Elon Musk's Neuralink said it has received approval to launch a new feasibility study using its brain implant and an experimental robotic arm.
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Neuralink is conducting its PRIME study, aimed at evaluating the safety of its wireless brain-computer interface and surgical robot. It is assessing the initial effect of the implant in patients with quadriplegia, a form of paralysis, to control external devices with their thoughts.
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"This is an important first step towards restoring not only digital freedom, but also physical freedom. More info to come, but the CONVOY Study will enable cross-enrolling participants from the ongoing PRIME Study," Neuralink said in a post.
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The PRIME study (Precise Robotically Implanted Brain-Computer Interface) involves the placement of a small, cosmetically invisible implant in the area of a person's brain that plans movements. The N1 implant is designed to interpret one's neural activity to assist them in operating a computer or smartphone by simply intending to move, reports MobiHealthNews.
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The company is still looking for people to contribute to the ongoing medical device clinical trial, which aims to enable people with quadriplegia to utilize digital gadgets with their thoughts.
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In February, 29-year-old quadriplegic Noland Arbaugh received the first implant of Neurolink's BCI device, which allowed him to play video games and chess hands-free.

Related Neuralink's "Blindsight" Gets FDA Nod to Restore Vision
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Health Canada, the company's regulator, gave the company permission last week to begin a device trial in Canada. The firm and Canadian neurosurgeons have received regulatory approval to enlist six paralyzed individuals in the research.
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Neuralink has already implanted the device in two people in the United States. The first patient has been able to use it to move a cursor on his laptop, play video games, access the internet, and post on social media.
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The company said the second trial patient has been using the device to play video games and learn how to construct 3D items, and it is functioning effectively.

Movano Health, a pioneer in health technology, today announced U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) 510(k) clearance for the pulse oximeter in its EvieMED Ring. The clearance enables Movano Health to pursue multi-billion-dollar business opportunities for health monitoring solutions needed for applications such as clinical trials, post-clinical trial management, and remote patient monitoring for both healthcare providers and payors.
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"We launched the Evie Ring in the consumer wearable market, but our broader goal has always been to provide a clinical-grade device for B2B channels," said John Mastrototaro, President and CEO of Movano Health. "This FDA 510(k) clearance marks a major milestone for the Company and expands our reach to pharmaceutical companies, medical device manufacturers and payors looking for a more accurate, consistent and comfortable health monitoring solution that would help improve compliance by fitting easily into patient lifestyles."
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In anticipation of an expected 510(k) clearance, Movano Health has been collaborating with a number of potential partners operating across the entire healthcare industry spectrum and expects its partner pipeline to expand further following the news of a clearance. The Company is currently in the agreement phase with a large payor for a pilot study with the EvieMED Ring planned for early 2025 related to the health management of high-risk populations and is also in discussions with a global pharmaceutical company and leading clinical research organization (CRO) to use the EvieMED Ring in upcoming clinical trials. In addition, the EvieMED Ring was recently selected for a groundbreaking MIT study on long COVID and chronic Lyme disease, the company said in a press release.
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"This milestone marks the beginning of our plans to accelerate distribution of EvieMED. With the significant foundational work in achieving our first clearance now behind us, we are eager to continue to collaborate with the FDA on securing additional clearances including respiration rate and other critical analytes and diagnoses," continued Mastrototaro. "We also remain excited about the opportunities to leverage our proprietary radio frequency (RF) technology to address cuffless blood pressure and noninvasive glucose monitoring."
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Related FDA Clearance for a New Smart Ring
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Pulse oximeters measure blood oxygen (SpO2) levels and heart rate, but conventional solutions have significant shortcomings and can be uncomfortable, discouraging compliance that is needed to ensure reliable information for evaluating a patient's health. The EvieMED Ring eliminates those limitations by combining the accuracy of a medical device with the comfort of a wearable that can be worn continuously, thanks in part to an award-winning design with a small gap in the ring surface and slight flex that accommodates finger swelling. A pivotal study also found that the EvieMED Ring produces accurate readings among users with darker skin tones as measured by the Fitzpatrick scale of skin color classification.
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In addition, the EvieMED Ring collects wellness metrics including sleep, activity, temperature variability, calories burned and respiration rate that can give both patients and healthcare providers a broader picture of the user's overall wellness.
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The EvieMED Ring will be available in eight sizes ranging from 5 to 12 to accommodate the widest selection of patients.
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About Movano Health
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Founded in 2018, Movano Health is developing a suite of purpose-driven healthcare solutions to bring medical-grade data to the forefront of wearables. Featuring modern and flexible form factors, Movano Health's devices offer an innovative approach to delivering trusted data to both customers and enterprises, capturing a comprehensive picture of an individual's health data and uniquely translating it into personalized and intelligent insights.

