Global consumer electronics company Coolpad announced that it has partnered with M2MD Technologies to co-develop a new proximity tracking device to aid in fostering proper social distancing for workers in a myriad of industries including, manufacturing, distribution, logistics, construction, retail, hospitality, and education. The Coolpad Bubble helps companies create a safe environment for their employees, many of whom are essential workers.

Related: Radiant RFID Deploying Return-To-Work Strategies For Companies Amid COVID-19 Pandemic

Coolpad Bubble is set to be released in Fall 2020. It utilizes a proprietary Ultrasonic Time-of-Flight (ToF) technology from TDK that enables range-finding, proximity, and position-tracking sensors to calculate distances and alert users to maintain safe distances, in combination with Bluetooth. This is a stand-alone solution with devices that work right out of the box, with no need for additional infrastructure or beacons. Users receive real-time visual, audio, and vibration alerts when another device is within a six-foot threshold. The device is designed with versatility in mind to be used in the office or in industrial environments such as warehouses, according to a press release.

"We understand how critical it is to get the economy growing again in a way that safeguards people against the spread of COVID-19," said Zach Chang, CEO of Coolpad USA. "With the Coolpad Bubble's accurate and precise proximity detection, we aim to provide a practical and safe way for companies to begin to grow again while protecting their employees and customers."

Takvaviya Analytics, which created the Coolpad Bubble Dashboard, collects anonymous data from the wearable device including its own device ID, neighboring device IDs, distance, timestamp, and event duration - enabling companies to effectively record, monitor, and analyze the effectiveness of their social-distancing policies. The AI driven dashboard provides a comprehensive view of contact interactions, contact tracing history, and allows for customized reporting and analytics that enable automated Safety Management through predictive AI models. No personally identifiable information (PII) is stored on the device or transmitted to the cloud-based dashboard.

Current U.S. social distancing guidelines recommend maintaining a distance of six feet in applicable situations. However, research has demonstrated a challenge due to how differently the virus spreads at various distances. The Coolpad Bubble provides an innovative and effective solution that takes the guesswork out of the equation, thereby enabling companies to proactively tackle the challenges of adapting to this new COVID-19 environment.

Related: Nymi Launches Wearable Wristband For Health and Safety of Workers

"We believe the use of non-obtrusive technology is the way to succeed in the pursuit of keeping people safe during a time of necessary social distancing," said Joseph Bousaba, president of Chirp Microsystems, a TDK group company. "The key to a non-obtrusive solution is accuracy in distance measurement, low power consumption, long battery life, and reliability in a small form factor. This has been achieved in the Coolpad Bubble solution."

Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis (ALS) affects the nerve cells that control voluntary muscle movements such as walking and talking. As a result, ALS patients often lose the ability to speak, making it difficult to communicate with others.

Read more: ALS Patients with Locked-In Syndrome May Get a Voice with This New Wearable

Now, researchers at MIT have developed a wearable skin-like sensor that can detect small deformations of the skin, potentially serving as a way to help ALS patients to communicate through facial movements. Using this approach, patients could communicate a variety of sentiments, such as “I love you” or “I’m hungry,” with small movements that are measured and interpreted by the device, reports Anne Trafton at MIT News. The wearable sensor is thin and can be camouflaged with makeup to match any skin tone, making it unobtrusive.

“Not only are our devices malleable, soft, disposable, and light, they’re also visually invisible,” says Canan Dagdeviren, the LG Electronics Career Development Assistant Professor of Media Arts and Sciences at MIT and the leader of the research team. “You can camouflage it and nobody would think that you have something on your skin.”

The researchers tested the initial version of their device in two ALS patients (one female and one male, for gender balance) and showed that it could accurately distinguish three different facial expressions — smile, open mouth, and pursed lips.

The lead authors of the study are MIT graduate student Farita Tasnim and former research scientist Tao Sun. Other MIT authors are undergraduate Rachel McIntosh, postdoc Dana Solav, research scientist Lin Zhang, and senior lab manager David Sadat. Yuandong Gu of the A*STAR Institute of Microelectronics in Singapore and Nikta Amiri, Mostafa Tavakkoli Anbarani, and M. Amin Karami of the University of Buffalo are also authors. The study appears in Nature Biomedical Engineering.

Dagdeviren’s lab, the Conformable Decoders group, specializes in developing conformable (flexible and stretchable) electronic devices that can adhere to the body for a variety of medical applications. She became interested in working on ways to help patients with neuromuscular disorders communicate after meeting Stephen Hawking in 2016, when the world-renowned physicist visited Harvard University and Dagdeviren was a junior fellow in Harvard’s Society of Fellows.

Read more: MIT Develops Smart Shirt That Can Monitor Heart Rate, Temperature and Other Vital Signs

Most ALS patients also eventually lose the ability to control their limbs. The MIT team created a wearable device that consists of four piezoelectric sensors embedded in a thin silicone film. The sensors, which are made of aluminum nitride, can detect mechanical deformation of the skin and convert it into an electric voltage that can be easily measured. All of these components are easy to mass-produce, so the researchers estimate that each device would cost around $10.

When you put on a virtual reality (VR) headset, the world around you disappears and you step into a world that’s unknown to you. VR applications are giving science a new dimension. Researchers can easily conduct exciting experiments and interact with data using VR headsets.

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

There are three types of VR headsets: a headset that works with your phone, headsets that connect to your PC, and standalone devices.

The cheapest method to access 3D content is to get a Google Cardboard or Daydream and insert your Android phone. The drawback here is that you can only turn around with your head rather than move back and forth or sideways, reports Sage Ocean.

Oculus Go, at an affordable price of $200, is the most popular standalone VR headset. While the immersion experience is better than mobile phone-dependent gear, it is limited in processing power and graphics.

