In the near future, microfiber- and nanofiber-based technology may be used to monitor your blood pressure, heart rate, and more, say researchers. For example, a shirt made with microfiber or nanofiber could monitor your blood pressure or a of socks made with these components could keep track of your cholesterol levels.

Read more: Smart Textile Fibers Powered By Soft Transmission Lines Measure Wearer’s Health

In an article published in Applied Physics Reviews, researchers examined the use of microfibers, and even smaller nanofibers, as wearable monitors that could keep track of a patient's vital signs.

The microfiber- and nanofiber-based technology addresses growing concerns in the medical community about monitoring chronic illnesses like diabetes, asthma, obesity, and high blood pressure as the population ages, reports American Institute of Physics.

“Therefore, the demand for a personalized health care system which detects users' bio-signals at any given location and time is rapidly growing,” said author Rituparna Ghosh.

The wearable fibers are highly sensitive and flexible and can be used to gauge blood pressure, heart rate, sleep quality, cholesterol levels, oxygen levels, and other vital signs. Because of their small size, they can be applied directly to the skin or woven into garments like shirts, socks, neckwear, or wristbands.

“You could have watches. You could have tattoos. It is usable in almost any form,” said Ghosh. “You could have something like a face mask. It could be a handkerchief which you put on your wrist and it starts giving data.”

Author Seeram Ramakrishna, from the National University of Singapore, said one of the most promising nanofiber technologies—piezoelectric sensors, which are powered by mechanical energy—could be ready to go to market in less than three years.

Other technologies, he said, may be ready for public use in anywhere from five to eight years.

Between now and then, Ramakrishna said more research needs to be done on making the fiber sensors more durable, so they can be used repeatedly and coming up with a power source for them that is both reliable and portable. It also will take time, he said, to assure the medical community that the technology is accurate, and its data can be trusted for use with real-world patients.

Read more: MIT Engineers Create Pressure-Responsive Smart Fibers That Change Color to Show Bandage Pressure

“The medical community is always skeptical, while the wellness industry already is using these concepts,” he said. “We need a lot more cause-and-effect studies. We need to amass information so doctors will really accept that this is information they can rely on.”

The global market value of wearable technology was estimated to be more than $32 billion in 2019 and is expected to jump to as much as $74 billion by 2025 as new applications continue to emerge.

In the wearables sector, the mantra is always smaller and smaller components but with greater and greater functionality. As such, when charged with meeting manufacturing challenges that are always exacting, it is vital that companies like Accumold keep on top of the technological opportunities that exist to meet these challenges.

The traditional route to market for miniaturized wearable parts and components is via the tried and tested micro molding process, an enabling technology that has for many years stimulated innovation, and which has produced truly amazing miniature parts, or larger parts with micron features. Micro molding in the right hands can produce fantastic results, and attain extremely tight tolerances repeatable.

But for many years there has been an alternative production process knocking at the door across industry, namely 3D printing / additive manufacturing (AM). Today, many industry sectors have incorporated AM into their manufacturing facilities, often using it as a process that is complementary to existing legacy processes, AM having a unique set of characteristics that make it compelling for some particular applications, or for certain volumes. However, AM processes have never been an option when micro manufacturing, as they are unable to attain the micron level tolerances, and do this in a repeatable fashion. That is until recently!

Today, Accumold has become the first micro molding company to incorporate the Nano Dimension Fabrica 2.0 micro AM technology into its facilities. The Fabrica 2.0 is the first AM process to be able to achieve 1 micron tolerances, and to produce end-use products at volume that are consistent and accurate. As such it opens up for the first time the benefits of AM to the micro manufacturing sector.

And what are these benefits. Well micro AM is much more agile and flexible than traditional alternative micro manufacturing technologies, the requirement for no tooling meaning that designs can be altered with little expense, and the potential for mass customization is now open to players in the wearables sector.

Through the use of a micro AM, manufacturers can also optimize workflow, the technology producing less scrap and fewer tools than conventional manufacturing processes. It also promotes the reduction of iterative process, assembly, and inventory. This means that significant operational cost benefits are now attainable at the micro manufacturing level.

While the Fabrica 2.0 micro AM process can cater for high volume applications (multiple thousands of small parts and components fitting easily in the machine’s build envelope), the introduction of a 3D printing solution for micro manufacturers also means that OEMs are able to reduce the reliance on economies of scale, as the technology makes full production runs measured in thousands as inexpensive as producing one. The Fabrica 2.0 makes low to medium-volume production runs possible that have previously been uneconomical due to the high tooling and set-up costs associated with traditional manufacturing alternatives.

So, the sky is really now the limit when it comes to creativity in the design and manufacture of micro plastics parts for wearables. AM is relatively agnostic to geometric complexity, and so is a spur to innovation, and with micro molding and micro AM both now able to achieve micron tolerances, runs from 1 – 10 million are now as economical as each other when it comes to cost per part.

Core Body Temperature (CBT) is a vital metric of our body and thus a critical parameter for health tracking, remote patient monitoring, and sporting performance enhancement. Although various invasive thermometer alternatives exist to measure CBT, greenTEG is the first company that has developed a continuous, highly accurate, and non-invasive CBT monitoring solution based on heat flux sensing technology, allowing it to compensate for thermal influences from the external environment.
The functionality and accuracy of greenTEG’s CBT sensor have been proven in multiple studies and by the popularity of greenTEG`s first B2C product, the CORE sensor, which is built around this technology.
After the success of the CORE sensor, greenTEG decided to newly brand their technology as CALERA® and also to make it more easily available for OEM customers as they intend to integrate it into their own products.
Under the new brand CALERA®, greenTEG is branding the combination of I) its miniature proprietary thermal energy transfer sensing element (gSKIN®), II) a skin temperature sensor, and III) an AI-based algorithm to enable real-time, continuous, and non-invasive CBT monitoring. Overall, this enables a much easier, compact, and energy-efficient integration into consumer and medical wearable devices. Indeed, with minimal footprint, power, and memory consumption, the CALERA® solution can be integrated into any wearable device and applied to numerous positions on the body.
In this regard, greenTEG is proud to also announce its collaboration with Myant Inc., a global pioneer and leader in textile computing, that integrated CALERA® into their Skiin smart textile monitoring system.
Lukas Durrer, CTO & Co-Founder, says: “CALERA® is key for us to easily start collaborating with OEMs and to partner for integrating our technology. In the long run, CALERA® will be the outstanding branding that will guide consumers to trustworthy wearables which offer non-invasive core body temperature monitoring.”

