Kinetic, a New York-based wearables startup that provides safety wearables for industrial workers, raised $11.25 million in series A funding. The funding round was led by existing investor Crosslink Capital. The company said the money will help it grow and scale its engineering, sales, and marketing teams and support R&D.

Read more: Kinetic raises $4.5M for its Wearable REFLEX Aimed at Reducing Workplace Injuries

A total of 5,250 workers died from a work-related injury in the U.S. in 2018, up 2 percent from the 2017 total of 5,147. The fatal injury rate was unchanged in 2018 at 3.5 per 100,000 full-time equivalent workers.

Kinetic cofounder and CEO Haytham Elhawary says during his childhood in London, his mother worked as an elderly care nurse, a job that severely strained her back, reports VentureBeat. In 2014, he partnered with cofounder Aditya Bansal to start developing a wearable device that could reduce workplace injuries.

KINETIC’s wearable device is aimed at reducing workplace injuries. The company’s Reflex is a Bluetooth-enabled, battery-powered, and fully rechargeable wearable device that fastens to belts or pant waistbands of industrial workers. It automatically detects unsafe work postures and provides users with real-time feedback to reduce injuries and create better work habits.

The technology was recently updated with proximity alert features to enable workers to practice proper social distancing and to help keep them safe during this pandemic. With this feature, workers are notified of potential risk via a gentle vibration if they are too close to one another.

“We created the KINETIC Reflex to reduce workplace injuries for the industrial workforce. Once COVID-19 spread, customers started reaching out asking if we could use the devices to help with social distancing and contact tracing,” said KINETIC co-founder and CEO, Haytham Elhawary. “That really inspired us to enhance the technology with new COVID-19 safety features, and we’re excited to deploy it to JLG and their workforce, who have been a partner.”

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

Tens of thousands of workers have worn Reflex devices in hundreds of facilities around the world, according to Kinetic. The company says its customers range from companies in retail, logistics, and manufacturing industries, including six of the Fortune 50.

Lumen, the world's first hand-held metabolic tracking device, together with Garmin, have launched a Connect IQ Lumen App and Garmin Health API integration, allowing users to better understand the impact of fitness and nutrition decisions on their body in real-time.

Read more: Lumen Introduces at Home Metabolism Tracking Device, Available Worldwide Now

“We are thrilled to work with Garmin on this crucial integration. We know how important it is for our users to get valuable insights into their fitness and this will allow them to make more informed decisions about their nutrition and improve their metabolic health,” said Lumen CEO, Daniel Tal.

Through the CO2 concentration in a single breath, Lumen measures your metabolic health and provides daily personalized nutrition plans and insights into what your body is burning - fats or carbs. Lumen supports fat burn and improves your metabolic flexibility, which is your body's ability to efficiently switch between using carbs and fats as a fuel source, says a press release.

Garmin activity trackers and smartwatches help you track and share your activities.  Thanks to Lumen data and the Garmin Health API integration, Garmin users can now seamlessly integrate their health and activity data such as heart rate, sleep, steps and calories burned, into the Lumen app and instantly optimize their fitness journey.

By combining Garmin and Lumen data, users will be able to monitor their carb fuel consumption through notifications that guide them on when to breathe into Lumen and unlock their day or take a post-workout breath. Users can now see how their workout affects their metabolism through recovery macros and a comprehensive Garmin workout summary.

“Lumen is an innovative organization pushing the boundaries on metabolic health and performance optimization.  Garmin's Connect IQ platform will enable users to act in real-time to make the right fitness and nutrition decisions at every moment,” said Sean McNamara, Garmin Health Senior Manager Sales and Marketing.

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

For continual metabolic tracking, Garmin users with compatible devices will also have access to crucial Lumen data such as morning insights, daily and weekly Lumen levels and the Lumen Flex Score which indicates the degree of metabolic flexibility. The goal is to make sure that nutrition and metabolic health remain top of mind.

Researchers from the University of Cambridge used 3D printing, also known as additive manufacturing, techniques to create electronic fibers that are a hundred times thinner than a human hair.

Read more: Face Masks Made Of Electroceutical Fabric Kills Coronavirus On Contact

The transparent conducting fibers, described Wednesday in the journal Science Advances, could be used to create a variety of biomedical devices, including moisture flow sensors and portable respiratory sensors. The researchers said their highly sensitive, low-cost sensors can be attached to a mobile phone to collect breath pattern information, sound and images at the same time.

For respiratory conditions such as rapid breathing, normal breathing, simulated coughing, the amount of breath moisture leaked through face covering was tested using the fiber sensor by a Ph.D. student from Cambridge’s Department of Engineering, Andy Wang, the first author of the study.

While the fiber sensor has not been designed to detect viral particles, since scientific evidence increasingly points to the fact that viral particles such as coronavirus can be transmitted through respiratory droplets and aerosols, measuring the amount and direction of breath moisture that leaks through different types of face coverings could act an indicator in the protection 'weak' points, reports University of Cambridge.

The team found that most leakage from fabric or surgical masks comes from the front, especially during coughing, while most leakage from N95 masks comes from the top and sides with tight fittings. Nonetheless, both types of face masks, when worn properly, help to weaken the flow of exhaled breath.

"Sensors made from small conducting fibers are especially useful for volumetric sensing of fluid and gas in 3D, compared to conventional thin film techniques, but so far, it has been challenging to print and incorporate them into devices, and to manufacture them at scale," said Dr Yan Yan Shery Huang from Cambridge's Department of Engineering, who led the research.

Made from semiconducting and/or silver polymers, Huang and her colleagues 3D printed the composite fibers. This fiber printing technique creates a core-shell fiber structure, with a high-purity conducting fiber core wrapped by a thin protective polymer sheath, similar to the structure of common electrical wires, but at a scale of a few micrometers in diameter.

In addition to the respiratory sensors, the printing technique can also be used to make biocompatible fibers of a similar dimension to biological cells, which enables them to guide cell movements and 'feel' this dynamic process as electrical signals. Also, the fibers are so tiny that they are invisible to the naked eye, so when they are used to connect small electronic elements in 3D, it would seem that the electronics are 'floating' in mid-air.

Read more: Graphene Facemask Kills Bacteria and Showed Potential In Deactivating Coronavirus

"Our fiber sensors are lightweight, cheap, small and easy to use, so they could potentially be turned into home-test devices to allow the general public to perform self-administered tests to get information about their environments," said Huang.