If you want PC connected VR headsets, then you should go for HTC Vive or Oculus Rift. These headsets will give you the full immersive experience.

Haptic gloves allow researchers to streamline studies about the way people interact with objects and environments in VR. These haptic gloves make it easy to collect psychological and physiological data.

Eye-tracking is big in neuroscience, psychology, and clinical trials. There are numerous applications of eye-tracking in these fields. Vive Pro offers excellent eye-tracking features. Although the retail price of $799 may be too high, it’s worth the money. There are also cheaper alternatives. Chinese company 7invensun’s announced add-on will enable HTC Vive headsets to have eye-tracking. Researchers can spend $149 to get a deeper insight into their research.

ConfocalVR is a tool developed at Benaroya research institute. It uses VR to visualize images from confocal microscopes, made what was really happening “jump out within seconds”, according to Adam Lacy-Hulbert, a principal investigator at Benaroya.

Read more: Cardiologists Use Augmented Reality to Plan and Perform Complex Procedures

Although, VR and AR tools are now widely available, only a few labs are taking advantage of this technology. While many experts predict VR to become standard lab tools in the future, it remains to be seen how many labs actually adopt it.

Researchers at Swiss Laboratory Empa and ETH Zurich (Swiss Federal Institute of Technology in Zurich) have developed a material that works like a luminescent solar concentrator and can even be applied to textiles. This opens up numerous possibilities for producing energy directly where it is needed, i.e. in the use of everyday electronics.

Read more: Energy Harvesting Nanogenerators Offer New Option For Monitoring Health

Materials capable of using indirect or ambient light for energy generation are already being used in the solar industry. These materials contain special luminescent materials and are called "Luminescent Solar Concentrators", or LSC for short. The luminescent materials in the LSC capture diffuse ambient light and transmit its energy to the actual solar cell, which then converts light into electrical energy, reports Stefanie Zeller at Empa.

However, currently available LSCs are rigid and aren’t permeable to air and water. Therefore, thye are not suitable for use in textiles.  The Empa team, led by Luciano Boesel from the Laboratory for Biomimetic Membranes and Textiles has now succeeded in incorporating several of these luminescent materials into a polymer that provides precisely this flexibility and air permeability.

This new material is based on Amphiphilic Polymer Co-Networks, or APCN for short, a polymer that has long been known in research and is already available on the market in the form of silicone-hydrogel contact lenses, the Empa report said.

"The reason we chose exactly this polymer is the fact that we are capable of incorporating two immiscible luminescent materials at the nanoscale and let them interact with each other. There are, of course, other polymers, in which these materials could be integrated; but this would lead to aggregation, and the production of energy would thus not be possible», explains Boesel.

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

“The luminescent materials capture a much wider spectrum of light than is possible with conventional photovoltaics. The novel solar concentrators can be applied to textile fibers without the textile becoming brittle and susceptible to cracking or accumulating water vapor in the form of sweat. Solar concentrators worn on the body offer an immense benefit for the ever-increasing demand for energy, especially for portable devices,” reports Empa.

Wearables have become a way of life. This technology is evolving very fast, and it looks like the next big thing in wearable tech is smart tattoos. Smart Tattoos lies at the intersection of fashion, sustainability, and personalized experiences. These are personalized circuits, adhesives, conductors, and microprocessors that can be glued onto the skin. Smart tattoos can send signals to your phone via touch, allowing you to interact with the world around you, or they can also be used to monitor health.

Read more Carnegie Mellon Researchers Develop Ultra-Thin Electronic Tattoos that Can Power Wearables

Microsoft researchers demonstrated smart tattoos that can help you change channels on your TV. The researchers created smart decorative tattoos called Hack-a-Tatt that look like decorative body decoration but they also work as remote controls directly from the skin.

Google developed rub-on tattoos called SkinMarks that can transform your skin into a touchpad. The sensor-embedded tattoos are applied to a part of the body, like the ridge of a person’s knuckles or the side of a finger. Traditional touch or swipe gestures can trigger the sensors like you’d use on your phone. But there are also a few gestures that are more specific to working on the skin’s surface. You could squeeze the area around the tattoo or bend your fingers or limbs to activate the sensors.

Scientists have been developing wearable sensors that patients can use to keep track of their heart health over time. But many of these devices have been cumbersome or uncomfortable. Now, researchers from the University of Texas at Austin have designed a lightweight wearable material that could make heart health monitoring easier and more accurate than the existing ECG machines. The research team was led by Nanshu Lu in the Cockrell School of Engineering.

Read more: Very Thin Tattoo-Like Wearable Patch Monitors and Diagnoses Health Problems from Sweat

The smart tattoo is graphene-based and can be placed on the skin to measure a variety of body responses, from electrical to biomechanical signals. The device is so lightweight and stretchable that it can be placed over the heart for extended periods with little or no discomfort. It also measures cardiac health in two ways, taking electrocardiograph and seismocardiograph readings simultaneously.

Disadvantages

It’s hard to make smart tattoos that are safe, strong and that can last for few years, reports The Pourquoi Pas. Biocompatibility is a big issue here. People are allergic to certain materials. Also, human skin experiences a lot of different forces throughout the day. When you put on a jacket, for example, if you’re not careful, you may unintentionally rub it against the tattoo and remove it.

When we talk about femtech, issues that come to mind are pregnancy and menstruation. But now, femtech encompasses other aspects of women's health. A report by data research company PitchBook reveals that the femtech industry generated US$820.6 million and is on the patch to reach at least US$3 billion by the end of 2030. The huge amount of health issues that affect women differently than men is astounding, and there is an enormous demand that needs to be filled.