CALERA® Development Kit launch during Medica trade fair

CALERA® is ready to integrate into any wearable product: the integration into customer wear-able devices is facilitated through a dedicated Development Kit offer, designed specifically for the rapid development and prototyping of a CBT monitor. It explains the procedure for electrical and thermo-mechanical integration and includes all the necessary components to build your own first prototype. Since every device is specific and every use case has its own requirements, greenTEG offers two available versions, one for wrist-worn devices and one for devices worn on the chest. These are to be viewed as tentative approaches to yield the most timely and efficient results, not as definite plans; green-TEG will aid in the detail-defining process during the consulting hours offered in the package. By using the provided integration package, a customer has full cost control and a fast and efficient way to build their customized minimum viable product (MVP).

New use cases for wearables

This approach, combining a heat-flux sensor, skin temperature sensor, and algorithm, results in a robust CBT signal; this method was tested through various case studies to ensure the designed solution successfully supports real-world applications. Real-life applications range from monitoring the Circadian cycle, Ovulation detection, and Patient monitoring of fever symptoms to last but not least, sports applications (i.e. heat adaptation).
Furthermore, CALERA® is currently tested through CORE at several hospitals. At the University hospital in Basel, CORE measurements are compared to the ones collected via standard ear thermometers at the Covid station and, at the University Hospital of Trieste, the same comparison is conducted on stroke patients. The first results of both studies are showing that CORE provides a similar (in certain cases better) accuracy than tympanic thermometers commonly used in hospitals.

About greenTEG

Founded in 2009 as a spin-off of the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology (ETH), greenTEG develops, manufactures, and markets thermal sensors and provides consulting on the thermal integration of its products. Its team consists of 30+ specialists in various engineering disciplines, with all sensors fully developed and manufactured in Zurich, Switzerland.

Today, greenTEG supplies original equipment manufacturers (OEMs) and corporate/university labs around the world with its unique products.
For any press, sales, or marketing information: holger.hendrichs@greenteg.com, +41 445150915

Germany has a long history of watchmaking, with the towns of Glashutte in Saxony and Pforzheim and Schwennigen in the Black Forest becoming renowned hubs for fine watches and horology innovation during the 18^th century. That tradition continues today, with many German firms considered among the world’s leading brands.

Read more: Popularity Of Wearables As A Payment Method Driving Its Market Growth, Poised To Reach $35.48 Bn During 2020-2024

Now, for the first time, Deloitte has published its German Watch Study, a spin-off of the Deloitte Swiss Watch Industry Study.

The study identifies five critical trends and drivers for the German watch industry that will determine its growth path over the coming decades:

1. Bridging the online/offline chasm

Social media and influencers are rapidly replacing traditional media as the channels with the most significant impact on consumers in terms of their watch purchases. Accompanying this development, a generational divide in purchasing behavior is emerging: younger consumers tend to buy online, whereas older generations prefer physical stores. To bridge this divide, firms need to develop omnichannel marketing and sales strategies. 54% of Generation Z respondents pay attention to social media and influencers, the Deloitte study revealed.

2. Price-conscious consumers

Compared to other countries, German consumers are highly price-sensitive. More than 60 percent of respondents were unwilling to pay more than € 250 for a watch. A silver lining is that younger Germans tend to buy watches more frequently than older consumers.

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3. Smartwatches triumph

The global demand for smartwatches is growing exponentially, despite the impact of COVID-19. Younger consumers increasingly want digital wristwear with functions to track their fitness and health. Generation Y and Z, in particular, like the convenience of smartwatches for contactless payments. The study also found that 75% of smartwatch owners wear their smartwatches daily.

4. Attracting new luxury customers

Innovative approaches are needed to expand the luxury market, including ideas such as offering financing plans, providing watch rentals, and participating in the pre-owned watch sector. These options all offer an entryway to the luxury market – especially for younger consumers. The study found that 23% of consumers would consider renting a watch.

5. Rising green pressure

Consumers are increasingly aware of sustainability and environmental impact issues and consider these factors when buying a watch. For Generation Z, this is a key factor in their purchasing decision. Watchmakers must ensure that raw materials are ethically sourced and that the carbon footprint of the production process is considered. According to the study, 48% of Generation Z is concerned that raw materials are ethically sourced and 32% of baby boomers prefer less or recycled packaging.

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

Conclusion

While the shifting distribution landscape and changing consumer behavior and attitudes present challenges to the German watch industry, they also create opportunities. The response during the pandemic shows that vitality and creativity remain the foundation of the industry. Therefore, German watchmakers and retailers should continue to be agile and innovative, putting customers at the center of their strategy and operations to seize the potential offered by this phase of accelerated transformation.

Qualcomm Technologies, Inc. started a new initiative meant to bring experts together to develop ideas, further standards, and expand the ecosystem, called the Wearables Ecosystem Accelerator Program.  NXP is a strong supporter of the initiative that involves more than 60 ecosystem players, reports Cyril Caillaud and Love Khanna in the NXP blog.

In addition to this NXP and Qualcomm Technologies, Inc. are expanding their collaboration to now also integrate NXP’s eSIM solutions to wearable devices based on Qualcomm’s widely adopted Snapdragon Wear platform. To lower the integration effort for developers, NXP’s SN110U comes pre-integrated into the latest Snapdragon Wear 4100+ platform. Offering fast transaction speed in an ultra-small format that consumes very little power, the SN110U is ideally suited for use in wearable devices.

Read more: Qualcomm Adds aptX Lossless, New Bluetooth Lossless Audio Technology To Its Audio Portfolio

Developers working on Snapdragon Wear 4100+ benefit from the unique monolithic solution featuring an eSIM, next to NFC for transit, access control, and contactless payments, and an embedded secure element (eSE) to secure services and data – all embodied in the SN110U, according to the NXP blog post.

“The wearables industry is buzzing with rapid growth and unprecedented innovation in the industry,” said Pankaj Kedia, senior director and global head, Smart Wearables Segment, Qualcomm Technologies, Inc. “The Wearables Ecosystem Accelerator Program, which we announced earlier this summer, provides a vehicle for leading players in the wearables space to invent, innovate and invest in next-generation products and accelerate the ecosystem. We welcome NXP to the program and look forward to advancing eSIM-based connected use cases with mobile payments in collaboration with NXP.”

Benefits of these new cellular connectivity capabilities include:

Easier logistics – Eliminating SIM cards simplifies the supply chain for wearables, since there’s one less item to manufacture, transport, warehouse and manage. It saves resources and lowers overall costs.

More streamlined design – Wearables tend to be small, lightweight devices that have a small footprint. An eSIM uses less space than a traditional SIM, so the design is easier to optimize for tight spaces and battery operation, and the bill of materials is lower, too. Also, since there’s no need for a SIM slot, the design can be sleeker and more resistant to water, dust, and other destructive elements.

Better user experiences – The eSIM can receive updated profiles at any time and can store multiple profiles at once, so consumers can add backup profiles or travel internationally without having to change the SIM cards in their wearables.

Faster scaling and easier customization – Wearables can scale more easily across geographic regions that use different service providers, and late-stage customization becomes easier since the eSIM can accept profiles at any point in its life cycle, before or after the sale.