The researchers are currently looking to develop the IFP method for a number of multi-functional sensors.

Researchers at the University of Houston and colleagues from other institutions have developed a patch made from fully rubbery electronics that can be placed directly on the heart to collect electrophysiological activity, temperature, heartbeat and other indicators, all at the same time. The device can harvest power directly from the movement of the beating heart and its flexibility means that it conforms well with the epicardial surface. That allows it to not just track data for diagnostics and monitoring but to also offer therapeutic benefits such as electrical pacing and thermal ablation, the researchers reported in Nature Electronics.

Read more: University of Houston Researchers Develop Super Thin Wearable That’s Barely Noticeable to the Wearer

Cunjiang Yu, Bill D. Cook Associate Professor of Mechanical Engineering at UH and corresponding author for the paper, said the device marks the first time bioelectronics have been developed based on fully rubbery electronic materials that are compatible with heart tissue, allowing the device to solve the limitations of previous cardiac implants, which are mainly made out of rigid electronic materials, reports University of Houston.

“For people who have heart arrhythmia or a heart attack, you need to quickly identify the problem,” Yu said. “This device can do that.” Yu is also a principle investigator with the Texas Center for Superconductivity at UH.

Yu is a leader in the development of fully rubbery electronics with sensing and other biological capabilities, including for use in robotic hands, skins and other devices. The epicardial bioelectronics patch builds upon that with a material with mechanical properties that mimic cardiac tissue, allowing for a closer interface and reducing the risk that the implant could damage the heart muscle.

“Unlike bioelectronics primarily based on rigid materials with mechanical structures that are stretchable on the macroscopic level, constructing bioelectronics out of materials with moduli matching those of the biological tissues suggests a promising route towards next-generational bioelectronics and biosensors that do not have a hard–soft interface for the heart and other organs,” the researchers wrote. “Our rubbery epicardial patch is capable of multiplexed ECG mapping, strain and temperature sensing, electrical pacing, thermal ablation and energy harvesting functions.”

Read more: This Wearable Patch May Provide Painless, More Effective Chemotherapy For Melanoma

In addition to Yu, researchers from UH, the Texas Heart Institute and the University of Chicago were involved.

U-blox, a global provider of leading positioning and wireless communication technologies, has launched a new highly integrated global navigation satellite system (GNSS) platform designed for ultra-low power high-performance positioning applications. The U‑blox M10 delivers precise positioning performance in a wide range of applications such as sport watches or asset and livestock trackers, all in an extremely compact format and with very long battery life.

Read more: MarketsandMarkets Report: IoT Chip Market Will Be Worth $525.4 Billion by 2025

Tailored to the needs of wearable and industrial applications, the u‑blox M10 platform can track up to four GNSS constellations at once to deliver positioning data even in challenging environments such as deep urban canyons. It delivers ultra-low power positioning in an ultra-compact form factor without sacrificing accuracy and availability.

With 12 mW power consumption in continuous tracking mode and high RF sensitivity that cuts the time required to establish a position fix, the u‑blox M10 platform is ideal for small battery-powered applications. The platform features advanced jamming, spoofing, and RF interference mitigation, as well as Super-S technology to boost performance in weak signal environments or when used with small antennas, making it ideal for compact product designs, reports U-blox.

This new GNSS platform will be supported by AssistNow, u‑blox’s well established assisted GNSS service, to accelerate positioning and improve accuracy. Depending on the required level of assistance, the service is available free of charge or for a recurring fee.

The u‑blox M10 platform benefits from u‑blox’s experience in building robust GNSS receivers, incorporating proven techniques for detecting spoofed signals through the analysis of raw GNSS data, jamming-detection strategies, and embedded filters to mitigate the effects of in-band RF interference.

“u‑blox can be proud of over 20 years of experience with GNSS technology, and with u‑blox M10 we are setting a new benchmark in ultra-low power high-performance positioning applications,” says Bernd Heidtmann, Product Manager, Product Center Positioning, u‑blox. “We have increased concurrent reception of satellite signals by a GNSS platform from three to four constellations and improved the power consumption level five-fold compared to previous generations while shrinking the chip size by 35 percent.”

Read more: Coros Pace 2 Is the World’s Lightest GPS Watch Especially Designed for Competitive Runners

The first products based on the u‑blox M10 positioning platform are the MAX- M10S GNSS module and the UBX-M10050 GNSS chipset, which are both available now.

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The market for ultraviolet (UV) sensors is expected to grow by USD 2.69 billion during 2020-2024, as the use of these sensors in wearables and the internet of things (IoT) accelerates, according to a new report from Technavio. The market is expected to progress at a CAGR of almost 23% during the forecast period.

A majority of demand for UV sensors came from the industrial segment in 2019. UV sensors are extensively used in industrial applications to detect heat and provide alerts and ensure the safety of the employees.

Read more: Wearables Market Will Reach $97.9 Billion by 2025, Reveals Yole Report

The Technavio report provides a detailed analysis of the market by end-user (industrial, automotive, consumer electronics, medical, and others) and geography (APAC, North America, Europe, South America, and MEA). Also, the report analyzes the market’s competitive landscape and offers information on several market vendors, including Broadcom Inc., Davis Instruments Corp., LAPIS Semiconductor Co. Ltd., Panasonic Corp., Silicon Laboratories Inc., Skye Instruments Ltd., Solar Light Co. Inc., STMicroelectronics NV, Vernier Software & Technology LLC, and Vishay Intertechnology Inc.

Internet of Things (IoT) helps electronic devices connect to the Internet, which in turn, reduces the need for human intervention. To ensure the efficient performance of this technology and to aid in mobile sensing, devices connected to an IoT network use a number of sensors and actuators. In the coming years, IoT will find significance in several applications including wearable devices, smart homes, industrial automation, and automated cars. With the growth of the IoT industry, the demand for sensors will subsequently increase, fueling the growth of the UV sensor market, the Technavio report said.

The use of UV sensors in wearables will be one of the major trends that will gain traction in the UV sensor market during the next few years. UV sensors integrated into wearables is accelerating as consumers adopt these devices to monitor daily activities and health, and to enable connected communication. The integration of UV sensors in wearables devices will help in preventing sunburns and skin blemishes by alerting individuals when the UV levels go beyond danger limits. In addition to wearable devices, these sensors are also used in smartphones. One of the major smartphone manufacturer Samsung has already equipped its Galaxy Note 4 UV sensor. Incorporated with Samsung's S Health app, the sensor measures UV radiation and prevents users from damaging their skin, which helps in reducing the risk of skin cancer. The UV sensor market will register a CAGR of almost 23% by 2024.