Various startups from across the globe are seeking to tackle the taboos surrounding issues like orgasm, menopause and sexual wellbeing, reports HTWorld.

Research from the International Academy of Sex Research found that 95% of heterosexual men usually or always orgasm during sex, compared to only 65% of heterosexual women. Emjoy, a Barcelona, Spain-based wellness company wants to close that ‘orgasm gap.’ The company’s Emjoy is the intimate self-care app for women by women. It’s an audio-based wellbeing app enabling women to explore their bodies, learn about their sexuality, arouse their minds, and feel empowered throughout their sex life. The app was launched globally in 2020. The app has over 150 audio sessions and sensual stories, developed by sex therapists and sexual wellbeing experts.

Read more: Femtech Startup Bloomer Develops Smart Bra that Can Monitor Women’s Health

“This is a topic that many people are hesitant or embarrassed to discuss,” says CEO and co-founder of Emjoy, Andrea Oliver. “This becomes a problem when you consider the multitude of studies that have found that sexual satisfaction directly correlates with positive physical and mental wellbeing.”

For women who want more insight and control over their bodies, kegg by Lady Technologies is the personal fertility specialist that gives you the information and resources you need to make better decisions. kegg is the first fertility tracking kegel device to help pinpoint women’s fertile window and ovulation up to 7 days in advance. The company leverages advanced sensor technology, known as impedance spectroscopy, to detect changes in vaginal fluids including cervical fluid. kegg can predict a more accurate and precise ovulation window in comparison to probability-based solutions so women all over the world can conceive naturally, faster.

Kristina Cahojova, Founder and CEO of Lady Technologies says: “We have created the first, easy to use modern medical device to help women manage their fertility with actionable data. Cervical fluid is a standard for determining women’s conception probabilities on a daily basis and kegg is the most convenient way to measure it. In the future, we want to look at other use cases that include infections, fertility tracking during postpartum and perimenopause.

Astinno is a London-based femtech startup that developed a wearable to detect hot flashes. The wearable, dubbed Grace, has sensors that can detect the onset of a hot flush, which include sweating, a rise in heart rate, shortness of breath and a reddening of the skin. The device then cools a women’s wrist to fight the reaction. In May, the company received an Innovate UK grant worth $450 thousand to further test its wearable.

Read more: Femtech Hardware Elvie Partners with NHS to Tackle Stress Urinary Incontinence

Hot flashes are the most common symptom of menopause and perimenopause. More than two-thirds of North American women who are heading into menopause have hot flashes. If you lose too much body heat, you might feel chilled afterward. Night sweats are hot flashes that happen at night, and they may disrupt your sleep.

The Wearables in Consumer and Medical Applications 2020 report by Yole gives a detailed analysis of the wearable technologies and delivers an overview of emerging wearable functionalities and related sensors.

Read more: Global Medical Wearables Market Will Grow At A CAGR Of 21.4% During 2020-2027

Including market shares, trends and forecasts, this study points out global wearable system market trends, competitive forces and dynamics, and market drivers. This report also provides an overview of the main players at the system and sensor level of the supply chain, with market shares, according to Yole.

“The era of wearables is definitely here and confirmed by large consumer adoption," said Jérôme Mouly, senior Technology & Market analyst and business developer at Yole Développement (Yole). “Whether wrist-worn, head-worn and hearable, body-worn or smart clothing, we estimate the market to reach US$97.9 billion by 2025, with an 11.2% CAGR from 2019 to 2025”.

What are the economic and technological challenges of the wearables industry? What are the key drivers? Who are the suppliers to watch, and what innovative technologies are they working on?

As analyzed by Yole’s team in the new Wearables in Consumer and Medical Applications 2020 report, wearables are even considered the new wave of consumer electronics, seen as the growth driver for smartphone makers whose market has now reached a mature level and a low single-digit growth rate.

In parallel, the fundraising amount for wearables in the last 5 years has reached $2.6 billion, highlighting again the strong interest in wearables.

"Two main applications are the reason, namely fitness and health," Mouly said. "If athletes quickly adopted connected bracelets to track their performance, health applications quickly took over with a wider public using smartwatches as well as earbuds, the latter showing great interest.

"This success is explained by the need for quantified self, allowing people to monitor their health parameters in a preventive approach against the continued prevalence of chronic diseases and driven by a transformation of health systems to fight against cost pressure”.

As a result, adding functions to wearables has now become essential to meet the needs of the greatest number of users.

These functions can both be linked to the use of systems for greater comfort and interactivity, to capture vital parameters or even environmental data. With the addition of artificial intelligence, the goal is to merge all the information, aggregating it with the final goal of predicting and assisting in decision making.

Wearables have not only aroused the interest of consumer electronics players but also attracted the attention of medical device companies, especially in this period of the COVID-19 pandemic.

Thus, wearables with healthcare functions gain momentum with the pandemic to monitor vital signs. However, incorporating medical functions does not make a wearable medical device.

Consumer wearable companies mainly integrate functions such as fitness and wellness. Medical wearable companies, for their part, focus on patient monitoring and diagnosis.

The key criteria for these medical wearables will be the reliability of the systems and accuracy of the data they generate.

The use of medical wearables such as minimally invasive CGM sensors for people with diabetes replaces measurements via glucometers by providing ease of use and comfort to the patients.

In another example an increasing use of body patches allows hospitals to send patients home earlier and monitor them remotely. Today, medical wearables represent about 20% of wearable revenues.

However, the lines are becoming blurred between medical wearables recognized as approved medical devices and consumer wearables integrating health functions.