Dynamic security – Updates can be sent to the wearable over the air as needed, even after it’s in the field. Developers can address new threats as they arise and revise algorithms to reflect new approaches as they become available.

Read more: Quectel, Qualcomm and Microsoft Partnership to Speed Up IoT Solutions

The combination of pre-integration and collaboration among the key ecosystem players promises to unlock a new generation of wearable devices.

Mason, a Seattle-based startup formed in 2015, takes its provides the entirety of the hardware – an operating system, and the route to the cloud. Last week, the company announced the market’s first smartwatch designed for the enterprise that can be customized for dedicated use cases including patient monitoring, hospitality, fitness or employee safety.

Read more: zGlue’s Platform zOrigin Lets You Customize Your Own Wearable

Unlike traditional smart devices developed for consumers, the Mason A4100 smartwatch provides a blank slate for innovators to build enterprise-class smart device products for dedicated use cases, without limits to feature and software customizations. Entrepreneurs, startups, and large enterprises can leverage the Mason A4100 smartwatch form factor to quickly bring to market the industry’s first wrist-worn smart devices optimized for the enterprise and customized for a wide variety of use cases, without large upfront capital expenditures. Mason’s curated supply chain accelerates time-to-market and provides a high level of reliability and security, reports Mason.

“We designed the Mason A4100 smartwatch to be the first device to leverage hardware as building blocks—meaning customers have complete flexibility to build and customize the device to fit their exact specifications, regardless of their use case or industry-specific needs,” said Jim Xiao, founder and president of Mason. “By leveraging Mason’s hardware and infrastructure, innovators can go from idea to product launch in a few months—instead of years.”

Mason A4100 Smartwatch Unlocks Wide Range of New Smart Device Use Cases with Advanced Features and Built-in Sensors

The A4100 smartwatch is the newest form factor that builds on the Mason Smart Device Platform. Entrepreneurs, startups and large enterprises can use the Mason A4100 to build a single device for development purposes and scale up to hundreds or thousands of devices as needed. This eliminates minimum order requirements from ODMs (original device manufacturers) that can place a significant financial burden on companies looking to launch new dedicated devices.

Features including significant battery capacity with double the battery life from a single charge compared to other smartwatches on the market, as well as a removable strap, make the Mason A4100 an ideal device for a variety of non-wearable use cases such as wall-mounted thermostats, motion detector alarms and location tracking for pets or children.

The Mason A4100 smartwatch also offers GPS capabilities, advanced algorithms, and numerous built-in biometric sensors such as an electrocardiogram (ECG), photoplethysmogram, temperature sensors, accelerometer, and gyroscopes. These sensors can deliver insights for healthcare and fitness applications and support a variety of use cases including:

• Fall detection for senior care
• Heart rate, heart rate variation, abnormal heart rate conditions, respiratory rate, and blood oximetry detection
• Wellness metrics including stress and energy expenditure at active and resting modes
• Location tracking
• Episodes of acute psychological stress
• User identification by comparing a person’s ECG signal profile against the person’s own ECG signal collected at an earlier time

“Health and care delivery evolution is accelerating. The need for wellbeing, precision medicine, virtual care, and remote patient monitoring will drive innovation in hardware devices to complement exponential growth in applications,” said Rohan Kulkarni, Vice President of Healthcare Research at HFS Research. “Rapid cycles from need recognition to functional delivery is critical and those that can deliver chassis to services to product will play a defining role.”

Read more: New Trend Is Buying Smart Electronics You Customize To Function, Says IDTechEx Report

Mason’s fully customizable OS ensures easy device setup; unprecedented API, feature and security controls; and the ability to adapt or integrate Mason to existing tooling and workflows. It gives users the ability to customize everything from the application’s software to how the fleet of smart devices is remotely managed. With the Mason Smart Device Platform, product owners can effortlessly add, remove or lock down device capabilities to build products as envisioned.

It seems like Apple is studying ways to make AirPods into a health device, which may enhance hearing, monitor body temperature, and posture.

According to a report published in the Wall Street Journal, it isn’t clear if Apple is developing specific new hearing-aid features for AirPods or wants to market the earbuds’ existing hearing-improvement features as hearing aids.

Read more: AirPods 2 Rumor Suggests Inclusion of Biometrics and Wellness Sensors

Furthermore, the WSJ report also suggests that these health-focused features may actually take a while before rolling out in the market. "These functions aren't expected by next year and might never be rolled out to consumers, or the timing could change," the report stated.

The tech giant is already developing prototypes for AirPods to take wearers’ core body temperature from inside their ears, according to the documents reviewed by the Journal. The thermometer would be the second that Apple could add to its devices, including a new wrist temperature-sensor Apple may include in next year’s version of the Apple Watch, the Journal previously reported.

The primary clinical management intervention for people with hearing loss is hearing aids, however, the majority (80%) of adults aged 55–74 years who would benefit from a hearing aid, do not use them. The reasons include hearing aid value, device factor, appearance, fit and comfort and maintenance of the hearing aid, etc.

Offering AirPods as hearing aids could encourage more and more people with hearing loss to start using hearing aids. U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) is working on new regulations that would permit the sale of a new class of cheaper hearing aids directly to consumers to treat mild to moderate hearing loss, according to the Wall Street Journal report. The new regulations are expected to be completed next year.

Read more: Verizon BlueJeans Telehealth Integrates with Apple Health To Streamline Patient Care

Earlier this month, Apple India unveiled its Festive offer during the religious ceremony of Durga Puja. The offer entitles those who buy an iPhone 12 or an iPhone 12 mini via Apple’s online stores to get a free pair of AirPods.

Garmin introduced the Dexcom Connect IQ app, providing people with Type 1 and Type 2 diabetes who use the Dexcom G6 Continuous Glucose Monitor (CGM) System with a way to quickly see their glucose levels and trends – even while working out – right on their compatible Garmin smartwatch or cycling computer. The apps can be downloaded now from the Connect IQ store.

Read more: Dexcom G6 Pro CGM Offers Both Blinded And Unblinded Mode For Glucose Monitoring

“Dexcom’s CGM systems have revolutionized how people live with diabetes, and we are thrilled to offer our customers an even more convenient way to see their glucose levels,” said Dan Bartel, Garmin vice president of global consumer sales. “Users can not only see which way their glucose levels are trending without having to take their phone out but can even do so while working out when glucose levels have the potential to fluctuate quickly.”

The Dexcom Connect IQ apps, developed by Garmin, make it easy for people with diabetes to keep an eye on their glucose numbers at any time, reports Garmin.

During the Day

Available for a wide range of Garmin smartwatches, the Dexcom Connect IQ app provides people with diabetes with a secondary way to view their glucose levels, right from their wrist. With their smartphone stowed away, the app allows people with diabetes to see glucose levels and trends to get a clearer picture of where their numbers are heading, as well as a 3-hour history of glucose levels to look back on.

