study Results, Launches Personalized Digital Lullaby Generator

Published in the journal SLEEP, the study examined the cost-effectiveness of dCBT over a six-month period using a Markov model simulation of 100,000 individuals and measured the direct and indirect costs of insomnia, including health care expenditures, workplace accidents, and workplace productivity.

The results showed that, when compared to no insomnia treatment, dCBT—as represented by Big Health’s Sleepio—was the most cost-effective care option followed by group CBT, sleep medication, and then individual CBT. Sleepio had a positive net monetary benefit of $681.06 per individual over a six-month period. A positive result means that the total cost benefits associated with Sleepio were greater than its direct cost, reports BusinessWire.

Beyond cost, “digital Cognitive Behavioral Therapy can help overcome significant barriers to insomnia treatment for millions of people, including limited access to clinicians in rural areas, the lack of trained clinicians and, for others, the lack of awareness of their treatment options,” said Dr. Andrew Krystal, Department of Psychiatry, University of California San Francisco School of Medicine. “The near-universal availability of digital devices, including smartphones, gives dCBT the potential to reach many more people than traditional in-person group and individual CBT.”

“The results of this study demonstrate that dCBT can provide a significant return through lower healthcare expenditures, fewer workplace accidents, and better workplace productivity,” said Jenna Carl, Vice President of Clinical Development and Medical Affairs, Big Health. “In addition, its ability to provide a destigmatized and automated treatment option at scale makes it attractive for those suffering from poor sleep.”

Insomnia is a significant public health concern in the U.S. and it is estimated that 20-30% of the population experience symptoms each year. Costs related to insomnia have been estimated to be at least $1,400 per individual over six months (Ozminkowski et al., 2007; when costs are scaled to 2019 dollars). Insomnia is also associated with other costly mental health and chronic physical health conditions, such as depression, diabetes, and cardiovascular disease (Hertenstein E, et al., 2019; Lin et al., 2018; Javaheri et al., 2017).

Read more Huami Fitness Tracker Provides Clinical-Grade Accuracy, Says Stanford Sleep Study

Sleepio and Daylight are backed by world-leading clinical evidence with more than 56 papers including 13 randomized controlled trials. With offices in London and San Francisco, Big Health’s products are used by large multinational employers and major health plans to help improve sleep and mental health, covering millions of lives.

A new study authored by researchers at Johns Hopkins University, the University of California at San Francisco (UCSF) and Big Health, a leading digital therapeutics provider, finds that digital Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (dCBT)—when compared to other care options such as sleep medication, group and individual CBT—is the most cost-effective intervention for helping people overcome poor sleep.

Read more: Wearable Maker Zepp Reveals Sleep Study Results, Launches Personalized Digital Lullaby Generator

Published in the journal SLEEP, the study examined the cost-effectiveness of dCBT over a six-month period using a Markov model simulation of 100,000 individuals and measured the direct and indirect costs of insomnia, including health care expenditures, workplace accidents, and workplace productivity.

The results showed that, when compared to no insomnia treatment, dCBT—as represented by Big Health’s Sleepio—was the most cost-effective care option followed by group CBT, sleep medication, and then individual CBT. Sleepio had a positive net monetary benefit of $681.06 per individual over a six-month period. A positive result means that the total cost benefits associated with Sleepio were greater than its direct cost, reports BusinessWire.

Beyond cost, “digital Cognitive Behavioral Therapy can help overcome significant barriers to insomnia treatment for millions of people, including limited access to clinicians in rural areas, the lack of trained clinicians and, for others, the lack of awareness of their treatment options,” said Dr. Andrew Krystal, Department of Psychiatry, University of California San Francisco School of Medicine. “The near-universal availability of digital devices, including smartphones, gives dCBT the potential to reach many more people than traditional in-person group and individual CBT.”