According to the Technavio report, Asia Pacific or APAC was the largest UV sensor market in 2019, and the region will offer several growth opportunities to market vendors during the forecast period.

Read more: Researchers Develop Wearable Paper-Based UV Sensors that Warn You When it’s Time to Get Out of the Sun

Factors for growth in the APAC region include expansion of manufacturing facilities and the investment in process automation and smart production techniques such as productivity and product tracking.

During the forecast period, 38% of the market’s growth will originate from APAC. China and Japan are the key markets for UV sensors in APAC. Market growth in this region will be faster than the growth of the market in other regions.

CardieX, a global health technology company focused on hypertension, cardiovascular disease, and vascular health disorders, today announced the launch of ATCOR·X, a new division focused on developing and licensing clinically meaningful health data algorithms for consumer wearables and connected fitness devices.

ATCOR·X wearable features are based on the company’s FDA-cleared and patented SphygmoCor technology for measuring arterial waveforms and central blood pressure, reports PRWeb.

“The seismic shift to remote care driven by COVID-19 has created an unprecedented opportunity to create a healthcare ecosystem integrated into people’s homes and daily lives using innovative home devices and wearables,” said Craig Cooper, CEO and Managing Director of CardieX. “We’re launching ATCOR·X to accelerate development and drive adoption of our SphygmoCor technology – the global gold-standard for non-invasive measurement of central blood pressure waveforms and arterial stiffness – and to improve the health of millions of Americans with hypertension as well as those who have lasting cardiovascular damage as a result of COVID-19.”

Read more: Blumio: Wearable Contactless Blood Pressure Monitor Uses Radar Sensor

Under the ATCOR·X brand, CardieX will develop and license its Arty platform consisting of a unique feature set of enhanced biometric heart and arterial health measurements that can be tailored for risk assessment and to manage cardiovascular and renal diseases, dementia and Alzheimer’s disease, arterial stiffness and vascular aging, diabetes, maternal health, and other chronic diseases.

These include:

• Heart Stress (HS) – Measures the level of stress on the heart due to the hardening of arteries, which can be a sign of cardiovascular risk.
• Exercise Capacity (eCap) – Measures the heart’s ability to provide oxygenated blood to cells based on the body’s performance demands. Unlike VO2 max, eCap indicates potential exercise endurance based on cardiovascular health.
• Heart Rate (HR+) – Provides accurate, medical-grade, beat-to-beat heart rate (HR) measurement equivalent to standard ECG-based methods with greater accuracy than HR measurements common in other wearables.
• Arterial Age – Compares an individual’s heart health with healthy people their age to indicate the biological age of their heart compared to chronological age.
• Arterial Stiffness Factor (ASF) – Measures the flexibility of an individual’s arterial and vascular system to indicate risk for cardiovascular events tied to arterial stiffness, such as heart attack, stroke, and dementia.‍
• Irregular Heartbeat – Helps an individual identify if they are experiencing an abnormal heartbeat without the use of an ECG, which may be a sign of atrial fibrillation.‍
• HRV+ – Heart Rate Variability Plus provides beat-to-beat HR measurement of a user’s autonomic nervous system (ANS), parasympathetic (rest and relax) and sympathetic (fight or flight) nervous systems to indicate biological stress.‍
• Vitals Risk – Identifies the risk of heart, brain, and other organ damage from cardiovascular disease based on the user’s own data.‍
• BP Variability (BPV+) – Shows the variability of brachial blood pressure, representing how stable one’s blood pressure is over time.‍
• Heart Performance Index (HPX) – Measures how efficiently an individual’s heart works to meet the body’s demand for oxygen and blood flow indicating how healthy an individual is. Research has shown exercise and a healthy lifestyle can help improve your HPX score and improve your day-to-day performance.‍
• Arty Score – Combines Heart Stress, Exercise capacity (eCAP), Heart Rate (HR+), and Arterial Age to quantify an individual’s unique heart and arterial health risk profile.

The above measures can be combined into comprehensive cardiovascular dashboards and also can be used to develop personalized fitness, diet and lifestyle coaching services to help individuals improve their health through nutrition and exercise.

Read more: Total Brain Joins AMA to Study Uses of Heart Rate Variability Data to Reduce Stress and Cardiovascular Incidents

ATCOR·X builds on the Company’s recently announced commercial partnerships and integrations with both Mobvoi, one of the world’s largest smartwatch and AI companies, and Andon, one of Chinas largest manufacturers of home medical devices.

Testing for malaria could become as simple as putting on a bandage. That’s the idea behind a platform developed by Rice University engineers who introduced a microneedle patch for rapid diagnostic testing that does not require extracting blood.

Read more: Rice University Researchers Develop Tiny Neural Stimulator That’s Wireless and Battery-Free

The device detailed in the Nature journal Microsystems and Nanoengineering draws upon protein biomarkers contained in dermal interstitial fluid, what people generally recognize as the fluid inside blisters but surrounds all of the cells in skin. This fluid contains a multitude of biomarkers for various diseases, such as malaria, which can be used for rapid testing. The disposable patches could be programmed to detect other diseases, potentially including COVID-19, said mechanical engineer Peter Lillehoj of Rice’s Brown School of Engineering, reports Rice University.

“In this paper, we focus on malaria detection because this project was funded by the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, and it’s a big priority for them,” said Lillehoj, who joined Rice in January as an associate professor of mechanical engineering. “But we can adapt this technology to detect other diseases for which biomarkers appear in interstitial fluid.”

The self-contained test developed by Lillehoj and lead author Xue Jiang, a Rice postdoctoral researcher, delivers a result in about 20 minutes and does not require medical expertise or any equipment.

The sticky patch has 16 hollow microneedles in a 4-by-4 array on one side, coupled with an antibody-based lateral-flow test strip on the other. The antibodies react when they sense protein biomarkers for malaria and turn two readout lines on the strip’s exposed surface red. If the test is negative, only one line turns red.

The needles are treated to be hydrophilic — that is, attracted to water — so the fluid is drawn in and flows through to the test strip. Once the test is complete, the device can be removed like any bandage.

