The global medical wearables market will record decent returns by the end of the forecast period of 2020-2027, while registering a substantial growth rate throughout this duration, according to a new report by Report Ocean. This report also provides in detail, the market investment opportunities, government policy, market dynamics, market share, supply chain and competitive landscape.

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Global Medical Wearables Market is valued at approximately USD 6.1 billion in 2019 and is anticipated to grow with a healthy growth rate of more than 21.4% over the forecast period 2020-2027.

Medical Wearables are the handheld monitoring tools primarily used in monitoring and identification of disease. With the rise in prevalence of chronic diseases, patients are opting for home healthcare tools as an efficient and cost-effective of treatment, instead of hospital services.

In the present scenario, medical wearables are gaining immense traction, due to enhanced technologies that are being pioneered consistently by the manufacturers. Due to these advancements of medical wearable technology and growing demand from patients to monitor their own health has influenced the growth of wearable medical device industry to develop more wearable devices, such as smartwatches, fitbits, and wearable monitors. Further, increasing the occurrence of chronic diseases, such as cardiovascular, cancer, etc., increasing usage of smartphones in health monitoring, and increasing awareness for health & fitness among people are the few factors responsible for high CAGR of the market during the forecast period, says a press release.

According to the American Heart Association, the occurrence of death due to cardiovascular diseases was about 17.6 million in 2016, and a number is expected to grow to over 23.6 million by 2030. Also, as per the Center for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), about 610,000 die due to heart diseases in the United States every year. This, in turn, is projected to accelerate the adoption of medical wearables around the world. The outbreak of COVID-19 crisis has led to rise in demand for medical wearables, as these devices are helpful in screening and monitoring of novel coronavirus infections. Therefore, this factor can create lucrative opportunities for the medical wearable market in the forthcoming years. However, inaccuracy in the analysis of wearable generated data and unfavorable reimbursement issues impede the growth of the market over the forecast period of 2020-2027.

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The regional analysis of the global Medical Wearables market is considered for the key regions such as Asia Pacific, North America, Europe, Latin America, and Rest of the World. North America is the leading/significant region across the world in terms of market share owing to the rising incidences of cardiovascular disorders, diabetes, and cancer, coupled with the early adoption of wearable medical technology in the region. Whereas, Asia-Pacific is also anticipated to exhibit the highest growth rate / CAGR over the forecast period 2020-2027. Factors such as rising government initiatives for medical wearables, increasing aging population, and growing healthcare expenditure by people would create lucrative growth prospects for the Medical Wearables market across the Asia-Pacific region.

Major market player included in this report are:

• Koninklijke Philips N.V.
• Medtronic plc
• Omron Healthcare Co., Ltd.
• Biotelemetry, Inc.
• Apple Inc.
• GE Healthcare
• Abbott Laboratories
• Dexcom, Inc.
• iRhythm Technologies, Inc.
• Masimo Corporation

Dogs working in the U.S. military could in the future wear augmented reality (AR) goggles that enable soldiers to give them remote commands during operations, reports CNN.

Dogs are commonly deployed to sniff out explosives, hazardous materials or to help in rescues. The technology was developed under a project funded by the Small Business Innovation Research program, managed by the US Army Research Office, a part of the US Army Combat Capabilities Development Command’s Army Research Laboratory. The goggles are being developed by Command Sight, a Seattle-based company, with US Army research funding.

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Special safety goggles already worn by military dogs would be retrofitted with live cameras and visual indicators so handlers can issue specific directions. The technology allows the handlers to see everything the dog can see and then provide specific commands using visual cues that show up in the dog’s line of vision.

“Augmented reality works differently for dogs than for humans,” said Dr. Stephen Lee, an Army Research Office senior scientist in a statement. “AR will be used to provide dogs with commands and cues; it’s not for the dog to interact with it like a human does. This new technology offers us a critical tool to better communicate with military working dogs.”

The technology is still just a prototype. The initial design is wired and requires a leash, but Command Sight said in an Army news release it’s working on a wireless model.

“We are still in the beginning research stages of applying this technology to dogs, but the results from our initial research are extremely promising,” said A.J. Peper, founder and CEO of Command Sight.

Peper added he had mostly been testing out the gear on his own Rottweiler, Mater.

“His ability to generalize from other training to working through the AR goggles has been incredible,” he said. “We still have a way to go from a basic science and development perspective before it will be ready for the wear and tear our military dogs will place on the units.”

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The US Army said the goggles will all be custom-made, with each dog in the trial scanned in 3D so developers can understand where to position the optics and electrical components.

Motobit, a startup based in Austria, has unveiled a wearable device aimed at motorcyclists. The device uses vibrations to communicate with riders at all times, to allow them to keep focused on the highway and persist with an appropriate pace to help stop accidents. The novel device is out there solely through the crowdfunding website Indiegogo, priced from €109 (US$128).

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The device, called Sentinel, connects to the rider’s smartphone over Bluetooth and has its own specific application. On the road, riders receive warnings about potentially dangerous situations thanks to a haptic feedback system causing the device to vibrate. Sentinel should ideally be worn on the wrist, but it can also be carried in a pocket or on a belt, reports Head Topics.

Thanks to its advanced algorithms, Sentinel analyzes users’ riding behavior and the course of the road to alert riders when they’re going too fast, especially on bends. This can help prevent skidding and other accidents.