“Developments of biosensor platforms integrated into wearables are now achieving medical-grade performance and are integrated into smartwatches, as well as more recently into earbuds,” Mouly said. “But in this battle, consumer wearables offer affordable system prices and larger volume manufacturing opportunities that could benefit to large-scale clinical studies with mass data generation."

Greater permeability between the medical sector and consumer healthcare with the notion of over-the-counter sales intensifies the competition between consumer and medical players.

Read more: Worldwide Non-Optical Pressure Sensor Market Is Estimated To Grow At A Healthy CAGR During 2020-202

Manufacturers of consumer electronic systems have the largest market shares. The wearable report from Yole also analyzes the Top players.

With no surprise, these companies are smartphone manufacturers. At the top, Apple dominates the market.

Therefore, with 39% of the global wearable market shares, Apple is quite unreachable by competition far away. Samsung and Xiaomi are the challengers with respectively 7% and 6% market shares.

Microsoft’s research division is working on a new design of Virtual Reality that could make the haptics as realistic as having a motorized handle on your wrist.

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

When you pick an apple from a tree, you experience various sensations: at first you feel the firmness of the apple, when you tug the apple you feel resistance, once you’ve plucked the apple you feel the weight of the apple on your palm and the smooth, round surface under your fingertips.

“In recent years, steady progress in haptic controllers from Microsoft Research has moved us toward a virtual reality (VR) experience in which those feelings will be on par with the awe-inspiring and realistic visual renderings being produced today by head-mounted displays. With previous devices such as NormalTouch, we can simulate a virtual object’s surface inclination and texture on the tip of an individual’s index finger,” reports Microsoft.

At the heart of the company’s new Haptic PIVOT controller is a motorized hinge and handle systems that sit on your wrist.

CLAW is a multifunctional handheld haptic controller for grasping, touching, and triggering in Virtual Reality. CLAW enables a person to feel they’ve grabbed an object between their fingers to explore its compliance and elasticity, and TORC allows a new level of dexterity, parallel to real life. TORC is a virtual reality controller for in-hand high-dexterity finger interaction. Using these prototypes, a person can feel the surface of a virtual apple, squeeze the virtual fruit, and move it around in their hands. However, to facilitate a complete interaction with that apple in its virtual surroundings, we also have to take into account the dynamics of the objects in the space. Now, with Haptic PIVOT, we bring the physics of forces to VR controllers. Worn on the wrist, PIVOT is a portable device with a haptic handle that moves in and out of the hand on demand.

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Natural Cycles, which claims to be the first and only FDA-cleared birth control app in the United States and CE-marked birth control app in Europe, announced that the company has submitted a 510(k) Premarket Notification to the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA).

Read more: Nuvo Awarded FDA Clearance for its Remote Pregnancy Monitoring System INVU

The purpose of the notification is to revise the labeling to expand the types of third-party thermometers, which include popular wearables already on the market, that can be used with its app.

Up until now, many women would wake up in the morning, stick a thermometer in their mouth and enter their temperature into the Natural Cycles app. The new wearable app from Natural Cycles will change all that.

The app is powered by an algorithm that is able to identify a woman’s daily fertility status based on her basal body temperature and other menstrual data. Currently, users use a basal thermometer to take their daily temperature and input that temperature manually into the app, reports BusinessWire.

New software has been developed and added to the Natural Cycles application that converts temperature data received from wearable devices that collect biometric temperature data to a format that can be interpreted by the Natural Cycles algorithm. This will remove the manual steps of measuring orally and entering temperature data for those users who wear an integrated device.

“For years we’ve been looking to create a more seamless measuring experience for our users, and we were thrilled with the results from using our new software with temperature data from popular wearables,” said Natural Cycles co-founder and CEO Elina Berglund Scherwitzl. “We know our users love having a hormone-free birth control option and we are excited to give them additional measuring options that many already have given a large number of our users own a wearable device.”

Since Natural Cycles was launched in 2013 by physicists Elina Berglund and Raoul Scherwitzl, the company has garnered over 1.8 million registered users worldwide.

Read more: Femtech Startup Lady Technologies Introduces 2-in-1 Device that Combines Fertility Tracking with Pelvic Floor Exercising

While waiting for the FDA’s clearance on the 501(k)submission, Natural Cycles has released a beta launch that will allow select Natural Cycles users to sync temperature data collected when wearing certain wearable devices, including the Oura Ring. While in beta, measurement functionality will only be available to users who are not using the app for birth control. Since 25% of Natural Cycles users use the app outside of preventing pregnancy - including to plan pregnancy or to monitor their cycle - those in the beta will use it solely as a fertility tracker, the company said.

VivoSense, a data analysis and consulting and software company, has been awarded an NIH/NCI Phase 1 contract to develop software enabling data integration from wearable sensors for cancer patients. The contract will result in the development of the VivoSense Cancer Health Informatics Platform as the leading wearable sensor agnostic cloud platform for cancer research and clinical care.

Read more: Cardiac Insight Partners with VivoSense to Expand the Use of Its Wearable Cardiac Sensors in Clinical Trials and Other Research

"Wearable sensors and digital biomarkers have the potential to revolutionize cancer research and care. Our ten years of wearable sensor analytics experience ideally positions VivoSense to deliver on this award with an innovative cancer-specific analytics platform," stated Kate Lyden, PhD, Principal Investigator and VivoSense' VP of Science and Research.

Wearables Provide New Insight into Cancer Research & Treatment

Although cancer remains one of the most devastating diseases, the past decade has brought enormous progress, particularly in the field of immunotherapy. However, breakthrough cancer therapeutics do not benefit all patients equally. Wearables have created an opportunity to gain more insight into the factors contributing to this outcome. The unprecedented amount of patient-specific, real-world data from wearable sensors opens the door to rethink how clinical trials can advance personalized treatment strategies, says a press release.