While both microneedles and antibody test strips have been extensively studied, Lillehoj said his lab is the first to combine them into a simple, inexpensive package that will be easy to deploy at the point of need, especially in developing regions where finger-prick blood sampling and the availability of trained medical personnel to diagnose samples may be challenging.

The hollow needles are 375 microns wide and 750 microns long, enough to reach the fluid within skin that is typically between 800 to 1,000 microns thick. The needles are sharp enough to overcome the mechanical stress of entering the skin.

“Xue and I have applied the patch to our skin, and it doesn’t feel painful at all compared to a finger prick or a blood draw,” Lillehoj said. “It’s less painful than getting a splinter. I would say it feels like putting tape on your skin and then peeling it off.”

They think the familiar form factor may provide some comfort, especially to children.

Read more: Rice University Researchers Develop Magnet-Controlled Brain Implant

“We didn’t intend for it to look like a bandage,” he said. “We started with a rectangular shape and then just rounded the edges to make it a little more presentable. We didn’t plan for that, but perhaps it makes the patch more relatable to the general public.”

Lillehoj estimated individual patches could cost about $1 if and when they are produced in bulk.

Fitness trackers, smartwatches and wearables are robust health trackers. They’re now a vital part of the technology space and their popularity is rising. With so many things to choose from, finding the perfect gift this holiday season is certainly daunting. This list of smart wearables could inspire you.

Read more: The 5 Best Smartwatches And Fitness Trackers For Women In 2020

Snap Spectacles 3 AR Glasses

Spectacles 3 by Snap are a pair of augmented reality glasses with a sleek new design and an added HD camera. The higher priced glasses feature two cameras for the first time, and it’s all designed to allow you to create 3D video that can interpret the depth of your environment. Photos captured using Spectacles 3 seamlessly transfer in HD to Memories within Snapchat to add new lighting, landscapes, and other magical effects to an entire scene with a swipe. Snaps can also export to Camera Roll as circular, horizontal, square and virtual reality formats for saving, editing, sharing, and reliving, anywhere. Spectacles 3 feature a strong, lightweight steel frame with circular lenses and adjustable acetate tips. The AR glasses retail for $380 and it includes a charging case, charging cable and a 3D viewer.

Samsung Galaxy Watch 3

Samsung Galaxy Watch 3 is an excellent smartwatch that comes in 3 watch faces: Mystic Black, Mystic Silver, and Mystic Bronze. The elegant watchface is outlined by a unique rotating bezel for a look that works around the clock. With a subtle rotating bezel and big screen, it's easier to focus on what matters. Featuring a slimmed-down frame and a sophisticated look, Galaxy Watch3 is thinner, smaller and lighter than traditional watch designs. For health monitoring, Samsung Galaxy Watch 3 monitors blood oxygen levels, detect atrial fibrillation and helps you improve your physical activity. Prices start from $139.99.

Apple Watch SE

Heavy on features, light on price, Apple Watch SE is an excellent choice for gift. The watch has an expansive Retina display so you can see more at a glance. Advanced sensors to track all the ways you move. Powerful features to keep you healthy and safe. Apple Watch SE is a lot of watch for a lot less than you expected. Apple recently introduced a new tool called Family Setup. With this tool parents or children don’t even have to own an iPhone to be able to use the Watch SE -- just use your own iPhone once to set it up for them, reports EndGadget. The price starts at $280.

Konnect-i Backpack

Google collaborated with Samsonite to make a smart backpack, called the Konnect-I, that controls your phone. Konnect-I controls various functions on your phone that you would normally touch the screen or use your voice to interact with. This backpack implements the use of Google’s Jacquard technology, which adds touch sensitivity to fabrics. The heart of Jacquard is the Jacquard Tag, a tiny computer that makes everyday things more helpful. If you want to control music, you need to brush up and down the strap. You double tap on the strap to take a selfie, or open Google Assistant to hear the latest news. An LED on the strap is also set to light up according to the alerts set by the user. The backpack comes in handy for hikers. They can configure it to receive turn-by-turn directions while on the go, without needing to look at their phone’s navigation. The Konnect-I backpack comes in two styles: Slim ($199) and Standard ($219).

Read more: Best Smartwatches And Fitness Trackers For Kids 2020

Fitbit Ace 2

Fitbit Ace 2 is designed to help kids build healthy habits and encourage them to spend more active time with family and friends. Fitbit Ace 2 helps parents and their children understand how physical activity impacts overall well-being and health. Kids see stats, goal celebrations, parent-approved friends, and call notifications. Ace 2 is water-resistant to 50M and the helpful bumper around the screen protects it during kid-related activities all day long. Fitbit Ace 2 comes in a selection of fun and bold kid-friendly colors. With colorful avatars, kids can personalize their profiles. Animated clock faces motivate challenges to keep children moving.

Vuzix announced that Istanbul University Faculty of Dentistry, via local Vuzix distributor Eva Bilişim, are using Vuzix M400 Smart Glasses to support remote student learning.

Read more: Pixee Medical Successfully Finishes its First Total Knee Replacement Surgery Guided Only by the Vuzix M400 AR Glasses

Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, clinical practice courses at the University must be held in accordance with pandemic conditions in the clinics under the Istanbul University Medical Society. The dentistry faculty determined that the dentistry educational model is one where theoretical and clinical knowledge requires support by intensive clinical experiences. With face-to-face training difficult due to the pandemic process, the Istanbul University Faculty of Dentistry began using Vuzix M400 Smart Glasses to broadcast live applied courses and clinical applications to enhance the educational quality of its online learning effort, according to a press release.

“More and more healthcare practitioners and educators around the world are recognizing the value of using Vuzix Smart Glasses to provide remote support, live broadcasts of procedures and other vital telemedicine services to their patients, associates or students,” said Paul Travers, President and CEO of Vuzix.  “There is high value in working together with students and teachers to adopt our technology as these students will become our doctors and dentists in the future. We are pleased to add the Istanbul University Faculty of Dentistry to the growing list of schools in the medical space that are embracing our technology to provide safer and more effective clinical educational experiences.”