Imagine wearing a sunglass and being able to adjust the tint level according to one’s own liking, adjusting for the right tint that brings perfect visibility in any lighting condition. Lombell’s Adjustable-Tint Sunglasses allows you to do exactly that. Their innovative design and functionality have made these sunglasses quite popular.
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Combining both, advanced technology and stylish aesthetics, these sunglasses are equipped with built-in Neutral Density (ND) filters, that will enable the users to adjust the tint level across nine different settings, simply by twisting the lens frame. This was inspired by professional photography equipment, reports New Atlas.
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Key Features

• These sunglasses provide nine levels of tint. It allows users to seamlessly transition between different tint levels through a one-hand rotary adjustment system.
• They feature premium Polaroid lenses with UV400 protection, ensuring clear vision while also blocking harmful UV rays. This reduces eye strain and make them suitable for prolonged use.
• Made from titanium alloy, the frame is both lightweight and robust. It ensures all day comfort without compromising durability.
• Being very stylish & versatile, they complement a variety of outfits. Some even describe them as the “Swiss Army Knife of shades” for their adaptability & unique looks.

Related World’s First Emotion-Sensing Smart Glasses
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Lombell’s sunglasses were made to fulfill a variety of needs. From outdoor enthusiasts & travelers, to everyday users, all have praised these glasses. It’s ability to reduce eye strain & enhance comfort during activities like driving or hiking made it a favorite among all. However, some users said that minor design improvements could enhance their usability, like better nose grip or ear hooks.
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Currently, Lombell’s Adjustable-Tint Sunglasses are available on sale for $89.99, down from their regular price of $129.99. It includes free express shipping and a 30-day return policy. It also provides a one-year warranty for peace of mind of the buyers. These make Lombell’s sunglasses a competitive choice in the premium eyewear market.
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Lombell’s Adjustable-Tint Sunglasses are a major leap forward in eyewear innovation. It blends practicality, protection, & fashion, all into one single accessory. These sunglasses ensure that you see the world in perfect light.

Clim8 is a company pioneering a new approach to heated apparel with its innovative Clim8® technology. This smart heating system goes beyond simple on/off functionality, offering a personalized and efficient heating experience controlled via a dedicated app.

Clim8® technology utilizes multiple sensors embedded within the garment itself. These sensors continuously monitor the wearer's profile (likely including factors like age, gender, and typical activity levels), current activity (e.g., sitting, walking, skiing), and ambient temperature. This real-time data is then processed by a sophisticated algorithm that dynamically adjusts the heating output to maintain optimal comfort.

Key features and benefits of Clim8® technology include:

• ‍Smart Heating: The system intelligently regulates heat in real-time, adapting to changes in the wearer's environment and activity level. This ensures consistent comfort without manual adjustments.‍
• Automatic Power On/Off: Clim8® automatically activates and deactivates the heating elements based on usage, preventing unnecessary battery drain and maximizing efficiency.‍
• Smart Battery Usage: The technology is designed for optimal energy consumption, extending battery life and allowing for longer periods of use.‍
• Lab and Field Tested: Clim8® products undergo rigorous testing in both laboratory and real-world field trials to ensure thermal performance, durability, and reliability. This commitment to testing underscores the company's focus on delivering a high-quality product.‍
• App Control and Personalization: The Clim8® app is central to the user experience. It allows users to control temperature settings, personalize their heating preferences, and provide feedback to the company. This feedback loop contributes to the system's ongoing learning and improvement, further refining the personalized heating experience.