During an Activity

While out for a run, bike ride, or other adventure, the Dexcom Connect IQ data field provides people with diabetes with a secondary way to view both their glucose levels and performance stats all in one place, so they can focus more on their workout. When training or racing with a compatible smartwatch or Edge® cycling computer, users can keep an eye on their glucose levels and trends, as well as their performance data, right on their Garmin device without pulling out their smartphone.

Read more: Garmin-Lumen Partnership Launches Second Phase Integration With Metabolic Fitness Data

“The addition of Garmin wearables and cycling computers to the Dexcom CGM ecosystem is an exciting advancement for Dexcom users who are now able to easily view and monitor their glucose levels from their favorite Garmin device,” said Jake Leach, chief technology officer at Dexcom. “Garmin is our first partner to connect to Dexcom G6 through our new real-time API – showcasing the value of integrated CGM and further solidifying Dexcom G6 as the most powerful and connected CGM in the world.”

The Dexcom Connect IQ apps are available for download from the Connect IQ Store now for customers in the United States.

Withings announced that its most medically advanced wearable the ScanWatch has received FDA clearance. With state-of-the-art technology, ScanWatch can monitor heart rate, atrial fibrillation through ECG, breathing disturbances, blood oxygen levels through SpO2, sleep, and physical activity.

Read more: We’re Maintaining Our Weight and Sleeping More in Quarantine, Withings’ COVID-19 Lockdown Study Reveals

“ScanWatch received three CES Innovation Awards when it was first announced in 2020 and we are now thrilled to bring it to the United States following robust FDA scrutiny," said Mathieu Letombe, CEO of Withings. "At Withings our core mission is to create beautiful devices people choose to use and wear every day so the medical data they provide can make meaningful impacts on their lives. ScanWatch has been clinically validated to detect AFib and can aid in the detection of breathing disturbances at night, which can be signs of sleep apnea. It is our most ambitious medical watch to date and has the potential to benefit millions of people.”

Developed with cardiologists and sleep experts, ScanWatch has been validated in two clinical studies. It has already touched countless lives in Europe where it has also been used in a study to monitor COVID patients remotely in German hospitals. It is designed with a stainless-steel case and durable sapphire glass watch face and features a large digital display as well as easy navigation through a newly created crown dial. Additionally, ScanWatch is water-resistant up to 5 ATM and features an exceptional battery life of up to 30 days, Withings said in a press release.

In-depth Cardiovascular Health Monitoring

AFib is the main form of irregular heart rhythm that is often underdiagnosed as it can be intermittent and easily missed if symptoms do not occur during infrequent doctors' visits. ScanWatch can detect if a user has AFib thanks to its ability to take a medical-grade ECG on-demand. The device can monitor heart rate through its embedded PPG sensor, alerting the user to a potential heart event even if they don't feel palpitations. In addition, when ScanWatch detects an irregular heartbeat through its heart rate sensor, it will prompt the user to record an ECG in just 30 seconds via the watch display.

ECG readings are displayed in the accompanying Withings Health Mate app where users can choose to send readings to their doctor or cardiologist.

Blood oxygen level via SpO2 and respiratory disorders at night

With FDA Clearance of its SpO2 functionality, ScanWatch can be used to monitor blood oxygen levels and can be used to help detect if someone is experiencing issues from respiratory disorders such as COPD or COVID. ScanWatch can also detect the presence of nighttime breathing disturbances (a sign of sleep apnea) with an exclusive algorithm that analyzes blood oxygen levels, heart rate, movement, and respiratory rate, all collected via the accelerometer and optical sensors.

In addition, ScanWatch provides sophisticated sleep monitoring and analysis of sleep patterns, including the length, depth, and quality of sleep, and can wake users up with a gentle vibration at the best time of their sleep cycle.

Activity & Workout Tracking

ScanWatch is a sophisticated activity monitor able to track parameters such as steps, calories, elevation, and workout routes (via connected GPS) and can automatically recognize more than 30 daily activities such as walking, running, swimming, and cycling. In addition, it offers Fitness Level assessments through the estimation of an indicator called VO2 Max, which measures the heart and muscle's ability to convert oxygen into energy during physical exercise.

Read more: Withings ScanWatch Receives CE Certification For Medical Devices

Like all Withings devices, ScanWatch connects with the free Health Mate app, which provides data and insights and can schedule activity reminders, set goals, and manage achievements. In addition, Health Mate can be paired with more than 100 third-party apps, including Apple Health, Google Fit, Strava, and MyFitnessPal.

Availability

ScanWatch will be available in early November 2021 from the company’s website, Amazon, and Best Buy stores.  It is priced at $279 (38mm) and $299 (42 mm) and comes in a choice of black or white faces.

Last month, P&O Maritime Logistics began Phase 1 of its implementation of wearable technology that proactively prevents microsleeps and supports workers in managing their fatigue — an industry first, and a boon for safety in maritime services.

Read more: Spanish Researchers Develop Chest Strap System That Monitors Severity of Symptoms in Chronic Fatigue Syndrome

SmartCap from Wenco International Mining Systems, a wholly owned subsidiary of Hitachi Construction Machinery, has previously been used in the mining and trucking industries to eliminate safety incidents due to fatigue. P&O Maritime is testing the effectiveness of this technology to bring leading-edge safety to their operations and customers.

The wearable technology actively monitors real-time fatigue levels of employees, sensing when a worker has a reduced ability to resist sleep. The system then activates an alert system, notifying the wearer to take action to prevent a safety incident. SmartCap works independently but has been designed to complement existing safety technologies and protocols common throughout the heavy industry. Companies that have used SmartCap as part of their safety protocols have reported a significant decline in the number of fatigue-related incidents, reports P&O Maritime.

Martin Helweg, CEO of P&O Maritime Logistics, said: “I’m incredibly proud that P&O Maritime Logistics is leading our industry by piloting this innovative safety technology. We’re always looking for ways that we can boost the safety of our crews and empower them to ensure that safety is always front of mind.”

A key element of SmartCap technology is that it puts wearers in charge of managing their fatigue by sending them private early warning alerts. By keeping the alert private to wearers rather than triggering a central alert, SmartCap empowers workers to act on their fatigue pre-emptively with a proven scoring system that pinpoints the propensity to resist sleep.

At P&O Maritime Logistics, SmartCap is intended to complement existing safety and fatigue management systems and protocols. The crew always has the right and responsibility to stop working if they ever feel too tired.

SmartCap also assists P&O Maritime Logistics in eliminating fatigue-related incidents through escalated intervention alarms that are customized to local fatigue management policies. The technology can be adapted to various vessel operating requirements, including crew work hours and rotations.

Helweg continued: “As P&O Maritime Logistics is a tech-driven business, the SmartCap system is an exciting way we can look to introduce innovative solutions that help in our efforts to continuously boost our high safety standards. With technology such as SmartCap, also gives us a high-level view of our safety program and will help us track fatigue across our crews.