Read more: Vuzix M400 Smart Glasses Continue Their Expansion Into Remote Care For COVID-19 Patients

About Vuzix Corporation

Vuzix is a leading supplier of Smart-Glasses and Augmented Reality (AR) technologies and products for the consumer and enterprise markets. The Company's products include personal display and wearable computing devices that offer users a portable high-quality viewing experience, provide solutions for mobility, wearable displays and augmented reality. Vuzix holds 179 patents and patents pending and numerous IP licenses in the Video Eyewear field. The Company has won Consumer Electronics Show (or CES) awards for innovation for the years 2005 to 2020 and several wireless technology innovation awards among others. Founded in 1997, Vuzix is a public company with offices in Rochester, NY, Oxford, UK, and Tokyo, Japan.

In a typical blood pressure measuring device, the scale of the pressure meter ranges from 0 to 300 mmHg. The pressure meter has a rubber pump on it for inflating the cuff and a button for letting the air out. To measure blood pressure, the cuff is placed around the bare and stretched out upper arm, and inflated until no blood can flow through the brachial artery. Then the air is slowly let out of the cuff.

Read more: ViTrack: Cuffless Wearable for Continuous, Non-Invasive Blood Pressure Monitoring

Silicon Valley startup Blumio is giving the century-old blood pressure monitors an overhaul. Through an innovative sensor that can detect arterial tissue movements, Blumio makes it possible to measure blood pressure noninvasively and continuously.

Cuffless BP monitoring can be made possible with a pressure-less sensing modality that can capture arterial pressure waveform with the same sensitivity as applanation tonometry.

Blumio has developed a radar-based sensor to measure blood pressure. Radar presents unique properties that are very distinct from existing technologies for vital sign detection: an imperviousness to skin color, variations in ambient light and other physiologic conditions provides an advantage over existing sensor technologies.

Radar has been used in the past to assess vital signs. By measuring electromagnetic waves reflected from a target area of the body, it is possible to capture and record signals corresponding to respiration and blood circulation.

Read more: OMRON Urging All U.S. Adults to Monitor Blood Pressure Regularly In Response To Surgeon General’s Call

The millimeter-wave radar device, positioned near the radial artery does not need to be in direct contact with the skin. It interrogates the pulse by transmitting a 60 Hz signal directed towards the skin surface, reports AZO Sensors.

With the advent of lower power radar chipsets with high sensitivity and faster processors, Blumio is the first to combine the high sensitivity of a millimeter-wave radar with a wearable concept to create a new system for measuring arterial pulses at the wrist.

In a study that appears today in Nature Medicine, scientists from the Scripps Research Translational Institute Research team reports that wearable devices like Fitbit are capable of identifying cases of COVID-19 by evaluating changes in heart rate, sleep and activity levels, along with self-reported symptom data -- and can identify cases with greater success than looking at symptoms alone.

Read more: The New Apple Watch Measures Blood Oxygen To Help Users Monitor The Effects Of COVID-19

In their report, the scientists examined data from the first six weeks of their landmark DETECT study. The DETECT study, launched on March 25, uses a mobile app to collect smartwatch and activity tracker data from consenting participants, and also gathers their self-reported symptoms and diagnostic test results. Any adult living in the United States is eligible to participate in the study by downloading the research app, MyDataHelps, reports Scripps Research Institute.

“What's exciting here is that we now have a validated digital signal for COVID-19. The next step is to use this to prevent emerging outbreaks from spreading," says Eric Topol, MD, director and founder of the Scripps Research Translational Institute and executive vice president of Scripps Research. "Roughly 100 million Americans already have a wearable tracker or smartwatch and can help us; all we need is a tiny fraction of them -- just 1 percent or 2 percent -- to use the app.”

With data from the app, researchers can see when participants fall out of their normal range for sleep, activity level or resting heart rate; deviations from individual norms are a sign of viral illness or infection.

But how do they know if the illness-causing those changes is COVID-19? To answer that question, the team reviewed data from those who reported developing symptoms and were tested for the novel coronavirus. Knowing the test results enabled them to pinpoint specific changes indicative of COVID-19 versus other illnesses.

"One of the greatest challenges in stopping COVID-19 from spreading is the ability to quickly identify, trace and isolate infected individuals," says Giorgio Quer, PhD, director of artificial intelligence at Scripps Research Translational Institute and first author of the study. "Early identification of those who are pre-symptomatic or even asymptomatic would be especially valuable, as people may potentially be even more infectious during this period. That's the ultimate goal."

For the study, the team used health data from fitness wearables and other devices to identify -- with roughly 80% prediction accuracy -- whether a person who reported symptoms was likely to have COVID-19. This is a significant improvement from other models that only evaluated self-reported symptoms.

As of June 7, 30,529 individuals had enrolled in the study, with representation from every U.S. state. Of these, 3,811 reported symptoms, 54 tested positive for the coronavirus and 279 tested negative. More sleep and less activity than an individual's normal levels were significant factors in predicting coronavirus infection.

Read more: U.S. Military’s AI-Powered Wearable Can Detect COVID-19 Two Days Before You Get Sick

The predictive model under development in DETECT might someday help public health officials spot coronavirus hotspots early. It also may encourage people who are potentially infected to immediately seek diagnostic testing and, if necessary, quarantine themselves to avoid spreading the virus.

Things were looking bleak for wearable tech company StretchSense last July, as the Auckland, New Zealand-based startup was put into voluntary liquidation. The company laid off 140 staff when Japanese e-commerce giant Start Today terminated its takeover agreement.

Read more: StretchSense, Maker Of Stretch Sensor Motion Capture Glove Acquires US Company MocapNow

But soon after, New Zealand venture capital fund GD1 bought the company for several million.

Now, StretchSense has re-emerged, with its sights set on Hollywood and the gaming industry.

Co-founder Ben O’Brien said when looking at what to do next, Stretch Sense found a gap in the market for motion capture gloves for animators in the film and gaming industries, reports Stuff.

The company started out with a focus on developing tech to measure body movement, particularly valuable for tracking athletes' performance, coaching and rehabilitation.

“There is a significant need in the film, gaming and animation industries for motion capture gloves that accurately capture hands and fingers,” O’Brien told Stuff.

The company’s MoCap Pro motion capture gloves use unique stretch sensors and artificial intelligence to deliver very high-quality mocap with minimal clean up required.

Unaffected by shock, drift, occlusion, or magnetic interference: you can rely on a stable hand performance from our gloves on set.

The glove management software Hand Engine streams directly into MotionBuilder, Unity, and Unreal Engine.

Stretch Sense has about 35 employees, some of whom were previous employees of the company that were laid off. The company is now planning to hire 15 more employees, particularly software engineers, product developers and garment makers.