Clim8® aims to provide a truly tailored heating experience, moving away from traditional, static heating solutions. By combining sensor technology, intelligent algorithms, and user-friendly app control, Clim8 SAS is positioning itself as a leader in the next generation of heated apparel.

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About Clim8

Clim8 was founded in 2016 by three entrepreneurs who shared a vision of creating the best thermo-regulating clothing. In addition to winning multiple awards, Clim8 has collaborated with leading brands to bring its products to market and continues to develop new product lines and expand its global reach.

South Korean researchers have developed an AI-based tool that can predict episodes of mood disorder in patients using only sleep-wake data recorded by wearable devices such as smartwatches. People suffering from mood disorders, including bipolar disorder, experience long periods of sadness, depression, joy or mania. Mood disorders are closely linked with sleep-wake rhythms with disturbances potentially triggering a mood episode.
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The team comprised researchers from the Institute for Basic Sciences (IBS), Korea Advanced Institute of Science and Technology (KAIST), and Korea University College of Medicine.
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First, 168 Korean patients with mood disorders, including major depression and bipolar disorder, had their Fitbit sleep-wake data gathered and analyzed for 429 days. It is said that irregular sleep and circadian rhythms are intimately linked to mood problems, reports MobiHealthNews.
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In order to train models based on the machine learning package XGBoost to predict mood episodes, scientists took 36 sleep and circadian rhythm parameters out of this dataset.
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According to the results, the predictive models were able to predict depressive, manic, and hypomanic episodes with 80%, 98%, and 95% accuracy, respectively.
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Related Researchers Deploy Machine Learning to Improve Mental Health
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Findings also suggested that daily changes in circadian rhythm may be a key predictor of mood episodes; delayed circadian rhythms can potentially lead to depressive episodes while advanced circadian rhythms can raise the possibility of manic episodes.

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Although AI models for forecasting the emotional states of individuals with mood disorders already exist, they usually require a variety of data, such as GPS, sleep, heart rate, light exposure, and phone usage, all of which can be expensive to gather. The research team emphasized that it might also provide storage issues as well as security and privacy problems.
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"By developing a model that predicts mood episodes based solely on sleep-wake pattern data, we have reduced the cost of data collection and significantly improved clinical applicability," claimed Kim Jae Kyoung, KAIST associate professor and IBS chief investigator.
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The research team also highlights the possibility of using digital treatments in conjunction with mood state prediction to assess the daily risk of relapsing mood episodes and encourage healthy circadian rhythms and sleep-wake cycles by sending out reminders.
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The study was published in Nature's npj Digital Medicine journal.