“I look forward to seeing the results of the pilot and to working closely with Wenco International Mining Systems on understanding how this tech can become integrated into our safety systems.”

Klaus Hansson, Wenco’s Regional Manager — Europe, Middle East, and Kazakhstan agreed: “It’s exciting to see our proven technology being rolled out in new industries and countries – and P&O Maritime Logistics is our partner of choice to begin piloting the system outside of a mining and trucking environment.

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

“As we continue to gather information from the implementation, we will be able to harvest the analytics to see how our system can be integrated across P&O Maritime Logistics’ network. Our ambition is for the SmartCap system to be introduced across a wide variety of industries where safety is a top priority, and we’re excited about taking this step with P&O Maritime Logistics.”

Since its inception, wearable devices have been playing an important role in the medical field. They have been extensively used in remote monitoring and telemedicine. Now, surgery is another field where wearables are making their mark.

Read more: FundamentalVR Integrates Groundbreaking HaptX Gloves on its Fundamental Surgery Platform

Assistance

Assistance is when wearables are used to replace physical tasks encountered during surgery. This can include tasks performed while in a sterile environment or tasks in clinic. An example of surgical task replacement would be the use of an arm-mounted device to allow gesture control of a PACS system to allow synchronized review of cross-sectional imaging at the time of surgery without breaking sterility. Another example from the clinic would be the capture of objective range-of-motion data utilizing sensors integrated into a hand-held device that the surgeon carries.

Pixee, a France-based medical company, completed the first total knee replacement AR navigation system, solely guided by the Vuzix M400 AR Smart Glasses. The Vuzix M400 Smart Glasses running the Knee+ solution provided real-time navigation throughout the surgery, displaying essential augmented reality information in the surgeon’s field of view.

Augmentation

Augmentation during surgery is the real-time provision of information to the surgeon during clinical or surgical procedures. A heads-up display of vital signs could be used during cardiac surgery, which allows recognition of specific instruments by operating room staff unfamiliar with complex equipment sets such as those used in orthopedic trauma surgery through visual recognition software. Diagnostic imaging such as a CT scan could be superimposed to help surgeons in the operating room perform image-guided surgery.

Assessment

Wearables are being used to objectively measure the disease severity and it can be extended to be used during surgery. For example, a wearable device can track breathing and sleep patterns in patients before and after surgery to correct a deviated septum. This type of analysis has already been proposed in chronic obstructive lung disease monitoring and stroke recovery.

Postoperative

Wearable sensors enhance patient safety. Currently, after a surgery has been performed, the patient in the surgical ward is left unmonitored leaving them vulnerable to post-operative side effects. Using a wearable device to continuously monitor the patient can lower the risks of complications and potentially help the patient recover faster.

Read more: Borns, AI-Powered Minimally Invasive Surgery Has Huge Prospects in Healthcare

Risks and benefits of using wearables during surgery

Wearables bring both benefits and risks to the operating room. If properly used, they can greatly enhance the accuracy and efficiency of a surgery. The surgical team can be helped by a wearable device for the real-time assessment of the patient. However, if they aren’t trained properly on how to handle a wearable, the results could be the opposite.

Qualcomm has introduced aptX Lossless audio technology to its already extensive audio portfolio. aptX Lossless is a new capability of the proven aptX Adaptive technology and a new feature of Snapdragon Sound™ Technology that is designed to deliver CD quality 16-bit 44.1kHz lossless audio quality over Bluetooth wireless technology. Qualcomm Technologies has taken a systems-level approach and optimized a number of core wireless connectivity and audio technologies, including aptX Adaptive, which work together to auto-detect and scale up and are designed to deliver CD lossless audio when a user is listening to a lossless music file and the RF conditions are suitable.

Read more: Qualcomm Introduces Wearable Ecosystem Accelerator Program to Help Accelerate Wearables Adoption

“At Qualcomm Technologies we’re excited about the future of sound, and we’re continually looking for ways to help our customers deliver new and exciting listening experiences. Lossless audio means mathematically bit-for-bit exact, with no loss of the audio file and up to now the necessary bit rate to deliver this over Bluetooth has not been available. With many leading music streaming services now offering extensive lossless music libraries, and consumer demand for lossless audio growing, we’re pleased to announce this new support for CD lossless audio streaming for Bluetooth earbuds and headsets which we plan to make available to customers later this year,” said James Chapman, vice president and general manager, Qualcomm Technologies International, Ltd.

To help deliver CD lossless audio quality reliably over Bluetooth wireless technology, aptX Adaptive works in conjunction with Qualcomm Bluetooth High-Speed Link technology to help deliver the required sustainable data throughput. Designed to work seamlessly together, these technologies deliver rates beyond 1Mbit/s yet smoothly scale down to 140kbits/s in congested RF environments to minimize any audio dropouts or glitches for a consistent and reliable listening experience, Qualcomm said in a news release.

“Sound quality is the most critical purchase driver across all audio devices according to our 2021 State of Sound survey, which also shows increasing demand for higher quality streaming audio.  Over half of respondents are seeking either lossless or high-resolution audio quality, and a massive 64% saying that lossless audio quality is likely to influence their decision to purchase wireless earbuds,” Chapman continued. “Currently lossless audio is only supported on client devices such as phones, PCs, and tablets. By supporting lossless audio on next-gen earbuds and headphones, we’re providing our customers another way to deliver sound the way the artist intended, as well as a significant opportunity to differentiate and be among the first to develop products with this feature.”

Read more: Quectel, Qualcomm and Microsoft Partnership to Speed Up IoT Solutions

aptX Lossless features & specifications:

• Supports 44.1kHz, 16-bit CD lossless audio quality
• Designed to scale up to CD lossless audio based on Bluetooth link quality
• User can select between CD lossless audio 44.1kHz and 24-bit 96kHz lossy
• Auto-detects to enable CD lossless audio when the source is a lossless audio
• Mathematically bit-for-bit exact
• Bit-rate – ~1Mbps

A team of bioengineers at the UCLA Samueli School of Engineering has invented a novel soft and flexible self-powered bioelectronic device. The technology converts human body motions — from bending an elbow to subtle movements such as a pulse on one’s wrist — into electricity that could be used to power wearable and implantable diagnostic sensors.

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

The researchers discovered that the magnetoelastic effect, which is the change of how much material is magnetized when tiny magnets are constantly pushed together and pulled apart by mechanical pressure, can exist in a soft and flexible system — not just one that is rigid. To prove their concept, the team used microscopic magnets dispersed in a paper-thin silicone matrix to generate a magnetic field that changes in strength as the matrix undulated. As the magnetic field’s strength shifts, electricity is generated, reports UCLA Samueli.