Motobit has opted to use haptic feedback as a way of communicating with motorcyclists instead of audio or visual notifications. This allows riders to stay focused and keep their eyes on the road. Plus, in the event of an accident, emergency contacts can be messaged at the touch of an easily accessible button.

Note that Sentinel also has a group riding mode. If several friends all have the wearables, for example, they can set a maximum distance to maintain between riders. In other words, if one biker can’t keep up, the other members of the group will be automatically notified.

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Sentinel is the fruit of more than two years of research and is now available via the Indiegogo crowdfunding platform. The first shipments aren’t expected until spring 2021.

Over the last few years, we have seen an increased interest in flexible sensors that provide biometric measurements with comfort to the user. Now, an international team of researchers has taken the evolution one step further by printing sensors directly on human skin without the use of heat.

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The sensors are capable of precisely and continuously capturing temperature, humidity, blood oxygen levels and heart performance signals, according to the researchers. They also linked the on-body sensors into a network with wireless transmission capabilities to monitor the combination of signals as they progress.

Led by Huanyu "Larry" Cheng, Dorothy Quiggle Career Development Professor in the Penn State Department of Engineering Science and Mechanics, the team published their results in ACS Applied Materials & Interfaces.

“In this article, we report a simple yet universally applicable fabrication technique with the use of a novel sintering aid layer to enable direct printing for on-body sensors," said first author Ling Zhang, a researcher in the Harbin Institute of Technology in China and in Cheng's laboratory, reports Penn State.

Cheng and his colleagues previously developed flexible printed circuit boards for use in wearable sensors, but printing directly on skin has been hindered by the bonding process for the metallic components in the sensor. Called sintering, this process typically requires temperatures of around 572 degrees Fahrenheit (300 degrees Celsius) to bond the sensor's silver nanoparticles together.

"The skin surface cannot withstand such a high temperature, obviously," Cheng said. "To get around this limitation, we proposed a sintering aid layer -- something that would not hurt the skin and could help the material sinter together at a lower temperature."

By adding a nanoparticle to the mix, the silver particles sinter at a lower temperature of about 212 F (100 C).

"That can be used to print sensors on clothing and paper, which is useful, but it's still higher than we can stand at skin temperature," Cheng said, who noted that about 104 F (40 C) could still burn skin tissue. "We changed the formula of the aid layer, changed the printing material and found that we could sinter at room temperature."

The room temperature sintering aid layer consists of polyvinyl alcohol paste -- the main ingredient in peelable face masks -- and calcium carbonate -- which comprises eggshells. The layer reduces printing surface roughness and allows for an ultrathin layer of metal patterns that can bend and fold while maintaining electromechanical capabilities. When the sensor is printed, the researchers use an air blower, such as a hair dryer set on cool, to remove the water that is used as a solvent in the ink.

"The outcome is profound," Cheng said. "We don't need to rely on heat to sinter."

The process is also environmentally friendly, Cheng said. The sensor remains robust in tepid water for a few days, but a hot shower will easily remove it.

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"It could be recycled, since removal doesn't damage the device," Cheng said. "And, importantly, removal doesn't damage the skin, either. That's especially important for people with sensitive skin, like the elderly and babies. The device can be useful without being an extra burden to the person using it or to the environment."

Next, the researchers plan to alter the technology to target specific applications as needed, such as a precise on-body sensor network placed to monitor the particular symptoms associated with COVID-19.

A simple piece of tech developed by Vanderbilt engineers can help significantly reduce risk for back pain. The exosuit, which supports human movement and posture, can reduce fatigue by an average of 29–47 percent in lower back muscles, said the researchers. The functionality of the wearable device presents a promising new development for individuals who work in physically demanding fields and are at risk for back pain, including medical professionals and frontline workers, reports Marissa Shapiro at Vanderbilt Research News.

Back pain is on the rise. Experts say 60 to 80 percent of all adults will have low back pain in their lifetime. While the choice of treatment is complicated by the risk of opioid reliance for pain relief. Unfortunately, few solutions to prevent back pain have offered solid evidence of benefit.

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“Honestly, I am sick and tired of Bruce and Tony Stark being the only ones with performance-boosting super suits. And the idea here is I’m not fighting crime but I am fighting against the odds of developing low back pain,” says Karl Zelik, Ph.D., assistant professor of physical medicine and rehabilitation at Vanderbilt University Medical Center.

“Our goal was to create a device that seamlessly integrates into the wearer’s life so they can wear it comfortably and only engage assistance when they need back relief during bending or lifting,” Zelik said.

The research, led by Zelik and recent Ph.D. graduate and primary author Erik Lamers, used surface electromyography techniques to measure changes in low back muscle fatigue in male and female participants, who were given physical tasks to perform both with and without the exosuit.

The wearable technology developed by Zelik’s team may conjure images of Iron Man’s suit, but it does not rely on motors or batteries. Instead, the low-profile, elastic exosuit applies assistive forces that cooperate with the low back extensor muscles, to relieve strain on the muscles and spine, and to help reduce injury risks.

This study showed that wearing the exosuit made holding a 35-pound weight (the average weight of a 4-year-old child) less tiring on the back than holding a 24-pound weight (the average weight of an 18-month-old baby) without the exosuit, the Vanderbilt report said.

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“These findings show how exosuits could provide valuable back relief to frontline and essential workers who have been taking a physical toll and supporting all of us throughout this pandemic. What we learned has the potential to shape the biomechanical and industrial standards of future wearable technologies,” said Zelik, who holds secondary appointments in biomedical engineering and in physical medicine and rehabilitation.