Epicore Biosystems, a digital health solutions company developing advanced sweat-sensing wearables, announced that it has inked a 3-year master services agreement (MSA) with Chevron Technical Center, a division of Chevron U.S.A. Inc. to equip Chevron's industrial frontline workers with its Connected Hydration solution. The first deployments are expected to begin in the US in the summer of 2024.
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This milestone MSA marks a pivotal moment for Epicore on the heels of several field deployments with Chevron and other enterprises. The Chevron health and safety teams have deployed Epicore's Connected Hydration solution across multiple work sites and conditions over the past two years, leading to its commercial launch in April 2024. Chevron Technology Ventures also invested in Epicore to support the development and commercialization of Connected Hydration, the company said in a press release.
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Connected Hydration is a sweat-sensing wearable biosensor and cloud analytics solution that measures sweat loss, sodium loss, skin temperature, and movement to provide actionable rehydration strategies in real time to industrial workers ahead of adverse dehydration events. The technology enables workers to quantify hydration biomarkers and create actionable routes to rehydration and recovery for industrial workers. Epicore's Connected Hydration solution is a proven sweat-sensing technology that provides individualized rehydration strategies and real-time haptic vibration alarms felt by the workers to proactively inform them to stay safe and hydrate.
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Related How Augmented Reality Is Helping Workers In The Cement Industry
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"We have spent years developing, validating and deploying Connected Hydration. A master service agreement with a large enterprise like Chevron is a testament to how Epicore Biosystems is bridging the global gap in worker safety when it comes to proper hydration and heat stress solutions," said Dr. Roozbeh Ghaffari, CEO and co-founder of Epicore Biosystems. "We are honored to work with Chevron as one of our first customers and to deploy Connected Hydration, enabling tailored and preventative hydration practices for their frontline workers. The reality is that a conventional, one-size-fits-all approach to heat index tracking falls short in meeting workers' hydration and recovery needs."
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Chevron compiled datasets from over a thousand sweat sessions in total across multiple work sites in the U.S. to explore how behavioral changes take shape when workers utilize Connected Hydration compared to conventional approaches. Health and safety experts along with industrial hygienists observed that Connected Hydration informed and improved hydration habits significantly by increasing worker fluid and electrolyte intake over a one-month time window, via real-time awareness of fluid and electrolyte losses. This sustained change in behavior in response to rehydration feedback was rapid and took place within a few weeks of Connected Hydration use.
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"The entrepreneurial ecosystem's speed, together with the know-how of incumbents - that's a very powerful combination," said Jim Gable, VP of Innovation and President of Technology Ventures for Chevron. "In this case, Chevron and Epicore were able to leverage thousands of work session datasets across multiple sites to enhance the impact of the Connected Hydration technology to keep our employees safe."
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Since its launch in 2017, Epicore has lined up several global collaborators and customers. These enterprises include Chevron, PepsiCo, Denka, Gatorade, Fluor, Nitto, the U.S. Air Force, Office of Naval Research, Army and more.
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About Epicore Biosystems
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Founded in 2017, Epicore Biosystems is a digital health company developing advanced sweat-sensing wearables that provide real-time personalized health insights for hydration, stress and wellness. Their clinically validated biowearable products and cloud analytics are deployed globally and licensed by leading Fortune 500 companies, the Department of Defense and the National Institute of Health.

In a market increasingly saturated with wearables, Noise's Luna Ring stands out with its slim, minimalist design and an intriguing blend of fitness tracking features. While smart rings have been around for a few years, Noise’s entry into this space is particularly notable for its development right in India.

Let’s dive into what makes the Luna Ring an interesting choice for those looking to upgrade their tech accessories without sacrificing style or comfort.

A tailored approach to sizing and fit

Unlike most fitness bands and smartwatches, the Luna Ring requires a precise fit, as resizing is not a DIY task. To make this process easier, Noise offers a sizing kit to help users select the perfect ring size. Though Noise suggests wearing the ring on the index finger, users frequently switch it between index and middle finger, depending on comfort.

A design to admire‍

Measuring just 2.8 mm in thickness, the Luna Ring’s slim design gives it a sleek, unobtrusive appearance that’s both functional and stylish. Available in Stardust Silver, Lunar Black, and Midnight Black, it caters to a variety of tastes while maintaining a high-end, understated aesthetic. Beneath its elegant exterior lies a range of sensors integrated into a flexible circuit board, all housed in a waterproof casing. While the idea of a smart ring isn’t entirely new, the Luna Ring brings a refreshing, locally designed alternative to the table.

Seamless setup and interface

Getting started with the Luna Ring is simple. Upon placing it on its charging dock, the ring quickly pairs with the companion app on your smartphone. The setup process is straightforward, with the app requesting basic details such as your weight, height, and gender to personalize your health metrics. Once paired, the app offers an easy-to-navigate interface, with key information like activity levels, sleep scores, and readiness all clearly displayed.