Read more: This Smart Glove Interprets Sign Language In Real Time

Looking past the pandemic, to grow New Zealand’s technology export sector, the country needs greater Government investment and simply, more businesses, O’Brien said.

Next year StretchSense plans to do a Series B investment round with the ambition to raise $20 million to grow and expand the business.

Apple is joining forces with researchers to conduct health studies that include using Apple Watch to explore how blood oxygen levels can be used in future health applications.

Last month, Apple collaborated with the University of California, Irvine, and Anthem to examine how longitudinal measurements of blood oxygen and other physiological signals can help manage and control asthma.

Read more: The New Apple Watch Measures Blood Oxygen To Help Users Monitor The Effects Of COVID-19

Now, Apple will work closely with investigators at the Ted Rogers Centre for Heart Research and the Peter Munk Cardiac Centre at the University Health Network, one of the largest health research organizations in North America, to better understand how blood oxygen measurements and other Apple Watch metrics can help with management of heart failure. Finally, investigators with the Seattle Flu Study at the Brotman Baty Institute for Precision Medicine and faculty from the University of Washington School of Medicine will seek to learn how signals from apps on Apple Watch, such as Heart Rate and Blood Oxygen, could serve as early signs of respiratory conditions like influenza and COVID-19, reports Apple.

For the heart failure study, Apple has collaborated with researchers from the University of Toronto led by Dr. Heather Ross. The team will use Apple Watch sensors, including the new VO2 Max algorithm, along with traditional in-clinic assessments, to monitor patients through the course of their treatment. The goal of the study will be to see how much meaningful assessment of the patients can be accomplished with the signals from the Watch, according to MobiHealthNews.

“We’re working with the team at UHN to help understand which interventions are having the most impact on the physiological signals” Desai said. “This study is about measuring the cardiovascular and pulmonary signals that are important, but also how does it potentially change how you manage heart failure from a clinical management standpoint?”

Apple’s other study with the Seattle Flu Study and the University of Washington is along the same lines. In this study, participants will be monitored with the Watch, as well as with traditional respiratory panel tests, so researchers can start to understand how much power the Watch’s blood oxygenation sensor, for example, has to predict respiratory infections.

Read more: Notable’s Apple Watch App Helping Doctors Save Time On EHR

“The hope is that physiological signals from the Apple Watch will make it possible to identify people who are falling ill, and get them tested quickly so they can self-isolate and break the chain of transmission of the virus in the community,” Dr. Jay Shendure, professor of genome sciences at the University of Washington School of Medicine, said in a statement.

Maxim Integrated's new health sensor platform 3.0 (HSP 3.0) reduces the development time of healthcare wearables by at least six months. Also known as MAXREFDES104#, this ready-to-wear wrist form factor reference design monitors blood oxygen saturation (SpO2), electrocardiogram (ECG), heart rate (HR), body temperature and motion. Included algorithms provide HR, heart-rate variability (HRV), respiration rate (RR), SpO2, body temperature, sleep quality and stress level information at clinical-grade levels. It allows wearable designers to start collecting data immediately, saving at least six months over building these devices from scratch. Designed for wrist-based form factors, HSP 3.0 can be adapted for other dry electrode form factors such as chest patches and smart rings.

Read more: Maxim’s MAXM86146 Is The Thinnest Optical Sensor Solution For Health and Fitness Wearables

MAXREFDES104# can enable end solutions to monitor cardiac heart and respiratory issues for management of ailments like chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD), infectious diseases (e.g. COVID-19), sleep apnea and atrial fibrillation (AFib). Compared to its predecessor, the narrower form factor and enhanced optical architecture of HSP 3.0 improves signal acquisition quality and uses upgraded microcontroller, power, security and sensing ICs. The reference design includes complete optical and electrode designs, along with algorithms to meet clinical requirements, according to a press release.

HSP 3.0 includes the following sensor, power management, microcontroller and algorithm products:

• MAX86176: Lowest-noise optical photoplethysmography (PPG) and electrical ECG analog front end (AFE), which offers 110dB signal-to-noise ratio (SNR) to add SpO2 saturation capability and over 110dB common mode rejection ratio (CMRR) for dry electrode ECG applications. The device enables synchronous acquisition of PPG and ECG measurements, even with independent sample rates, providing pulse transit time for cardiac health use cases.
• MAX20360: Highly integrated power and battery management power management IC (PMIC) optimized for advanced body-worn health sensing devices. It includes Maxim's high-accuracy ModelGauge m5 EZ fuel gauge, a sophisticated haptic driver, and a unique low-noise buck-boost converter that maximizes SNR and minimizes power used for optical bio-sensing.
• MAX32666: Bluetooth (BLE)-enabled, ultra-low-power microcontroller with two Arm Cortex-M4F cores and an additional SmartDMA which permits running the BLE stack independently, leaving the two main cores available for major tasks. Moreover, the microcontroller integrates an entire security suite and error-correcting code (ECC) on the memories to significantly increase the system's robustness.
• MAX32670: Ultra-low-power microcontroller dedicated to Maxim Integrated's world-class PPG algorithms of pulse rate, SpO2, HRV, RR, sleep quality monitoring and stress monitoring. It can be configured either as a sensor hub to support firmware and algorithms or as an algorithm hub to support multiple algorithms. The MAX32670 seamlessly enables customer-desired sensor functionality, including managing the MAX86176 PPG and ECG sensor AFE as well as delivering either raw or calculated data to the outside world.
• MAX30208: The low-power, high-accuracy digital temperature sensor comes in a small package size of 2mm x 2mm. It has 33 percent lower operating current compared to the closest competitive solution. It reads the temperature on the top of the package and can be mounted on a flex cable or PCB, making it easier to design into wearables. With an accuracy of 0.1-degrees Celsius, the MAX30208 meets clinical temperature requirements.‍

Read more: How to Enhance Reliability of PPG Data for Health Wearables, According To Maxim Integrated

Key Advantages Include

• Faster Time to Market: Saves at least six months in development time
• Clinical-Grade: Accuracy meets regulatory requirements for SpO2 and ambulatory ECG (IEC 60601-2-47)
• Covers Key Vital Signs: Addresses the needs of advanced health wearables with SpO2, ECG, HR, HRV, RR, body temperature and motion
• Complete Reference Design: Empowers designers to innovate with complete access to source code and design files

A bone stress injury (BSI) means that the bones cannot tolerate repeated mechanical loads, resulting in structural fatigue and local bone pain. A delay in BSI diagnosis can lead to more serious injuries, such as stress fractures that require longer treatment periods.