Patient monitoring and the precise delivery of cancer care improves outcomes and the management of symptoms and side-effects. With robust wearable sensor solutions, care providers will have the ability to passively and continuously monitor multiple behavioral and biological parameters that can be used to adjust and optimize treatment strategies throughout care. As patients with cancer live longer, it is vitally important to understand and develop treatment regimens that maintain patient quality of life.

A Scalable Data Analysis Platform is Fundamental

The opportunity to translate real-world data into actionable information that advances earlier diagnosis and precise treatment options in cancer patients is a huge step forward for cancer research. With this award, we will engage key opinion leaders at every step and build an end-to-end data informatics platform explicitly designed for cancer research and care communities.

Read more: UTS Researchers Developing Wearable Sensors to Improve Communication Between Human Brains and Robots

VivoSense is a data analysis consulting and software company specializing in wearable sensor physiological monitoring solutions for research and clinical trials. They provide a proven and repeatable approach to clinical research data collection and analysis.

Migraine is the 3rd most prevalent illness in the world. Nearly 1 in 4 U.S. households includes someone with migraine. A 2017 study of more than 15,000 Americans with migraines found that oral medications are helpful, but don’t solve for all migraine symptoms. Neuromodulation is one of the fastest-growing areas of medicine. This therapy may help reduce the severity or frequency of migraine attacks.

Read more: Wearable Sensor Cannot Accurately Detect Migraine Attacks Beforehand, Reveals Small Finnish Study

Neurolief

Neurolief developed Relivion, the first non-invasive, adaptive multi-channel brain neuromodulation technology that offers a highly effective therapy, without any side effects related to medications. The system is comprised of a comfortable and adjustable electronic headset that provides precise modulated pulses simultaneously to six branches of the occipital and trigeminal nerves via several adaptive output channels around the patient’s head. The occipital and trigeminal nerves then conduct the stimulation directly to the brainstem (Trigemino-Cervical Complex –TCC). Prior and existing non-invasive neuromodulation devices for the treatment of migraine stimulate only the trigeminal nerve, treating only part of the brain that triggers migraines. In contrast, the Relivion also modulates the occipital nerves, where the majority of migraines originate. In addition, the sophisticated cloud-enabled system connects to a proprietary mobile phone app that learns over time and in the future will deliver optimized personalized treatment for each patient.

Cefaly

This small external trigeminal nerve stimulation (eTNS) device attaches to the forehead and sends mild electrical pulses to the wearer’s forehead to the location known as the trigeminal nerve, the main area where migraines start. Cefaly does both treatment and prevention. For migraine prevention, you wear it for 20 minutes every night for three months. It can also be used for an hour at the onset of a migraine to reduce the intensity of pain. The device costs about $400, and the electrodes are reusable up to 20 times (new electrodes cost $25 for a three-pack), reports Well + Good.

Nerivio

Theranica, a Netanya, Israel-based bio-medical technology company, developed smartphone-controlled wearable device Nerivio Migra, which uses Remote Electrical Neuromodulation for acute migraine treatment. The remote electrical neuromodulation (REN) wearable device only reduces pain once you’re having a migraine. The device is placed on the upper arm (not the head or neck) and uses smartphone-controlled electronic pulses to create a Conditioned Pain Modulation (CPM) response. Nerivio Migra is designed for acute treatment of migraine with or without aura in adult patients who do not have chronic migraine. Each device costs about $100, and treats 12 migraines. Theranica has partnered with Cove to enable its customers to access Nerivio on Cove’s advanced telemedicine platform.

Read more: Theranica Envisions a World of Non-Pharmacological Medical Therapy Wearables

Gammacore

For migraine and cluster headache pain gammaCore is an FDA-cleared, safe, and effective treatment. gammaCore Sapphire (non-invasive vagus nerve stimulator) is indicated for use in adult patients for the preventive treatment of migraine and cluster headache, and acute treatment of pain associated with migraine and episodic cluster headache. Available by prescription only. US Federal Law restricts this device to sale by or on the order of a licensed healthcare provider.

HeadaTerm

HeadaTerm is a wearable anti-migraine device that uses precisely designed electrical stimulation to target the central nervous system’s pain receptors by releasing pain-countering neurotransmitters. The device has been cleared by the FDA as well as other international medical agencies including Health Canada, CE, TGA and Israel. A study showed that TENS therapy conducted by HeadaTerm is a fast-acting treatment of acute migraines.

FLEEP Technologies, a Milan, Italy-based startup that designs and develops printed and flexible integrated circuits and systems based on OTFTs, has completed a seed round of €900K (USD 1,062,346), with the investment of “Eureka! Fund I – Technology Transfer” managed by EUREKA! Venture SGR.

Read more: Henkel’s Printed Electronics Solutions Are Propelling Smart Living, Mobility and Hygiene

“We are thrilled to announce a new add to the FLEEPtech's investor family! EUREKA! Venture SGR,” FLEEP said on its Facebook page.

“We are happy and thankful for the trust of our great investors, all mentors and partners who have supported us on our way but most importantly for our incredible team and their outstanding work in the last months to make this happen.”

FLEEP said the money will help in the company’s development plans and will be used to bring the technology of ‘printed electronics’ to market, reports EU-startups.

FLEEP’s technology implements the intelligent core of flexible electronic applications, by enabling the integration and driving of conformable organic sensors, actuators and power sources. Realized with complementary organic technology, FleepIC features mechanical flexibility and electronic operation with low power consumption, while easy, cost- and energy-efficient manufacturing is guaranteed by manufacturing processes derived from printing.