Nature Materials published today a research study detailing the discovery, the theoretical model behind the breakthrough, and the demonstration. The research is also highlighted by Nature.

“Our finding opens up a new avenue for practical energy, sensing and therapeutic technologies that are human-body-centric and can be connected to the Internet of Things,” said study leader Jun Chen, an assistant professor of bioengineering at UCLA Samueli. “What makes this technology unique is that it allows people to stretch and move with comfort when the device is pressed against human skin, and because it relies on magnetism rather than electricity, humidity and our own sweat do not compromise its effectiveness.”

Chen and his team built a small, flexible magnetoelastic generator (about the size of a U.S. quarter) made of a platinum-catalyzed silicone polymer matrix and neodymium-iron-boron nanomagnets. They then affixed it to a subject’s elbow with a soft, stretchy silicone band. The magnetoelastic effect they observed was four times greater than similarly sized setups with rigid metal alloys. As a result, the device generated electrical currents of 4.27 milliamperes per square centimeter, which is 10,000 times better than the next best comparable technology.

In fact, the flexible magnetoelastic generator is so sensitive that it could convert human pulse waves into electrical signals and act as a self-powered, waterproof heart-rate monitor. The electricity generated can also be used to sustainably power other wearable devices, such as a sweat sensor or a thermometer.

There have been ongoing efforts to make wearable generators that harvest energy from human body movements to power sensors and other devices, but the lack of practicality has hindered such progress. For example, rigid metal alloys with magnetoelastic effects do not bend sufficiently to compress against the skin and generate meaningful levels of power for viable applications.

Read more: Researchers Harvest Energy From Radio Waves to Power Wearable Devices

Other devices that rely on static electricity tend not to generate enough energy. Their performance can also suffer in humid conditions, or when there is sweat on the skin. Some have tried to encapsulate such devices in order to keep water out, but that cuts down their effectiveness. The UCLA team’s novel wearable magnetoelastic generators, however, tested well even after being soaked in artificial perspiration for a week.

A patent on the technology has been filed by the UCLA Technology Development Group.

Movesense, the open development platform for wearables and sensor products for fitness and health, is becoming independent of Suunto following a management buy-out deal. The deal opens new opportunities for Movesense to strengthen its business and seek growth, especially in the medical field. At the same time, the operational and other collaborative links with Suunto will remain deep.

Read more: Physilect Developing A Series Of Exergames That Use Movesense Sensor As A Controller

Through the Movesense platform, Suunto has made its own expertise available to other companies, enabling its technology to be used in applications that are not part of Suunto’s core business.

Suunto is sharpening its focus on outdoor sports watches, dive computers, and mechanical instruments for outdoor enthusiasts. At the same time, Movesense targets its sensor platform to diverse business-to-business clientele for developing their own wearable solutions in sports and wellness and, most recently, in the MedTech market with its recently introduced Movesense Medical sensor.

The buyer of Movesense is a company owned by the current General Manager of Movesense, Mr. Jussi Kaasinen, who together with the Movesense team will continue to build the business further and serve existing and new customers. The parties have agreed not to disclose the transaction price. The deal effective of Oct 1st 2021 will transfer the Movesense team and business to the new company led by Jussi Kaasinen. He is a seasoned startup entrepreneur as he was the former CEO of Sports Tracker acquired by Suunto/Amer Sports in 2015, Movesense said in a News Release.

Suunto supports the transition to the full extent. The contracts with existing business-to-business customers and technology partners are transferred to the new company. Movesense and Suunto will continue deep cooperation in operational processes such as supply chain, manufacturing, and logistics.

This truly exciting change opens us new opportunities to operate and expand in the medical space with the Movesense Medical sensor, while at the same time allowing continuing driving the growth with our current and future Movesense sports products. We continue to provide our customers unprecedented Finnish-made cutting edge sensor technology, which enables new use cases varying from measuring physiological signals from individual athletes to team sports and all the way to health metrics and clinical grade ECG monitoring, comments Jussi Kaasinen.

"Movesense becoming independent is a natural step following incubation and years of growing its business under the Suunto umbrella. Suunto’s focus is on Outdoor and Adventure. As an independent company, Movesense can focus on a more diverse range of opportunities. I’m proud of what the Movesense team has achieved to date and wish the team best of luck in growing the business further," says Heikki Norta, CEO and Brand President of Suunto.

Read more: Suunto 7 GPS Smartwatch is Taking on Garmin with Offline Outdoor Maps and Long Battery Life

Movesense sensor is a coin-sized programmable movement, ECG, and heart rate sensor for fast and cost-effective creation of wearable sensor solutions. Movesense is used for applications in health, well-being, sports, research, and more.

The newly established company is open to new partnerships and is excited to help new and existing customers to turn their wearable sensor concepts into market-ready products.

Vesper, a Boston-based startup that makes tiny microphones and voice-activated technology, raised $18 million more in funding. Amazon once again was among the company’s backers. The funding round was led by Boston venture firm Accomplice. Vesper also received investments from Applied Materials Ventures, Sands Capital, Bose, Amazon Alexa Fund, Gopher Asset Management, ITIC, World Peace Group, Unitrontech, and MegaChips. The round brings Vesper’s total funding to date to $73M.

Read more: FLEEP Technologies Closes Over $100K Seed Round to Bring Printed Electronics to Market

The funding will enable the startup to accelerate the hyper-scaling of its smart microphones and accelerometers from tens of millions of units per year to hundreds of millions per year, support research and development, and expand into new markets, Vesper said in a news release.

“This additional financing is a strong show of support from new and existing investors to enable Vesper to rapidly scale production to capitalize on new sales opportunities,” said Matt Crowley, CEO of Vesper. “Our vision to use our proprietary ZeroPower Listening™ architecture to bring order of magnitude improvements in power consumption to always sensing systems is being validated by many of the world’s most innovative companies across multiple markets. This financing will allow us to serve new customers and applications, and help accelerate the transition to edge AI-enabled always listening systems.”

In April, Vesper raised $8 million, bringing the company’s total funding to $65 million. The funding round was led by Applied Ventures but included funding from Accomplice, Amazon Alexa Fund, Bose Ventures, Sands Capital, and other undisclosed investors.

About Vesper

Vesper is a privately held smart sensor company based in Boston, MA. Vesper’s award-winning microphones and accelerometers deliver tremendous value by embedding intelligence at the extreme edge of the network. For more information, visit www.vespermems.com, Twitter, and YouTube.

Read more: Healthtech Startup Ultrahuman Raises $17.5M In Series B Funding

About Accomplice

Accomplice is a seed-led venture capital firm that embraces risk and is the most determined, patient capital partner for entrepreneurs building things that matter. We have been part of the origin story of AngelList, Carbon Black, Currencycloud, DraftKings, Integral Ad Science, Hopper, PillPack, Plastiq, Recorded Future, SecurityScorecard, Skillz, Veracode, WHOOP, and Zoopla. Accomplice has pioneered a community approach through platforms like Spearhead, BOSS, Rev, and TUGG. Based in Boston.