Scientists at the University of Massachusetts – Amherst have created a sensing eye mask that could unobtrusively capture pulse, eye movement and sleep signals.

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“Being able to track pulse and eye movement in a single wearable device will enable a host of sleep and psycho-social studies, in addition to improving the accuracy and usability of gaming and virtual reality headsets,” the authors wrote. First author S. Zohreh Homayounfar, will present the findings this week at the online Fall Meeting of the American Chemical Society.

According to the researchers, the mask’s ability to track pulse and eye movements may open future studies into sleep and psychology.

Existing technology that’s used to track eye movements relies on electrooculography (EOG). And although it’s very good at measuring the eye’s electrical potential changes, the technique is over 50 years old and it requires the use of adhesive electrodes stuck to the user’s face, which is uncomfortable and intrusive, reports University of Massachusetts Amherst.

Recording health and behavior signals on or near the face is challenging, notes senior author Trisha L. Andrew, materials chemist and Wearable Electronics Lab director. “because most people are really sensitive and reactive to objects placed on their face or head.”

Named ‘Chesma’, the lightweight, tailorable eye mask is fitted with two kinds of fabric electrodes that can simply be sewn onto a variety of pre-made garments and further miniaturized, if desired. This capability allows them to integrate electrodes into a lightweight foam mask for recording electro-oculography and cardiac signals. Their design automatically positions the electrodes on the face with no need for custom fitting, the UMass report said.

The mask contains five silver (Ag) thread-based hydrogel electrodes –dubbed tAgTrodes – needed to translate ion-based biological signals into an electric current, among other goals. The researchers took advantage of a vapor-phase deposition process to create the electrodes, including what they call a first-of-its-kind reusable and washable hydrogel component that distinguishes the tAgTrode from other equivalents.

Here, Andrew says she takes pride in noting that “part of the work that went into carrying out the deposition process was performed by Emerson T. Alexander, an exceptional student from Springfield Technical Community College,” who took part in a paid internship in her lab and funded by the L’Oréal USA For Women in Science program.

The mask also contains one fabric pressure sensor (PressION) positioned over an artery to monitor pulse as a proxy for cardiac function, with the whole linked to two microcontrollers with water-repellant silver threads as connectors. Another author, Ph.D. student Ali Kiaghadi, explains that “the electrode and sensor data need to be communicated once they are acquired. Our design transmits raw data to the cloud for processing and data visualization so that we can reduce the amount of instrumentation that we need to include in the mask itself.”

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The team tested the new eye mask on subjects while they were chewing, talking, and during various head and eye movements. They also used the same device for more than a year and after 15 washings found no degradation in performance. Homayounfar notes that the tAgTrode “overcomes all the drawbacks of commercial wet electrodes such as aesthetic issues, discomfort, and wash-stability, while maintaining high and constant signal-to-noise ratios during repeated, longterm applications.”

The study was published in the journal Matter.

Researchers in Austria have developed the world’s smallest particle detector. The detector is so small that it could bring particle detection to the palms, wrists, and pockets of the general public, thus informing users of real-time localized fine dust and particle content in the air. To create the device, the researchers used established methods in the development of conventional measuring devices alongside cutting-edge fabrication and integration techniques.

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With this 12 x 9 x 3-millimeter innovation, smartphones, smartwatches or fitness wristbands can for the first time measure the quality of the ambient air in real-time and sound the alarm in the event of increased fine dust values, reports Eureka Alert.

The sensor was developed by Paul Maierhofer as part of his dissertation at the Institute of Electrical Measurement and Sensor Systems at Graz University of Technology together with experts from the semiconductor manufacturer ams AG and with researchers from Silicon Austria Labs (SAL). The innovation is the miniaturization itself, as Maierhofer explains: "The sensor is right at the limit of what is physically and technically feasible and involves a lot of tricks to function at this size."

Adapting behavior to ambient air

The immense social benefit of this new innovative particle sensor is obvious. According to a study by the European Environment Agency (EEA), over 400,000 people die prematurely every year in Europe alone as a result of particulate matter pollution. With the help of wearables equipped with the new particle sensor, each and every individual can monitor the ambient air and react immediately in the case of health-endangering fine dust values. "For example, by avoiding particularly polluted routes when jogging or on the daily commute to work," says Alexander Bergmann, head of the Institute of Electrical Measurement and Sensor Systems at TU Graz and doctoral supervisor of Paul Maierhofer.

Improving air quality

Not only in wearables, the sensor can also be integrated in local applications - both in the home and outdoors - and thus provides an unprecedented variety of measured values. Bergmann is convinced that this represents a break from the past in air quality monitoring: "Close-meshed and comprehensive monitoring of air quality has so far failed due to the size, complexity and cost of currently available measuring sensors. Our particle sensor fills a gap here." The data obtained can serve as a basis for further regulatory measures and raise public awareness of the particulate matter problem.

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The series production aimed at by semiconductor manufacturer ams is intended to achieve a price that is significantly lower than the currently available sensors. ams is an international leader in the development and manufacture of high-performance sensor solutions.

Pioneering fitness technology startup Wondercise has launched its home training system to analyze and compare user movements with those of an on-screen trainer in real-time, globally with Apple Watch and Garmin Wearable support.