“The entry of Eureka! will allow us to face the challenges related to the development of printed electronics in a more solid way, with the awareness of having acquired not only capital but also a strategic investor who can certainly help us with his vast knowledge and network of contacts in the deep-tech world,” said Giorgio Dell’Erba, co-founder and CEO of FLEEP Technologies.

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

About FLEEP Technologies

FLEEP Technologies designs and develops printed electronics solutions for the biomedical and smart packaging sectors. The company, a spin-off of Istituto Italiano di Tecnologia, was founded in May 2019. FLEEPtech developed a proprietary process for the fabrication of polymer-based integrated circuits based on Organic Thin-Film Transistors, creating the intelligent core for electronics systems that are mechanically flexible, printed like magazines and recyclable.

Described as one of history’s greatest inventions, a zipper not only makes it more convenient to fasten your clothing, it also can be created to make life easier for people with disabilities. To keep up with smart clothes and smartwatches, a zipper of the future will also be smart. YKK, the world’s largest zipper manufacturer, has collaborated with Lifekey, the wearable technology company, for the development of Touchlink – an interactive zipper that can be connected to mobile phones.

Read more From Pregnant Mothers To Pets, Japan Is Making Swift Progress In The Race For Smart Clothes

Touchlink uses Near Field Communication (NFC), the same technology that powers “tap to pay” capabilities on smartphones. Users need to simply tap the zipper to their smartphone to view information about the garment on their screens—eliminating the need for hangtags and allowing more interaction between brand and buyer, reports Sourcing Journal.

Jason Kintzler, Lifekey’s founder and CEO, says that the platform can become an innovative advertising space. The retailers and brands can push exclusive content tailored specifically to existing customers, important product details, wash and care instructions, product warranty or safety information, etc.

“For the brand, it’s really the first time they’re able to truly ‘activate’ a product,” Kintzler told Rivet. “Not only is the brand able to share important product details, but it can also be useful for providing wash and care instructions, product warranty or safety information and so much more.”

Read more: Smart Clothes to Contribute Over $11 Bn to Fitness Wearable Revenue by 2025, Says Juniper Research

The smart zipper will hit the market in January and will allow integration with the brands’ existing operating systems. Lifekey’s smart straps can execute the same safety actions as the smart zipper.

About YKK

Since the company’s founding in Tokyo in 1934, YKK has continuously set industry standards for quality, service, value, and innovation in the production of zippers, plastic hardware, hook and loop fasteners, webbing tapes, and snap and buttons. With integrated production and supply systems in 72 countries and regions around the world, YKK is positioned to meet the needs of the textile and sewing product industries as they increasingly diversify and require shorter product cycles.

According to a new patent by Apple, the company’s new smart ring might use a collection of gesture controls, which could allow the user to point their ring at other devices to send commands.

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

The previous patent suggested the smart ring would feature biometric sensors, Siri voice assistant, and a small touchscreen and gesture control. But the most recent patent, which changed the name of the ring from a 'wearable ring device' to a 'wireless finger-worn device', implies it would be used to control external devices, like smart TVs or iPhones. The patent was filed in September 2019 and made public in April 2020.

First spotted by Apple Insider, the patent suggests, instead of being voice-controlled, the ring would have a touch-sensitive display component, and could be gesture-activated as well. Past patents have suggested it could also be expandable so the display stretches to cover most of your finger.

"Although the continuation patent doesn't necessarily introduce any significant new capabilities to the ring," says AppleInsider, "it does appear to be aimed at protecting the concept of an "Apple Ring" in a market that's very different than it was when Apple first started exploring a finger-worn wearable."

The patent mentions things like changes to volume, temperature, brightness and appearance of a user interface. This suggests the wearable could control a smart home heating system, among other devices.

The new patent also suggests how a user could communicate with another using a tiny microphone inside the device, reminding us of the Walkie-Talkie app on the Apple Watch.

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"A user's hands may be preoccupied with another task, for example, or the user's hands and/or arms may become fatigued after holding the device in a viewing position for extended periods of time," the patent says. "The light emitted by a touchscreen may be inappropriate in certain social environments or even dangerous if it gives away the position of a threatened user."

In the healthcare sector, wearable technology includes smart patches, continuous glucose monitor (CGM), and more. Another aspect of healthcare that’s being impacted by wearable technology is rehabilitation. Wearable tech is now being harnessed to improve patient rehabilitation, especially those who need to undergo intense physical rehabilitation after a procedure, reports TouchPoint.

Designer Jessica Smarsch introduced a stroke rehabilitation garment designed for measuring muscle activity. Dubbed, Connextyle, the smart garment is inspired by an ancient Japanese technique called Kintsugi. It uses a new technology called TexPCBs, which is a silver-coated textile laminated between thermoplastic material, in order to create dry electrodes and measure muscle movement. The data collected by the TexPCBs is then sent to a processing module attached to the garments’ exterior. The module registers movement. The rehabilitation garment works in conjunction with an app that allows patients to track and monitor their rehabilitation process.

Read more: KYOCERA and TMDU Join Forces To Develop Wearable for Remote Rehab Monitoring During COVID-19 Pandemic

100 million people worldwide suffer from gait disorders. A Paris-based medical device company FeetMe decided to do something about it. They developed an innovative technology that combines a device with a series of pressure sensors, motion sensors, and learning algorithms to collect movement data. The data collected includes gait and posture data. Then it sends this information in real-time to a paired mobile application called FeetMe Evaluation. Besides analyzing gait and posture parameters, FeetMe also offers rehabilitation programs through its platform FeetMe Rehabilitation.