Health and fitness tracking is smart yet subtle

The Luna Ring's key selling point is its ability to monitor your health without being intrusive. As someone who typically avoids wearing a fitness tracker to bed, the Luna Ring’s sleep tracking feature was a revelation. It effortlessly detects sleep patterns, breaking down nightly rest into various stages, including deep sleep, REM, and light sleep. It also gives insights into sleep efficiency and latency, which allows users to understand how restful their sleep truly was.In addition to sleep, the ring tracks your daily activity and provides a Readiness Score to gauge how prepared you are for the day. This score takes into account both your activity levels and sleep quality over the past few days, offering an at-a-glance measure of your overall readiness.

Tracking activity step counts and more‍

While the Luna Ring automatically tracks steps and heart rate, it doesn't automatically detect specific activities like running or cycling. For these, users have to manually enter workout details into the app, such as the duration, intensity, and type of activity.

When it comes to battery life, the ring is longevity on your finger‍

The Luna Ring even after three full days of use, still has about 14% of its charge left. The charging dock is simple to use, though it doesn’t come with a power adapter—any standard USB adapter will work. The ring takes roughly an hour to charge completely, making it a low-maintenance device in terms of power.

Noise’s debut in the smart ring market with the Luna Ring is an impressive one. Its minimalistic design and intuitive tracking features make it an appealing option for those looking for a smart wearable that doesn’t compromise on style or comfort. Whether it’s accurate sleep tracking, the convenience of a readiness score, or the solid battery life, the Luna Ring proves itself to be a functional, stylish choice for health-conscious individuals.

Investigators from Brigham and Women's Hospital, a founding member of the Mass General Brigham healthcare system, evaluated whether data collected from a fitness tracker could be used to accurately detect mood episodes in people with bipolar disorder.
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They used fitness tracker Fitbit data to train a machine learning algorithm to accurately predict mood episodes associated with bipolar disorder.
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Their findings, published in Acta Psychiatrica Scandinavica, indicate that it is possible to detect time intervals when patients with bipolar disorder are experiencing depression or mania with high accuracy using data from fitness tracking devices, reports ScienceDaily.
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"Most people are walking around with personal digital devices like smartphones and smartwatches that capture day-to-day data that could inform psychiatric treatment. Our goal was to use that data to identify when study participants diagnosed with bipolar disorder were experiencing mood episodes," said corresponding author Jessica Lipschitz, PhD, an investigator in the Brigham's Department of Psychiatry.
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Related Fitbit Gets US FDA Approval For Detecting AFib
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"In the future, our hope is that machine learning algorithms like ours could help patients' treatment teams respond fast to new or unremitting episodes in order to limit negative impact."
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Bipolar disorder (BD) is a chronic psychiatric disorder characterized by extreme mood swings, including depression, mania, and hypomania followed by periods of remission.
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Identification and treatment of new and unremitting mood episodes is essential for limiting the impact of BD on patients' lives.
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While previous research has indicated that personal digital devices can accurately detect mood episodes, previous studies have not used methods designed for broad application in clinical settings.
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As an implementation scientist, Lipschitz, together with colleagues, focused on using methods that could be broadly implemented in clinical practice.
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Specifically, they used commercially available personal digital devices, limited data filtering, and entirely passively collected and noninvasive data.
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Applying a new type of machine learning algorithm, they were able to detect clinically significant symptoms of depression with 80.1% accuracy and clinically significant symptoms of mania with 89.1% accuracy.
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The researchers note that, "overall, results move the field a step toward personalized algorithms suitable for the full population of patients, rather than only those with high compliance, access to specialized devices, or willingness to share invasive data." Their next step is to apply these predictive algorithms in routine care where they could be used to improve BD treatment by informing clinicians when their patients are experiencing depressive or manic episodes between scheduled appointments. The researchers have also been working on extending this work to major depressive disorder.