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Wondercise Motion Matching

With Motion Matching technology, Wondercise brings the personal touch of taught classes to living rooms around the world.  Wondercise offers unlimited access to over 50 classes at an affordable price, with sessions from trainers, including MMA champion Luis ‘Baboon’ Palomino, fitness influencer Adam Frater, and experts across a huge range of disciplines. These include Resistance Band Training, Hip Hop Dance, Kettlebell Crush, Tai Chi, Yoga, and more. Motion Matching enables users to maintain a focus on form, mirror trainers’ movements, and maximize workout results, reports BusinessWire.

A Wonder Core company

Wondercise is built upon years of international insights into health and fitness; with its award-winning parent company, Wonder Core having achieved global acclaim with over ten million products sold.

“With the backdrop of COVID 19, a dramatic reduction in gym attendance, and an increase in time spent at home, it has become critical for everyone to have easy access to an affordable and effective fitness solution during this new normal, said Wondercise CEO Eric Chung. “Wondercise’s Motion Matching technology and support for a wide range of wearables creates an ideal alternative for consumers and the broader fitness, wellbeing and health industries.”

With the global rollout of the Wondercise service released in tandem with Apple Watch support, Wondercise is set to target the 51.4 percent of global smartwatch users who currently own an Apple Watch.

About Wondercise

Established in 2015 by Wonder Core, Wondercise is a smart technology and fitness equipment brand that aims to improve personal sports performance by providing a complete fitness experience for all.

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In just four years, Wonder Core has become a top-300 patent applicant in Taiwan, receiving invitations from the government to participate in national innovation events. Alongside its continued work to develop its Motion Matching technology, research is being carried out in partnership with gyms and hospitals.

New technology from INFICON soon will allow automakers and battery suppliers to reliably test critically important electric-vehicle battery cells for the first time.

Faulty battery cells can dramatically shorten battery life, increase warranty costs, affect customer satisfaction and damage product reputation, as well as create safety-and-drivability problems.

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Billions of lithium-ion battery cells are produced annually for use in electric, hybrid-electric and autonomous vehicles, as well as for medical devices and a variety of consumer electronics products. Depending on cell type, five percent or more of those cells may have undetected leaks.

INFICON's breakthrough leak-detection systems can reliably and accurately test all types of lithium-ion battery cells for the first time – the single most important leak-detection development in the past 10 years. Developed at the company's research facilities in Cologne, Germany, they also incorporate sensor technology from INFICON's North American headquarters in Syracuse, New York.

Based on mass-spectrometer technology, the company's new leak detectors are able to identify dangerous leaks 1,000 times smaller than currently possible, says a press release.

Dr. Daniel Wetzig, INFICON's research and development director for leak detection based in Cologne, notes that only a fraction of new battery-cell leaks can be detected through traditional methods. He adds that the company's new ELT3000 technology also could pave the way for the industry's first reliable quality-control standards for EV battery cells.

“The rapid detection of even the smallest battery-cell leaks is absolutely essential to achieving extended service life and meeting necessary safety requirements," Wetzig says. "The use of industry-first spectrometer technology, for example, can help assure an extended EV battery life of up to 10 years or more."

Wetzig points out that INFICON's new systems also can be used to test billions of battery cells annually produced for use in smartphones, computers, and other consumer electronics products.

Three types of battery cells today are used to power most hybrid-electric, electric, and autonomous vehicles:

hard-cased prismatic, cylindrical cells and softer pouch cells. INFICON equipment for testing prismatic and cylindrical cells is scheduled for introduction in October, followed by testing devices for pouch cells in late 2020 or early 2021.

Empty hard-case battery cells currently are checked by filling the cells with helium test gas to detect leaks while in a vacuum chamber. Electrolytes are not inserted into the cells until after they have been "dry tested."

Helium bombing is an alternative approach, but generally not suited for liquid-filled components. If used, however, electrolyte-filled battery cells are placed in a vacuum chamber and exposed to helium under pressure. Helium enters through existing leaks and then can be measured as it escapes back into the vacuum chamber.

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Neither test method provides the reliably consistent results needed to establish industry-wide standards for battery-cell leak detection.

INFICON's new process will, for the first time, allow automakers and battery suppliers to accurately test battery cells already filled with electrolyte. The cells are placed into a vacuum chamber connected to an INFICON ELT3000 leak-detection unit with a mass spectrometer for testing.

Google has joined 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.

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The heart of Jacquard is the Jacquard Tag, a tiny computer that makes everyday things more helpful. The tag needs to be charged via a mini-USB port. It relays notifications through its built-in LED and a small vibration motor. On the Konnect-I backpack, the tag is fitted onto the left strap, and wearers can customize which of their gestures should unlock specific actions on their phones.

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, reports ZENet.

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.

Since its introduction in 2017, Jacquard smart fiber technology has made its way into a wide-ranging list of products. It was first used on the sleeve of a jacket so that it could recognize the gestures of the person wearing it. The same technology was later used on Cit-E backpack with Saint Laurent. Then Google collaborated with Adidas and EA on their GMR shoe insert, enabling its wearers to combine real-life play with the EA SPORTS FIFA mobile game.

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The Konnect-I backpack comes in two styles: Slim ($199) and Standard ($219). The slim version has a vertical zipper and the standard version a horizontal one.

Masimo announced the launch of its Radius Tº™ Continuous Thermometer for consumers. Unlike spot-check, episodic thermometers, the wearable, wireless Radius Tº measures body temperature continuously and transmits data and customizable temperature notifications to the user’s smartphone, thus helping to monitor temperature during sleep, reports BusinessWire. The thermometer can be used by anyone from children to elderly adults.