A team of engineers and biotechnologists at the University of Freiburg has for the first time shown that it is possible to determine the concentration of antibiotics in the body of mammals using breath samples. The breath measurements also corresponded to the antibiotic concentrations in the blood.

Read more: New Hydrogel Material For Wound Treatment Can Kill Antibiotic Resistant Bacteria

The team’s biosensor – a multiplex chip that allows simultaneous measurement of several specimens and test substances – will in the future enable personalized dosing of medicines against infectious diseases on-site and help to minimize the development of resistant strains of bacteria.

The sensor was created by scientists led by Dr. Can Dincer and H. Ceren Ates, FIT Freiburg Center for Interactive Materials and Bioinspired Technologies, and Professor Dr. Wilfried Weber, Professor of Synthetic Biology and a member of the team of speakers at the Cluster of Excellence CIBSS — Centre for Integrative Biological Signalling Studies, reports the University of Freiburg. The sensor is based on synthetic proteins that react to antibiotics, resulting in a current change. The observations have been published in the Advanced Materials journal.

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Previously researchers could only detect traces of antibiotics in the breath

The researchers tested the biosensor on the blood, plasma, urine, saliva and breath samples of pigs who had received antibiotics. They were able to show that the result achieved with biosensors in the pigs’ plasma were as accurate as the standard medical laboratory process. Previously, measurement of antibiotic levels in exhaled breath samples was not possible: “Until now researchers could only detect traces of antibiotics in the breath. With our synthetic proteins on a microfluidic chip, we can determine the smallest concentrations in the breath condensate and they correlate with the blood values,” explains Dincer.

Sensor will help to keep antibiotic level stable in severely ill

Physicians need to keep the antibiotics level within a personalized therapeutic range for patients suffering severe infections, at the risk of threats such as sepsis and organ failure or even the death of the patient. Inadequate administration of antibiotics could allow bacteria to mutate so that the medicines no longer work: they become resistant. “Rapid monitoring of antibiotic levels would be a huge advantage in hospital,” says Ates, “it might be possible to fit the method into a conventional face mask.” In another project at the University of Freiburg, Dincer is developing wearable paper sensors for the continuous measurement of biomarkers from exhaled breath. Clinical trials to validate the antibiotic biosensor by testing the system with human samples are planned.

Read more: This App Combines AI and Biosensors to Detect COVID-19 in Two Minutes, Even in Asymptomatic Patients

Bacterial proteins as sensor

The microfluidic biosensor bears proteins that can recognize beta-lactam antibiotics such as penicillin, affixed to a polymer film. The antibiotic of interest in the sample and an enzyme-coupled beta-lactam are in competition to bind these bacterial proteins. This competition generates a current change – like in a battery: the more antibiotic there is present in the sample, the less enzyme product develops, which leads to a lower measurable current. The process is based on a natural receptor protein that resistant bacteria use to detect the antibiotics that threaten them. “You could say we are beating the bacteria at their own game,” Weber says of the process developed by his group.

MIT’s Science and Artificial Intelligence Laboratory (CSAIL) has created a toolkit that lets users design health-sensing devices that can detect how muscles move. To design the toolkit, the researchers used a technique called Electrical impedance tomography (EIT). EIT is actually an imaging technique that measures and visualizes a person’s internal conductivity. (EIT is typically used for things like observing lung function or detecting cancer.)

Read more: MIT Researchers Develop Touch-Sensing Glove That May Help In Stroke Recovery

Using “EIT-kit,” the team built a range of devices that support different sensing applications, including a personal muscle monitor for physical rehabilitation, a wearable hand gesture recognizer, and a “bracelet” that can detect distracted driving.

While EIT sensing usually requires expensive hardware setups and complicated image reconstruction algorithms, the use of printed electronics and open-source EIT image libraries has made it an attractive, low-cost, and portable option. But designing EIT items is still tough, and usually requires a proper fusion of design knowledge, adequate contact between the device and the human, and optimization, writes Rachel Gordon at MIT News.

The ​​EIT-kit 3D editor puts the user in the driver's seat for full design direction. Once the sensing electrodes (which measure human activity) are put on the device in the editor, they can be exported to a 3D printer. The item can then be assembled, placed onto the target measuring area, and connected to EIT-kit’s sensing motherboard. As a final step, an onboard microcontroller library automates the electrical impedance measurement, and lets users see the visual measured data, even on a mobile phone.

Existing devices can also only sense motion, limiting users to understanding only how they change positions over time — but EIT-kit can sense actual muscle activity. One device prototyped by the team, which looks like two simple bands, sensed muscle strain and tension in the thigh to monitor muscle recovery post-injury, and may even possibly be used to prevent re-injury. The muscle monitor here used two electrode arrays to create a 3D image of the thigh, as well as augmented reality to view the muscle activity in real time. In this case, just sensing motion would be useless, since a person doing a rehabilitation exercise correctly requires using the correct muscle. In addition, the researchers sensed biological tissue via an EIT device that analyzed the tenderness of raw meat.

"The EIT-kit project fits my long-term vision of creating personal health-sensing devices with rapid function prototyping techniques and novel sensing technologies,” says MIT CSAIL Ph.D. student Junyi Zhu, the lead author of a new paper about EIT-kit. "During our study alongside medical professionals, we discovered that EIT sensing is largely patient- and sensing-location dependent, because of measuring configurations, signal calibration, electrode placements, and other bioelectrical-related factors. These challenges can be resolved with customizable hardware and automation algorithms. Beyond EIT, other health sensing technologies face similar complexities and personalized needs.”

Read more: MIT Engineers Successfully Integrate AI-Enabled IC Circuits Into Sewable Fibers

The team is currently collaborating with MGH to develop an EIT-kit for creating remote rehabilitation devices to monitor different parts of a patient’s body while healing. Since all EIT-kit devices are mobile and customized to a patient’s body form and particular injury, they can be easily used at home to give doctors a more holistic picture of the healing process.

Qualcomm has introduced the Qualcomm Wearable Ecosystem Accelerator Program. The program focuses on bringing together device manufacturers, mobile operators, platform players, independent hardware and software vendors, and system integrators to help accelerate wearable adoption and reduce the development time of wearables products.

Read more: Quectel, Qualcomm and Microsoft Partnership to Speed Up IoT Solutions

By emphasizing collaboration within an ecosystem centered on the Snapdragon Wear Platform, member companies could reduce the time to commercialization, increase business opportunities, and create more intelligent, connected wearables. Consumers can enjoy richer, more personalized experiences with devices designed to cater to their specific needs.

“We see tremendous potential for wearables in the coming years, though this comes with formidable challenges. How do we build systems to help meet growing demand and find proper solutions for an expanding market? The first and perhaps most important answer to this question comes by fostering an ecosystem where a diverse range of companies involved in the wearable technology chain share new and existing solutions within a universal platform,” Qualcomm said.