Stroke is a leading cause of disability, which affects approximately 17 million people worldwide each year. ReWalk Robotics manufactures robotic medical devices for people with lower limb disabilities. The company’s product ReStore consists of a soft garment-like design, which connects to a lightweight waist pack and mechanical cables that help lift the patient’s affected leg in synchronized timing with their natural walking pattern. ReStore provides targeted assistance to the patient during forward propulsion (plantarflexion) and ground clearance (dorsiflexion), two key phases of the gait cycle. The device also provides the physical therapists with extensive data during gait training with ReStore to inform strategies to optimize a patient’s treatment and progress using real-time analytics.

Read more: Northwestern Researchers Develop Groundbreaking Wearable that Could Be a Game Changer in Stroke Rehab

A Singapore-based company called SynPhNe developed the world’s first connected wearable solution that trains brain and muscle as one. This innovative technology helps people with physical disabilities resulting from neurological pathologies like stroke and traumatic brain injury, learning disorders, aging problems, chronic stress, and chronic pain. The SynPhNe device is very simple. It consists of 2 Gears—The HEAD GEAR which transmits EEG signals from the Brain, and the ARM GEAR which transmits EMG signals from the Muscle, thus making the brain and muscle work as one system.

STRAP Technologies announced today, on White Cane Safety Day in the United States, the creation of a hands-free device designed to be worn by the visually impaired to allow for more independence and mobility.

Read more: Loughborough University Student Designs Digital Guide Dog For The Blind

STRAP is a wearable, hands-free device with an innovative array of sensors that work by sending real-time information that detect obstacles at the head, chest and below — including oncoming bumps, holes, overhanging objects and steps. The haptic language notifications also make STRAP an intuitive device to use and easy to learn in less than two minutes. STRAP is designed for all ages and abilities and offers obstacle detection, stair detection, advanced haptic feedback, straight-line navigation and orientation. It can also distinguish between physical objects and people. The device once charged can last up to 72 hours and is easy to recharge with a magnetic charger provided, reports BusinessWire.

The device was first developed in Mexico by STRAP Technologies CEO and Founder, Diego Roel, who comes from an extensive background in robotics, new product ideation, R&D and IP strategy. “STRAP is the first assistive technology on the market that replaces the white cane that’s been in use for over 100 years,” Roel said.

“We’ve spent three years on the research and development of STRAP to invent a product that is truly innovative. We are really passionate about changing the way the blind and visually impaired explore the world; our core mission is that we believe autonomy and independence is a human right; not a luxury.”

Read more: Wearable Device Uses Ultrasound to Detect Obstacles for Blind People

STRAP Technologies is headquartered in Austin, Texas, with a Research and Development lab in Guadalajara, Mexico. The device is now available for preorder at an introductory price of $500 with a $50 deposit on the company’s website.

Finland, with a population of only 5.5 million, is very tech-savvy, especially when it comes to measuring health data. A total of 15% of the country’s residents have used smart devices for health data measurement for more than five years, reports Sitra. According to the report, 48% of Finns would also share their health data with research programs.

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“When looking at many indicators, Finland is already ahead of other countries when it comes to individuals’ positive attitude towards technology, people’s digital skills and related services offered by society. That is why especially here in Finland we should invest in the creation of trust-based, human-driven data economy services. On the basis of the survey, Finland and Finnish companies have good preconditions for becoming the new, fairer ‘Silicon Valley’ of the 2020s,” says Sitra’s Senior Lead Tiina Härkönen.

The survey was conducted by Kantar TNS Oy in the Netherlands, France, Germany and Finland in June and July 2020. About 1,000 people were chosen from each country.

Half of the survey respondents said they used various instruments or applications to measure health data. The past two years saw an increase in the use of devices, such as activity trackers and smart rings. Measurement is further increasing: a fifth of the device users had started their use during the six months prior to the survey, according to Sitra.

Those who currently measure their well-being data feel that the data is very useful for them. A total of 40% of the respondents said that they have become motivated to do more/better exercise and nearly a fifth, 19%, had adopted healthier eating habits.

Read more: Germany is the Most Innovative Economy in the World, Says World Economic Forum

“The positive attitude of people in Finland towards technology is a solid foundation upon which to develop solutions for the management of the coronavirus epidemic,” says Jaana Sinipuro, Director of Sitra’s IHAN project. “Finland can and must lead the way in the creation of rules, technological solutions and success stories for the fair data market of the 2020s. We are in an advantageous position to solve problems that affect the entire world.”

HID Global announced that its next-generation Seos credential technology will enable Nymi Band 3.0 users to seamlessly open doors and authenticate to systems, devices and machines. Once authenticated, the Nymi Band offers the convenience of continuously authenticating the identity of the user until it’s removed from the wrist. This delivers zero-trust security principles and access control using convenient fingerprint and heartbeat biometrics to users seeking touchless authentication.

Read more: Xyntek, Nymi Partner Up to Add Wearable Biometric Devices to their Platform

“We are excited to provide these high-assurance authentication capabilities with the Nymi Band 3.0, an exciting new wearable on the market,” said Steve Currie, Vice President and Managing Director of Extended Access Technologies with HID Global.

In addition to physical and logical access use cases, Seos technology enables the Nymi Band 3.0 to be used for applications ranging from secure intelligent print collection and social distancing and contract tracing to contractor and visitor management, canteen and vending machine payment, and secure remote working, reports BusinessWire.

“HID Seos technology gives the Nymi Band 3.0 all the capabilities of a secure smart card, including its best-in-class cryptography that delivers superior data and privacy protection compared to other biometric and credential technologies,” said Chris Sullivan, CEO of Nymi. “We believe these capabilities will fuel even faster adoption for our wristbands, which are already seeing rapid uptake in applications like pharma manufacturing with an emphasis on privacy, security and natural user experience.”