Joe Kiani, Founder and CEO of Masimo, said, “We’re excited to expand our growing line of consumer solutions, which includes MightySat and Masimo Sleep, with the Radius Tº Continuous Thermometer. For years, clinicians have trusted Masimo technology to monitor patients in the hospital. With Radius Tº and our other consumer solutions, we’re bringing our expertise and experience in accurately and reliably measuring physiological data from the hospital to the home.”

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Radius Tº eliminates manual measurements while providing continuous insight into changes in the user’s temperature. In addition, Radius Tº uses proprietary algorithms to provide body temperature measurements for users five years or older that approximate oral temperature, not just external skin temperature. Radius Tº provides temperature measurements with laboratory accuracy within ±0.1ºC, whereas other oral thermometry solutions typically have laboratory accuracy within ±0.2ºC.

Earlier this year, Masimo launched Radius Tº as part of the Masimo SafetyNet™ remote patient management solution, for use both in hospitals and by patients at home. Dr. Neal Fleming, M.D., Ph.D., Vice-Chair for Education in the Department of Anesthesiology and Pain Medicine at UC Davis Health, commenting on his experience using Radius Tº, said, “Radius Tº is noninvasive and convenient for patients. I do not have to interrupt their daily activities or their sleep and it provides me continuous trend data that is a powerful guide to patient care. It makes it easier for me to recognize possible changes in their symptoms.”

The disposable Radius Tº sensor is flexible and slim, and can be worn comfortably for up to eight days, and is water-resistant during shower and exercise. Users are free to carry on with their daily activities and sleep, without interruption or hassle – all while Radius Tº continuously collects temperature data. Using built-in Bluetooth®, the sensor easily pairs with the Masimo Radius Tº App on the user’s smartphone.

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Radius Tº isn’t FDA 510(k) cleared yet. The device is marketed under the FDA’s Enforcement Policy for Clinical Electronic Thermometers During COVID-19. Radius Tº is CE marked for use in Europe.

Sam wearable ultrasound by ZetrOZ Systems is a long-duration ultrasound technology that helps athletes avoid surgery while accelerating natural healing. This is extremely valuable in cases of acute and chronic pain, especially those that involve soft tissue damage.

Read more: Wearables In Combination With Digital Technology Offers Huge Opportunities For Non-Invasive Pain Management

The sam technology is utilized by 90% of professional sports medical physicians and is covered by insurance for all professional and collegiate athletes. Each treatment delivers 18,720 joules of energy and can be used to treat injured sites throughout the body including the elbow, Achilles, patella, shoulder and bicep tendons, as well as trapezius, hamstring, and quadriceps muscles.

“sam has disrupted the medical industry in a great way," said Dr. George Lewis, CEO of ZetrOZ Systems. "Our mission is to treat 100 million patients without surgery and drugs. With our technology, we are on our way to becoming the new normal in the pain rehabilitation space for competitive athletes at both the collegiate and professional level.”

sam® ultrasound has been used by multiple D1-level athletic programs, including Texas Christian University's (TCU) football team, says a press release.

"The sam® ultrasound unit has been a valuable piece of equipment that we regularly utilize for our athletes," said Thomas Rice, assistant athletic trainer for TCU Football. "It has been especially helpful in the treatment of chronic tendinopathies. Our athletes like the small size, portability, convenience, and easy application."

The TCU Frogs football team and training staff have used the sam® ultrasound to treat a long-term patellar tendinopathy in the case of one athlete, who felt better after a single week of use. The staff also was able to use the technology to perform phonophoresis.

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"Our players have reported a decrease in pain and soreness in acute and chronic cases," said assistant athletic trainer Dillon E. Smith.

Researchers at Wyss Institute have found that wearable technology is suitable to accurately track motor recovery of individuals with brain injury and thus allow clinicians to choose more effective interventions and to improve outcomes. Paolo Bonato, Ph.D., Director of the Spaulding Motion Analysis Lab is the lead researcher and a senior author on the study, which was a collaborative effort under students and former students connected to the Motion Analysis Lab under faculty mentorship.

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“By providing clinicians precise data will enable them to design more effective interventions to improve the care we deliver,” says Bonato, who is also an Associate Faculty member at Harvard’s Wyss Institute for Biologically Inspired Engineering. “To have so many of our talented young scientists and researchers from our lab collaborate to create this meaningful paper is especially gratifying for all of our faculty who support our ongoing research enterprise.”

Catherine Adans-Dester, P.T., Ph.D., a member of Dr. Bonato’s team served as lead author on the manuscript. “The need to develop patient-specific interventions is apparent when one considers that clinical studies often report satisfactory motor gains only in a portion of participants, which suggests that clinical outcomes could be improved if we had better tools to develop patient-specific interventions. Data collected using wearable sensors provides clinicians with the opportunity to do so with little burden on clinicians and patients,” said Dr. Adans-Dester. The approach proposed in the paper relied on machine learning-based algorithms to derive clinical score estimates from wearable sensor data collected during functional motor tasks. Sensor-based score estimates showed strong agreement with those generated by clinicians, reports Wyss Institute.

The results of the study demonstrated that wearable sensor data can be used to derive accurate estimates of clinical scores utilized in the clinic to capture the severity of motor impairments and the quality of upper-limb movement patterns. In the study, the upper-limb Fugl-Meyer Assessment (FMA) scale was used to generate clinical scores of the severity of motor impairments, and the Functional Ability Scale (FAS) was used to generate clinical scores of the quality of movement.