Read more: New Exosuit Built By Vanderbilt Engineers Could Change Work Habits of the Future

A team of researchers from Vanderbilt engineering, data science and clinical researchers has developed a novel approach for monitoring bone stress in recreational and professional athletes, with the goal of anticipating and preventing injury. Using machine learning and biomechanical modeling techniques, the researchers built multisensory algorithms that combine data from lightweight, low-profile wearable sensors in shoes to estimate forces on the tibia, or shin bone—a commonplace for runners’ stress fractures.

The algorithms have resulted in bone force data that is up to four times more accurate than available wearables, and the study found that traditional wearable metrics based on how hard the foot hits the ground may be no more accurate for monitoring tibial bone load than counting steps with a pedometer, reports Marissa Shapiro in Vanderbilt University.

Bones naturally heal themselves, but if the rate of microdamage from repeated bone loading outpaces the rate of tissue healing, there is an increased risk of a stress fracture that can put a runner out of commission for two to three months.

“Small changes in bone load equate to exponential differences in bone microdamage,” said Emily Matijevich, a graduate student and the director of the Center for Rehabilitation Engineering and Assistive Technology Motion Analysis Lab. “We have found that 10 percent errors in force estimates cause 100 percent errors in damage estimates. Largely over- or under-estimating the bone damage that results from running has severe consequences for athletes trying to understand their injury risk over time. This highlights why it is so important for us to develop more accurate techniques to monitor bone load and design next-generation wearables.”

The ultimate goal of this tech is to better understand overuse injury risk factors and then prompt runners to take rest days or modify training before an injury occurs.

Peter Volgyesi, a research scientist at the Vanderbilt Institute for Software Integrated Systems commented:

“The machine learning algorithm leverages the Least Absolute Shrinkage and Selection Operator regression, using a small group of sensors to generate highly accurate bone load estimates, with average errors of less than three percent, while simultaneously identifying the most valuable sensor inputs,”

Read more: 3D-Printed Bioreactor Inside Body Grows Live Bones to Repair Injuries

This innovation is one of the first examples of a wearable technology that is both practical to wear in daily life and can accurately monitor forces on and microdamage to musculoskeletal tissues. The team has begun applying similar techniques to monitor low back loading and injury risks, designed for people in occupations that require repetitive lifting and bending. These wearables could track the efficacy of post-injury rehab or inform return-to-play or return-to-work decisions, the Vanderbilt University reports said.

The article was published online in the journal Human Movement Science.

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A Smartwatch is a popular device that helps improve its wearer’s health. Now University of Washington researchers have developed a smartwatch app for deaf and hard-of-hearing people who want to be aware of nearby sounds. Dubbed SoundWatch, the wearable device picks up a sound the user is interested in — examples include a siren, a microwave beeping or a bird chirping — SoundWatch will identify it and send the user a friendly buzz along with information about the sound.

The researchers presented their findings at the ACM conference on computing and accessibility.

Read more: This Smart Glove Interprets Sign Language In Real Time

“This technology provides people with a way to experience sounds that require an action — such as getting food from the microwave when it beeps. But these devices can also enhance people’s experiences and help them feel more connected to the world,” said lead author Dhruv Jain, a UW doctoral student in the Paul G. Allen School of Computer Science & Engineering. “I use the watch prototype to notice birds chirping and waterfall sounds when I am hiking. It makes me feel present in nature. My hope is that other d/Deaf and hard-of-hearing people who are interested in sounds will also find SoundWatch helpful.”

The team started this project by designing a system for d/Deaf and hard-of-hearing people who wanted to be able to know what was going on around their homes, reports UW News.

“I used to sleep through the fire alarm,” said Jain, who was born hard of hearing.

The first system, called HomeSound, uses Microsoft Surface tablets scattered throughout the home which act like a network of interconnected displays. Each display provides a basic floor plan of the house and alerts a user to a sound and its source. The displays also show the sound’s waveforms, to help users identify the sound, and store a history of all the sounds a user might have missed when they were not home.

Because smartwatches have limited storage and processing abilities, the team needed a system that didn’t eat the watch’s battery and was also fast and accurate. First the researchers compared a compressed version of the HomeSound classifier against three other available sound classifiers. The HomeSound variant was the most accurate, but also the slowest.

To speed up the system, the team has the watch send the sound to a device with more processing power — the user’s phone — for classification. Having a phone classify sounds and send the results back to the watch not only saves time but also maintains the user’s privacy because sounds are only transferred between the user’s own devices.

The team tested the SoundWatch app in March 2020 — before Washington’s stay-at-home order — with eight d/Deaf and hard-of-hearing participants in the Seattle area.

Read more: Buzz: A Wearable Wristband That Allows You to Sense Sound Through Your Skin

People found the app was useful for letting them know if there was something that they should pay attention to. For example: that they had left the faucet running or that a car was honking. On the other hand, it sometimes misclassified sounds (labeling a car driving as running water) or was slow to notify users.

The team is also developing HoloSound, which uses augmented reality to provide real-time captions and other sound information through HoloLens glasses.

Boston-based digital fitness startup Whoop has announced a $100 million Series E investment that spikes the valuation of the company at $1.2 billion, making it a business unicorn. The round was led by IVP with participation from SoftBank Vision Fund 2, Accomplice, Two Sigma Ventures, Collaborative Fund, Thursday Ventures, Nextview Ventures, Promus Ventures, Cavu Ventures, D20 capital, and LionTree Partners, as well as additional private investors.

Read more: Expo 2020 Dubai Uses Whoop Wearable Strap To Monitor Workers’ Health

WHOOP will primarily invest these new funds in product and software development, global expansion, and membership services.

“We will continue to make WHOOP the best product experience for measuring and improving health," said Will Ahmed, WHOOP Founder & CEO. "Human performance is a new category and WHOOP has emerged as both the pioneer and market leader. We're proud to partner with IVP and other prominent investors who share our vision.”