The Qualcomm Wearable Ecosystem Accelerator Program is attracting incredible companies from a wide range of industries and development points. Zebra Technologies, a manufacturing company specializing in real-time tracking, scanning, and analyzing for businesses, provides invaluable expertise in technology that can be applied to intuitive enterprise-focused wearables for smart, hands-free usage.  Best Buy Health, a leader in tech-enabled senior care, can offer next-generation wearables for seniors that support advanced remote patient monitoring and integration with health systems. Other companies are bringing their technological know-how of supply chains, connectivity, and industry knowledge to the ecosystem for a deep understanding of Snapdragon Wear and the Wearables industry.

Qualcomm Technologies’ Senior Director, Product Marketing, Pankaj Kedia, who heads the company’s wearables business, recently hosted a roundtable for the Qualcomm Wearable Ecosystem Accelerator Program featuring existing members and industry leaders from Verizon, Fossil, and Best Buy Health. Members discussed their thoughts on and vision for the wearables industry in the coming years and stressed the importance of an ecosystem program that brings everyone to the table for new solutions and innovation at every step, from production to deployment.

Companies connecting with one another on new solutions and optimizations at every stage of development is what will drive wearables into a new phase of adoption. We encourage companies with a vested interest in wearable development to apply to the Qualcomm Wearable Ecosystem Accelerator Program where they’ll benefit from shared knowledge of Snapdragon Wear optimizations and solutions. The offer is open to any company, and those that join will also be invited to our inaugural Qualcomm Wearable Ecosystem Accelerator Program summit in fall 2021, where collaborators and program member companies will join together to discuss trends and solutions in the wearables industry.

Read more: Qualcomm Launches $200M Investment Fund to Back Companies Building the 5G Ecosystem

“For decades, we built the foundational technologies that help people connect, compute, and communicate. One of the keys to our success — and the success of the wearables ecosystem — is a collaboration with other industry leaders and development specialists. Snapdragon Wear is helping a new mobile computing market thrive, and this program will accelerate progress and build lasting relationships,” Qualcomm said.

Apple is working on a technology to help detect depression and early-stage cognitive decline, according to a report by The Wall Street Journal.

The efforts spring from research partnerships last year when Apple partnered with the University of California at Los Angeles to launch the three-year program through UCLA’s Depression Grand Challenge. The goal was to allow researchers to monitor participants for signs of stress, anxiety, and depression through the Apple Watch and a wearable sleep monitoring device developed by Beddit, with data gathered by an app on the user’s iPhone.

Read more: Apple and Johnson & Johnson Launch Heart Study Using Apple Watches

Now, Biogen is joining the project. The pharmaceutical company received approval this summer from the U.S. Food and Drug Administration for a new drug to treat mild cognitive impairment.

The code name for the UCLA project is “Seabreeze” while “Pi” is the code name for the Biogen project.

The UCLA researchers will use the iPhone's video camera, keyboard, and audio sensors, as well as the Apple Watch, to collect data, according to The Wall Street Journal. This could include how users speak, how often and how fast they walk, their heart and breathing rates, their sleep patterns, and more. Researchers may also measure typing speed and the frequency of typos.

“The analyses made possible by the scale, length, and design of this study will provide the most extensive evidence available to date regarding the possible uses of digital tools for assessing and tracking behavioral health,” Nelson Freimer, a professor of psychiatry at UCLA and the study’s principal investigator, said at the time. “We envision a future in which these tools will become indispensable for depression sufferers and those providing them care.”

Apple, along with Biogen, will also detect cognitive impairment in patients. The cognitive impairment can develop into Alzheimer's in a later stage. Early detection could help the users from contracting serious illnesses like Alzheimer's. The tech giant along with Biogen plans to track almost 20,000 people who have signed up for the project.

Read more: Verizon BlueJeans Telehealth Integrates with Apple Health To Streamline Patient Care

Apple hopes that if the data gathered from Apple devices correlates with a health condition, Apple could develop an app or feature that could warn people that they are at risk so they can seek care.

Know Labs, an emerging leader in non-invasive medical diagnostics, introduced the KnowU™, a new portable medical-grade glucose monitoring device that utilizes Bio-RFID™, Know Labs’ non-invasive diagnostic technology.

Read more: Supersapiens Glucose Display Wearable Is Designed Specifically For Athletes

The KnowU is a convenient, non-wearable, on-the-go alternative to fingersticks, which are used to check blood glucose levels, often multiple times per day, by more than 90% of the global population with diabetes. The KnowU joins the Know Labs UBand™ as an additional non-invasive glucose monitoring solution and an extension of the product portfolio, powered by Bio-RFID. UBand is a medical-grade wearable continuous glucose monitoring device. Both have the potential to revolutionize how 1.5 billion people manage their diabetes or pre-diabetes. The KnowU is expected to begin the FDA pre-approval process in 2022, reports BusinessWire.

The KnowU has two elements: a base that powers the device and displays blood glucose readings, and a pocket-sized battery-powered portable monitor that contains the Bio-RFID sensors, which can be carried by the user to check blood glucose levels on the go. Like the UBand, the KnowU will use Know Labs’ smartphone app to store and display readings.

“We know that not all people with diabetes are looking for a wearable continuous glucose monitoring device to manage their diabetes. Some simply want to replace the painful, inconvenient and expensive fingersticks they currently rely on,” said Phil Bosua, Know Labs CEO and Bio-RFID inventor. “The Bio-RFID sensor we currently use for our internal product testing fits in your pocket and is ready for final use, so we decided to create the KnowU as a portable, affordable and convenient alternative requiring no disposable items, such as test strips and lancets.”

“The addition of the KnowU to our product portfolio does not change our timeline for the UBand commercial launch, which is proceeding as planned,” said Ron Erickson, Know Labs Founder and Chairman. “The KnowU leverages the same science and technology created for the UBand and will be faster to build and commercialize therefore accelerating our time to launch. Our Bio-RFID technology is form-factor agnostic and the KnowU is a great example of how we can leverage it to increase Know Labs’ addressable market and guarantee we have multiple product solutions for every need.”

Know Labs is focused on launching what the company believes will be the world’s first non-invasive medical-grade glucose monitoring solution, via two devices.

Read more: PKvitality’s K’Watch Glucose Is a Smartwatch That Provides Continuous Glucose Monitoring

About Know Labs

Know Labs’ technology uses spectroscopy to direct electromagnetic energy through a substance or material to capture a unique molecular signature. The Company refers to its technology as Bio-RFID. The Bio-RFID technology can be integrated into a variety of wearable, mobile, or bench-top form factors. This patented and patent-pending technology makes it possible to effectively conduct analyses that could only previously be performed by invasive and/or expensive and time-consuming lab-based tests.