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Wearable sensor data (i.e., accelerometer data) was collected during the performance of eight functional motor tasks taken from the Wolf-Motor Function Test, thus providing a sample of gross arm movements and fine motor control tasks. Machine learning-based algorithms were developed to derive accurate estimates of the FMA and FAS clinical scores from the sensor data. A total of 37 study participants (16 stroke survivors and 21 traumatic brain injury survivors) participated in the study.

The findings of the study were published in Nature Digital Medicine.

Moodbeam, a Hull-based health tech start-up, which produces wearable mental wellbeing devices, has received £450k (US$583k) in investment. It follows two rounds of investment totaling £450,000 from NPIF-Mercia Equity Finance, which is managed by Mercia Fund Managers and is part of the Northern Powerhouse Investment Fund.

Moodbeam has developed a new model to help businesses and their staff during the Covid-19 pandemic.

“The support from NPIF and Mercia has been incredible. These investments have helped us to continue to innovate and grow throughout our journey, bringing a valuable product to market at a crucial time for us all,” said Christina Colmer McHugh, Founder and Director at Moodbeam. “This pandemic saw employers around the world enter completely unchartered waters and, in many cases, the ability to gauge the emotional wellbeing of team members from physical cues was lost overnight. Our device has been a lifeline for those businesses and individuals and we’re incredibly proud of that.”

Read more: Swedish Startup Flow’s Mental Health App Now Available For NHS Recommendations

The innovative wearable device, called Moodbeam One, was originally designed to allow users to log their mood and monitor their emotional wellbeing – or that of their children, students, patients, or employees. The device then links to an app, giving real-time insights into how someone’s moods change over time and showing them patterns and trends to help them make positive changes.

The company was founded in 2016 by the Gadget Shop founder and Red5 co-founder Jonathan Elvidge, and former journalist Christina Colmer McHugh, who came up with the idea after her daughter began experiencing anxiety in school.

The initial £200,000 investment in 2019 saw Moodbeam bring its device to market following 18 months of prototype testing. The additional £250,000 funding later that year – £50,000 of which was through NPIF and £200,000 from a high net worth angel investor – provided the resources to develop the dashboard and identify the next iteration of the device and prospective markets.

When the latest production version landed in Q3 2019, a fifth of the stock was pre-ordered by both consumers and organizations. New features in 2020 include a real-time dashboard for team leaders and managers to see quantifiable data across teams to help identify issues or concerns as they happen. These features are already being trialed in the construction and banking industry.

During the COVID-19 pandemic, Moodbeam’s new organizational model that has sold in hundreds, rather than single amounts. It has helped businesses stay in real-time contact with their staff members while working remotely, as well as monitoring the health and wellbeing of frontline staff. Consumers have also purchased the device through the Moodbeam website shop and distributor Amazon.

Read more: Sentio Raises $4.5M, Launches Feel to Expand Access to Mental Health Care

In addition to product development, the NPIF investment has allowed the company to double its headcount in 18 months, from two co-founders to four full-time members of staff and multiple contractors.

Popularity of soft robotics is growing rapidly. Now a team of researchers from Yale University have made a breakthrough in this field with a robotic fabric that can be used as adaptive clothing, self-deploying shelters, or lightweight shape-changing machinery.

Read more: Silicone 3D Printing Paving The Way for Soft Robotics And Wearables

The robotic fabric made at the lab of Prof. Rebecca Kramer-Bottiglio includes actuation, sensing, and variable stiffness fibers while retaining all the qualities that make the fabric so useful - flexibility, breathability, small storage footprint, and low weight. The researchers demonstrated their robotic fabric going from a piece of flat, ordinary fabric to a standing, load-bearing structure. They also showed a wearable robotic tourniquet and a small airplane with stowable/deployable fabric wings. The results are published in Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, reports Yale.

The researchers focused on processing functional materials into fiber-form so they could be integrated into fabrics while retaining its advantageous properties. For example, they made variable stiffness fibers out of an epoxy embedded with particles of Field’s metal, an alloy that liquefies at relatively low temperatures. When cool, the particles are solid metal and make the material stiffer; when warm, the particles melt into liquid and make the material softer.

“Our Field’s metal-epoxy composite can become as flexible as latex rubber or as stiff as hard acrylic, over 1,000 times more rigid, just by heating it up or cooling it down,” said Trevor Buckner, a graduate student in Kramer-Bottiglio’s lab and lead author on the paper. “Long fibers of this material can be sewn onto a fabric to give it a supportive skeleton that we can turn on and off.” These on-demand support fibers allow a robotic fabric to be bent or twisted and then locked into shape, or hold loads that would otherwise collapse a typical fabric.

To create sensors that detect internal or environmental changes and allow the fabric to respond appropriately, the researchers developed a conductive ink based on a Pickering emulsion, which lowers the ink viscosity and also enables the use of non-toxic solvents. With this ink, the researchers can paint the sensors directly onto the fabric.

“The conductive composite self-coagulates around the individual fibers and does not notably change the porosity of the fabric,” said Kramer-Bottiglio, the John J. Lee Assistant Professor of Mechanical Engineering & Materials Science. “The sensors are visible, but don’t change the texture or breathability of the fabric, which is important for comfort in wearable applications.”