WHOOP is a wrist-worn wearable device with a monthly subscription that is designed to improve training, sleep, and lifestyle choices with real-time feedback on the body. Its effortless social media integration further augments the user experience with compelling graphic design and easy in-app capture for ultimate connectivity. The WHOOP membership includes free hardware (WHOOP Strap 3.0) and a coaching platform designed to optimize behavior. Studies show that after a year on WHOOP, members experience longer and more consistent sleep, improved physiology, enhanced physical performance, and meaningful lifestyle changes. The company has more than 330 employees, including over 200 new hires in 2020, and has raised more than $200 million to date. Visit whoop.com/locker to learn more about the Series E round and use of capital, according to a press release.

“WHOOP has built best-in-class wearable technology and an aspirational brand that have propelled the company to an impressive period of hypergrowth,” said Eric Liaw, General Partner at IVP, who has joined the WHOOP Board of Directors. "We are excited to partner with a strong leadership team as WHOOP continues to revolutionize the market for human performance.”

Read more: WHOOP Partners with CQUniversity and Cleveland Clinic to Study Whether its Wearable Could Identify Hidden COVID-19 Cases

About IVP

With $7 billion of committed capital, IVP is one of the premier later-stage venture capital and growth equity firms in the United States. Founded in 1980, IVP has invested in over 400 companies with 115 IPOs. IVP is one of the top-performing firms in the industry and has a 39-year IRR of 43.1%. IVP specializes in venture growth investments, industry rollups, founder liquidity transactions, and select public market investments.

When Fitbit was founded in 2007, the company’s focus was to create small wearable devices that could help you become more fitness-focused. Now, after thirteen years, the company’s CEO James Park told investors he’s planning to transform the company from a consumer electronics company to a digital healthcare company.

Read more: How Fitbit is Trying to Transform Healthcare, While Transforming Itself

“We are a fitness social network that is coupled to hardware, and we are on the cusp of transitioning the mission and purpose of our company from a consumer electronics company to a digital healthcare company,” Park told “Mad Money” host Jim Cramer on Thursday.

Park reminded investors that Fitbit’s focus is very different from Apple. The company aims to encourage users to become healthier and more active, whether it is through the use of its devices, software or services. Park said the social aspect of the product drives Fitbit’s growth, reports CNBC.

In August, Fitbit announced its new product – Fitbit Sense – a smartwatch with a sensor that detects skin temperature and can alert users of a potential fever. Park called the new watch a “true health watch.” Besides detecting potential fever, the smartwatch, equipped with an electrodermal activity (EDA) sensor, used in the field of psychology and general healthcare, could also detect stress level.

“I think more people are now seeing fitness and health as one thing,” Park told Forbes magazine, who initially co-founded Fitbit in 2007 because he felt out of shape. “There’s more of an awareness for benefits of holistic body health. And we want Fitbit to go from being just a fitness tracking company to a health company.”

Read more: Fitbit Launches Large-Scale Study To See If Its Wearables Can Detect Atrial Fibrillation

Google bought Fitbit for $2.1 billion last year, in an attempt to bolster its hardware business and breathe more life into Wear OS. Park is confident the transaction will be completed later this year, and noted that “Google has incredible resources. The combination of the two companies has the potential to have a profound impact on the course of health care.”

OMRON Healthcare is urging regular blood pressure monitoring for all U.S. adults in response to U.S. Surgeon General, VADM Jerome Adams' call-to-action for hypertension control. OMRON, the global leader in remote blood pressure monitoring and personal heart health technology, is promoting regular monitoring – at least weekly – as an essential self-care habit to detect and manage health risks. The U.S. Surgeon General recently raised hypertension as a national public health priority.

The American Heart Association estimates that 116 million Americans, nearly half of U.S. adults, have hypertension, and only 1 in 4 of those individuals has their hypertension under control, says a press release.

“Hypertension is the leading risk factor for heart attack and stroke and the Centers for Disease Control & Prevention (CDC) have identified high blood pressure as an underlying health condition that can increase risk of complications with COVID-19,” said OMRON Healthcare President and CEO Ranndy Kellogg. “Knowing your blood pressure, monitoring it regularly, and taking action to manage it, are crucial activities to lowering your risks, and it's easier than ever to do this at home.”

Read more: Omron and physIQ Collaborate to Improve Cardiovascular Patient Care

OMRON revealed four steps that all Americans can take to address hypertension as a national health priority:

1. Make monitoring your blood pressure a habit. New heart health technology, such as HeartGuide wearable blood pressure monitor from OMRON, and Complete, the first blood pressure monitor with EKG capability built-in, enables users to easily monitor their blood pressure at home with FDA-cleared medical accuracy.
2. See your doctor if you're in the hypertensive range. Ask your doctor if your blood pressure level requires a treatment plan. Heart-healthy habits including a well-balanced diet, exercise and stress reduction along with regular monitoring can all help reduce the risk of heart attack and stroke.
3. Make treatment adherence a priority and maintain communication with your doctor. Take medications as prescribed by a doctor, maintain healthy lifestyle habits that support your treatment plan, and explore easy ways to share your blood pressure readings with your doctor.
4. If you're one of the 37 million Americans with uncontrolled stage 2 hypertension, ask your doctor about remote patient monitoring. OMRON recently introduced its first remote patient monitoring service, VitalSight; designed specifically for hypertension management.

OMRON recognizes that health disparities are contributing to an even higher risk in underserved communities, with statistics showing that among U.S. adults with hypertension, 80 percent of Hispanic and Black Americans have uncontrolled blood pressure.

“Long-standing health disparities are the center of these staggering statistics,” said Kellogg. “Our mission is Going for Zero -- the elimination of heart attack and stroke -- and we view health disparities as a top priority. Lack of access to tools, information and care has factored into crisis levels of cardiac events and fatalities in underserved communities. It's gone on for far too long and the risk and loss of life is even higher with COVID-19. Bridging these disparities must be part of this call to action.”

Read more: Omron Unveils Wrist Blood Pressure Monitor Designed for Obese Patients

OMRON Healthcare has partnered with the American Heart Association (AHA), hospital systems, and churches in under-resourced communities to host free blood pressure monitoring and heart health education events to bring resources to residents and listen to top needs to address resource gaps. The company has also donated blood pressure monitors which have been distributed to community health centers through the Target:BP program. Additionally, OMRON is collaborating with Walgreens to donate trusted OMRON blood pressure monitors to the University of Michigan for a hypertension program led by the STEER-HD initiative, which provides underserved communities in Michigan with the blood pressure monitoring and hypertension treatments they need.