This is How it Works

• The HID Seos applet is loaded onto secure elements (SEs) inside a Nymi Band so they can carry security keys and encrypted firmware.
• Seos credentials are sent to the wristbands over a Near Field Communications (NFC) connection.
• Users enroll their fingerprint one time to the Nymi Band and the Nymi Band is matched to the user identity.
• At the start of the work day, the user authenticates the band with their fingerprint, and the Nymi Band is enabled with strong assurance after it detects a heartbeat.
• Native support in HID DigitalPersona® software also enables the wristbands to be used for Windows login with both Seos and FIDO2 passwordless authentication.
• Seos credentials support HID Signo® and iCLASS SE® readers that are broadly deployed in every major vertical market around the world.

Read more: How Companies Are Using Wearable Tech To Bring Employees Back To Work

The Nymi Band provides strong assurance of an individual's identity using their unique biometrics. Through On-Body Detection (OBD) and presence, the Nymi Band 3.0 ensures that it is always on the intended user and the user is physically present. The user’s biometric never leave the Nymi Band 3.0, providing advanced security and privacy.

Femtech company Lady Technologies today announced its official launch of FDA-registered kegg, the first 2-in-1 device that combines fertility tracking with pelvic floor exercising. Along with the product release, the company also announced it completed a seed funding round worth $1.5 million. Investors include Crescent Ridge Partners, SOSV, Texas Halo Fund, Fermata Fund, MegaForce and several angel investors.

Read more: Femtech Startup Bloomer Develops Smart Bra that Can Monitor Women’s Health

According to the CDC, around 12% women between the ages of 15 and 44 in the U.S. have difficulty getting or staying pregnant. Ovulation is the most commons cause of infertility. Some common types of infertility testing include measuring thyroid function, progesterone levels, prolactin levels and the ovarian reserve.

kegg uses advanced sensing technology known as impedance to analyze changes in women's cervical fluid which is then analyzed in the cloud with results delivered to the user's smartphone. The device specifically senses changes in electrolyte levels to detect the hormonal switch from estrogen to progesterone that accompanies a woman's fertile window and ovulation, says a press release.

"We have created the first, easy to use modern medical device to help women manage their fertility with actionable data. Cervical fluid is a standard for determining women's conception probabilities on a daily basis and kegg is the most convenient way to measure it. In future, we want to look at other use cases that include infections, fertility tracking during postpartum and perimenopause," said Founder and CEO Kristina Cahojova.

The device is made with medical-grade silicone and gold plated, stainless steel sensors and only needs to be inserted for two minutes a day. Before each test, women can also opt to do Kegels to exercise their pelvic floor muscles. kegg communicates wirelessly through a phone's Bluetooth connection. The antenna is placed in the tail, safely keeping it outside the body. Data is processed through personalized algorithms allowing women to visually understand their fertile window on the company's free mobile app.

Read more: Femtech Hardware Elvie Partners with NHS to Tackle Stress Urinary Incontinence

"One of my proudest accomplishments is building a community of over 2,000 (and growing!) women who are tracking their fertility. We've already had several women report successful pregnancies using kegg since our Beta launch and it's been a joy to celebrate together. We also lean on our customers for valuable feedback. Most recently, we've developed an upgraded app that is more intuitive and builds on our user's feedback to provide more actionable insight into their unique fertility cycles."

Garmin has partnered with Children’s Mercy Kansas City – one of the top pediatric health systems in the country – to help support the Children’s Mercy Stay Active Program, a community-based program that supports students’ learning, overall health and development.

Read more: Garmin Launches Feature-Packed Forerunner 745 Smartwatch For Elite Athletes

Several Kansas City area elementary schools are collaborating with Children’s Mercy Kansas City to bring the Stay Active Program to their students this school year. As part of the Stay Active program, physical activity instructors will deliver engaging, structured activity lessons to 4th and 5th grade virtual classrooms using a video conferencing platform. Parents and kids can rely on their Garmin wearable fitness tracker to support their fitness goals by monitoring step count, activity minutes and more, reports BusinessWire.

“The COVID-19 pandemic has created numerous challenges for families trying to engage in healthy lifestyles, especially as many students head back to school online. Garmin is excited to support Children’s Mercy Kansas City and continue our mission to help improve pediatric health and outcomes,” said Joe Schrick, vice president of Garmin fitness segment.

Jordan Carlson, PhD, associate professor of pediatrics, Center for Children’s Healthy Lifestyles and Nutrition at Children’s Mercy, is leading the effort: “The school setting is such an essential source of children’s physical activity that moving school education from in-person to online could eliminate over half of their daily physical activity. The COVID-19 pandemic is accelerating socioeconomic disparities, which has major implications for long term health, so it is more important than ever to provide safe opportunities for children from lower-resourced communities to engage in active lifestyles.”

Through the Children’s Mercy Center for Pediatric Innovation, Garmin and Children’s Mercy have formed a strategic alliance and are collaborating on several projects to help improve pediatric health outcomes, such as the use of Garmin wearable fitness trackers to monitor activity levels for Type 1 Diabetes patients. The biometric information from Garmin wearables assists clinicians during telehealth appointments and could someday help drive predictive analytics capable of identifying risk factors for diabetic events before they happen.

Read more: Treating ADHD by Using Video Game to Monitor Children’s Brain Waves

Additionally, Garmin and Children’s Mercy are working on research projects to profile the accuracy of these biometrics when worn by children. This validation will support the use of Garmin wearable fitness trackers as they provide meaningful endpoints in remote monitoring solutions. The biometric data will be integrated with the Children’s Mercy infrastructure through use of the Garmin Health API and become part of the clinical flow.