To make the fabric move, the researchers used shape-memory alloy (SMA) wire, which can return to a programmed shape after being deformed. SMA wire is usually programmed into coils or meshes to generate contracting motion, but this approach was not desirable as it caused the fabric to bunch up unpredictably.

“Instead of using the coil technique, we flattened the wires out into ribbons to give them a geometry much more suited to smooth bending motion, which is perfect for robotic fabrics,” said Buckner.

Read more: ReStore Exosuit, the First Soft Robotic System for Stroke Therapy Gets FDA Clearance

As the project was funded by the Air Force Office of Science Research, the researchers envision applications such deployable and adaptive structures, active compression garments, smart cargo webbing, and reconfigurable RF antennas. “We believe this technology can be leveraged to create self-deploying tents, robotic parachutes, and assistive clothing,” says Kramer-Bottiglio. “Fabrics are a ubiquitous material used in a wide range of products, and the ability to ‘roboticize’ some of these products opens up many possibilities.”

Ultimate Ears, a custom in-ear monitor, speaker, and earphone manufacturer, based in Newark, California, introduced UE FITS, the first-ever true wireless earphones with an instant custom fit. Similar to fingerprints, each person’s individual ear is unique. UE FITS mold to perfectly fit individual ears in less than a minute with its patented Lightform technology. This goes beyond the standard tip sizes of small, medium, and large. From podcasts and playlists on morning commutes to conference calls while working from home or rocking that evening run, these instant, fit-for-only-you earbuds will stay in place for all-day comfort and deliver an exceptional audio experience.

Read more: Samsung Launches First All-In-One PMIC for Wireless Earbuds

“We are redefining wireless earphones with UE FITS,” said Jonah Staw, General Manager and Head of Ultimate Ears Custom Earphones. “For the first time ever, we are bringing instant custom fit to premium earbuds. With the press of a button and in under 60 seconds, consumers can experience exceptional comfort and sound quality from earphones that perfectly fit the unique shape of their ears.”

The UE FITS app connects to the earbuds and triggers the embedded LEDs, which emit a gentle purple glow. Lightform technology uses light to harden the gel-filled tips to the contours of each ear, transforming them into earbuds that perfectly fit the consumer’s ear in under 60 seconds. This personalized fit provides wearable comfort free of pressure, pain or irritation, even after extended use. UE FITS also offers superior passive noise isolation as the fitted tips create a natural seal that blocks ambient noise, reports BusinessWire.

Built on the acoustic expertise that designs performance-level in-ear monitors for professional musicians, UE FITS are engineered with premium single dynamic 10mm drivers that provide a sound signature that is full, warm, and detailed with deep, tight, and punchy bass.

UE FITS delivers up to eight hours of continuous listening on a single charge. Through additional charges from the compact case, UE FITS offers over 20 hours of playback. You can play/pause music and answer calls directly from the earbuds. You can also customize the earbud control buttons using the UE FITS app; to activate voice assistant, skip tracks or control volume. With strategically-positioned dual microphones, the earphones are designed to reduce wind noise and enhance call clarity in any situation.

Read more: Aipower Wearbuds: Truly Wireless Earbuds Housed in a Fitness Band

Pricing and Availability

UE FITS are available for preorder now at an introductory price of $249.00 from the Ultimate Ears website. UE FITS are available in the U.S. only and will ship this fall. The lightweight earbuds are available in three colors: Cloud (Grey), Dawn (Lilac), and Eclipse (Navy).

The 2020 London Marathon is set for 4 October, having been postponed from the traditional April scheduling due to the COVID-19 outbreak. The organizers of the event announced that they will use distance-measuring ‘Bump’ devices to keep roughly 100 athletes safe as they participate in the men’s, women’s and wheelchair races. The 500 members of the staff will also wear Bump, which can monitor the frequency and length of time that runners and staff stay within a set distance of each other as well.

Read more: Safe Spacer Wearable Helps Workers And Others Maintain Social Distance Amid COVID-19 Outbreak

Developed by a British company called Tharsus, Bump has already been deployed in Ocado, BT and other businesses.

According to the Bump website, the device can be worn around the neck like a lanyard, or clipped onto a piece clothing. It lights up and makes a sound when the user gets too close to someone else.

The London Marathon usually takes over the city, but this year the race will be confined to a course that loops around St James’s Park 19.6 times. There won’t be any spectators, but fans can still keep up via the BBC’s live coverage, according to Report Door.

The London Marathon is the first “Major” — a running event classification that includes New York City, Chicago and Berlin, among others — since the Tokyo Marathon on March 1st. London had hoped to hold a mass participation event using the Bump wearables. But the spread of the virus, coupled with the ever-changing restrictions in the UK, have forced the organizers to adopt a similar ‘virtual’ event for amateurs.

More than 45,000 people have signed up to run the first virtual London Marathon this year.

“The response has been amazing and the spirit of the London Marathon will shine brightly across the globe on Sunday 4 October,” Hugh Brasher, event director for the Virgin Money London Marathon, said in a statement.

Read more: Estimote Introduces Wearables To Monitor Workplace Contact Between Employees to Curb COVID-19 Outbreak

“We believe it is the biggest virtual marathon ever staged. It is also the most inclusive race in our history with runners having 23 hours, 59 minutes and 59 seconds to complete the 42km.

“We hope that millions will be raised for charities by our participants and we look forward to sharing their stories.”