“The results of this study demonstrate that dCBT can provide a significant return through lower healthcare expenditures, fewer workplace accidents, and better workplace productivity,” said Jenna Carl, Vice President of Clinical Development and Medical Affairs, Big Health. “In addition, its ability to provide a destigmatized and automated treatment option at scale makes it attractive for those suffering from poor sleep.”

Insomnia is a significant public health concern in the U.S. and it is estimated that 20-30% of the population experience symptoms each year. Costs related to insomnia have been estimated to be at least $1,400 per individual over six months (Ozminkowski et al., 2007; when costs are scaled to 2019 dollars). Insomnia is also associated with other costly mental health and chronic physical health conditions, such as depression, diabetes, and cardiovascular disease (Hertenstein E, et al., 2019; Lin et al., 2018; Javaheri et al., 2017).

Read more: Huami Fitness Tracker Provides Clinical-Grade Accuracy, Says Stanford Sleep Study

Sleepio and Daylight are backed by world-leading clinical evidence with more than 56 papers including 13 randomized controlled trials. With offices in London and San Francisco, Big Health’s products are used by large multinational employers and major health plans to help improve sleep and mental health, covering millions of lives.

Wearables can predict the onset of illnesses using longitudinal temperature data even before symptoms appear, according to new research published in the journal Scientific Reports.

The study showed that temperature data collected by Oura ring detected the onset of fevers, a leading symptom of both COVID-19 and the flu, according to a team of researchers from the University of California San Diego, UC San Francisco and MIT Lincoln Lab.

Read more: NBA Players To Wear Oura Smart Ring To Track COVID-19 Symptoms

The Scientific Reports paper is the first published result from TemPredict, a study of more than 65,000 people wearing a ring manufactured by Finnish startup Oura, that records temperature, heart rate, respiratory rate and levels of activity. The goal of the study is to develop an algorithm that can predict the onset of symptoms such as fever, cough, and fatigue, which are characteristic of COVID-19. Researchers say they hope to reach that goal by the end of the year. They also hope the algorithms will allow public health officials to act faster to contain the virus’ spread, reports UC San Diego News Center.

“This isn’t just a science problem, it’s a social problem,” said Benjamin Smarr, the paper’s corresponding author and a professor in the Department of Bioengineering and the Halicioglu Data Sciences Institute at UC San Diego. “With wearable devices that can measure temperature, we can begin to envision a public COVID early alert system.”

The 50 subjects in the study all owned Oura rings and had had COVID-19 before joining TemPredict. They provided symptom summaries for their illnesses and gave researchers access to the data their Oura rings had collected during the period when they were sick. The signal for fever onset was not subtle, Smarr said. “The chart tracking people who had a fever looked like it was on fire.”

Smarr is TemPredict’s data analytics lead. Ashley Mason, a professor in the Department of Psychiatry and the Osher Center for Integrative Medicine at UC San Francisco, is the principal investigator of the study.

“If wearables allow us to detect COVID-19 early, people can begin physical isolation practices and obtain testing so as to reduce the spread of the virus,” Mason said. In this way, an ounce of prevention may be worth even more than a pound of cure.”

Wearables such as the Oura ring can collect temperature data continuously throughout the day and night, allowing researchers to measure people’s true temperature baselines and identify fever peaks more accurately. “Temperature varies not only from person to person but also for the same person at different times of the day,” Smarr said.

The study, he explains, highlights the importance of collecting data continuously over long periods of time. Incidentally, the lack of continuous data is also why temperature spot checks are not effective for detecting COVID-19. These spot checks are the equivalent of catching a syllable per minute in a conversation, rather than whole sentences, Smarr said.

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

In the Scientific Reports paper, Smarr and colleagues noticed that fever onset often happened before subjects were reporting symptoms, and even to those who never reported other symptoms. “It supports the hypothesis that some fever-like events may go unreported or unnoticed without being truly asymptomatic,” the researchers write. “Wearables therefore may contribute to identifying rates of asymptomatic [illness] as opposed to unreported illness, [which is] of special importance in the COVID-19 pandemic.”