The value of North America's wearable band market in Q2 2020 remained flat year-on-year at US$2 billion, despite shipments growing 10% annually, according to technology market analyst firm Canalys. Samsung lost a huge chunk of its market share through the period, as Americans went for cheaper trackers that were priced below US$50.

Read more: Contactless Payment System Will Drive Payment-Enabled Wearables Market to US$7.2 Billion in 2024

Apple Watch Series 5 was North America’s best-selling smartwatch, matching last year’s Series 4 shipments. The average selling price declined 11% to US$235 due to a boom in low-end activity trackers and 30% year-on-year growth for Apple Watch Series 3.

North America was only one of two regions to grow quarter-on-quarter, demonstrating sustained consumer demand for wrist-worn devices. As consumers scrutinized personal budgets, their thrift fueled a remarkable growth among the long-tail of lesser-known brands of activity trackers on e-commerce platforms like Amazon, reports Canalys.

“Americans invested heavily in sub-US$50 trackers during the pandemic to stay accountable for the greater amount of time spent at home,” said Canalys Analyst Vincent Thielke. “Amazon’s Q3 introduction of the Halo tracker was timely, following two back-to-back quarters of strong activity tracker sales. Subscription-based companion apps helped Fitbit and less-familiar players like Whoop better differentiate themselves against the vast array of devices sold online. Turnkey service offerings proved a surprising pandemic winner as social distancing discouraged personal trainers and exercising in close proximity to others.”

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

The surge in basic bands offset the United States’ third consecutive quarter of smartwatch decline, triggered by the clearing-out of channel inventory as Samsung and Fitbit prepared August releases. WearOS brands also greatly reduced sell-in because of store closures, but also as they began transitioning to Qualcomm’s next-generation chip. As all major vendors set their sights on 2021, medical-oriented devices will move certain products into an elevated tier, creating stronger differentiation between casual fitness and advanced health tracking.

The growing adoption of wearable technology across the healthcare sector will drive the global wearable cardiac devices market share, according to a new report by Global Market Insights Inc. In the report, the wearable cardiac devices market was valued at more than $1.2bn in 2019 and is likely to expand at a healthy CAGR of 24.2%, reaching $6.4bn by 2026.

Read more: Wearable Medical Devices Market to Surpass $29 Billion by 2026, According to Transparency Market Research

“Recent wearable devices in the form of skin patches are small, light-weight, and non-invasive. The patient does not need to go through painful implantation procedures for continuous recording of cardiac parameters. As a result of non-invasive and user-friendly nature of such wearable technology, the devices are gaining high recognition as well as demand in the recent years and will continue to spur in the future,” reports GlobeNewsWire.

The defibrillators market is projected to proceed at more than 22% CAGR during the forecast years. According to the World Health Organization, about four of the five cardiovascular deaths are due to strokes or heart attacks. Devices including Zoll LifeVest Wearable Defibrillator continuously monitor the heart rhythm of the patient prone to heart attack and delivers a shock in case the patient does not respond after several warnings. Such devices assist patients at high risk of heart attack with timely measures even in absence of a cardiologist, thus providing am immense potential for segment growth.

Home healthcare segment held over 25% revenue share in 2019. High convenience, easy handling, and effective monitoring at home are some of the foremost advantages driving the adoption of wearable cardiac devices in-home healthcare. Furthermore, increasing disposable income and lesser visits to healthcare settings further add up to the benefits, thereby surging customer preference for these devices.

Read more: Hearing Aids Market to Grow Up to $14.45 Billion by 2026, According to Fortune Business Insights

North America's wearable cardiac devices market constituted more than 60% market share in 2019 and expected to grow at a momentous rate in the future. The launch of innovative devices driven by a growing number of new entrants and the changing digital health industry in the U.S. will primarily boost market growth. Moreover, significant awareness levels pertaining to wearable technology will further influence the business expansion in the region.

KINETIC, a NY-based wearable device maker that provides safety wearables for industrial workers, has partnered with JLG Industries, to deploy its Reflex smart wearable at JLG facilities. In alignment with their people-first culture, JLG has deployed the KINETIC Reflex devices on the shop floor to provide team members with instant feedback on high-risk ergonomic postures.

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

JLG Industries will collect information from the Reflex device to significantly reduce the number of high-risk movements across the facility. Additionally, the JLG team is piloting a new feature of the KINETIC Reflex device that alerts team members in real-time when they are within six feet of each other. “Safer at Six” practices are being embraced across all Oshkosh facilities to provide real-time alerts and contact logging capabilities to fight against COVID-19 outbreaks.

The KINETIC Reflex is a discrete smart wearable that is worn on belts or 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, reports GlobeNewsWire.

Additionally, KINETIC features a software analytics platform that enables management to seamlessly conduct contact tracing and produce detailed reports on each interaction. If a worker tests positive for the virus, management can protect their workforce by exporting a list of everyone who could have potentially been exposed, as well as the duration of the contact.

“Safety is an uncompromised value at JLG, and we are excited to partner with the KINETIC team to leverage their technology during these extraordinary times, said Shawn Knox, VP Global Operations for JLG Industries. “Working together to utilize this technology for traceability, while we navigate the challenges of COVID-19, strengthens our commitment to safety and our appreciation for KINETIC in the safety innovation space.”

The KINETIC Reflex has been worn by tens of thousands of workers in hundreds of facilities all around the world in a variety of industries. It has reduced injury rates by 56% while simultaneously increasing team productivity rates by 5%.

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

“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.”