Northwestern University researchers have developed a new thin, wireless system that adds a sense of touch to any virtual reality (VR) experience. Not only does this platform potentially add new dimensions to our long-distance relationships and entertainment, the technology also provides prosthetics with sensory feedback and imparts telemedicine with a human touch.
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Referred to as an “epidermal VR” system, the device communicates touch through a fast, programmable array of miniature vibrating actuators embedded into a thin, soft, flexible material. The 15-centimeter-by-15-centimeter sheet-like prototypes comfortably laminate onto the curved surfaces of the skin without bulky batteries and cumbersome wires, reports Amanda Morris in Northwestern University.
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“People have contemplated this overall concept in the past, but without a clear basis for a realistic technology with the right set of characteristics or the proper form of scalability. Past designs involve manual assemblies of actuators, wires, batteries and combined internal and external control hardware,” said Northwestern’s John A. Rogers, a bioelectronics pioneer. “We leveraged our knowledge in stretchable electronics and wireless power transfer to put together a superior collection of components, including miniaturized actuators, in an advanced architecture designed as a skin-interfaced wearable device — with almost no encumbrances on the user. We feel that it’s a good starting point that will scale naturally to full-body systems and hundreds or thousands of discrete, programmable actuators.”
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Related Performance Challenges in Skin-Interfaced Electronics
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“We are expanding the boundaries and capabilities of virtual and augmented reality,” said Northwestern’s Yonggang Huang, who co-led the research with Rogers. “By comparison to the eyes and the ears, the skin is a relatively underexplored sensory interface that could significantly enhance experiences.”
The research will be published on Nov. 21 in the journal Nature.
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How it works
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The patch wirelessly connects to a touchscreen interface (on a smartphone or tablet). When a user touches the touchscreen, that pattern of touch transmits to the patch. If the user draws an “X” pattern on the touchscreen, for example, the devices produce a sensory pattern, simultaneously and in real-time, in the shape of an “X” through the vibratory interface to the skin.
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When video chatting from different locations, friends and family members can reach out and virtually touch each other — with negligible time delay and with pressures and patterns that can be controlled through the touchscreen interface.
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“You could imagine that sensing virtual touch while on a video call with your family may become ubiquitous in the foreseeable future,” Huang said.
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The actuators are embedded into an intrinsically soft and slightly tacky silicone polymer that adheres to the skin without tape or straps. Wireless and battery-free, the device communicates through near-field communication (NFC) protocols, the same technology used in smart phones for electronic payments.
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“With this wireless power delivery scheme, we completely avoid the need for batteries, with their weight, size, bulk and limited operating lifetimes,” Rogers said. “The result is a thin, lightweight system that can be worn and used without constraint, indefinitely.”
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‘A starting point’
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Rogers views the current device as a starting point. “This is our first attempt at a system of this type,” he said. “It could be very powerful for social interactions, clinical medicine and applications that we cannot conceive of today, beyond the obvious opportunities in gaming and entertainment.”
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He and Huang are already working to make the current device slimmer and lighter. They also plan to exploit different types of actuators, including those that can produce heating and stretching sensations. With thermal inputs, for example, a person might be able to sense how hot a cup of coffee is through prosthetic fingertips.
The Northwestern team believes the overall engineering framework can accommodate hundreds of actuators with dimensions significantly smaller than those used currently, which have diameters of 18 millimeters and thicknesses of 2.5 millimeters.
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Eventually, the devices could be thin and flexible enough to be woven into clothes. People with prosthetics could wear VR shirts that communicate touch through their fingertips. And along with VR headsets, gamers could wear full VR suits to become fully immersed into fantastical landscapes.
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“Virtual reality is a very important emerging area of technology,” Rogers said. “Currently, we’re just using our eyes and our ears as the basis for those experiences. The community has been comparatively slow to exploit the body’s largest organ: the skin. Our sense of touch provides the most profound, deepest, emotional connection between people.”

Singapore's Health Promotion Board has partnered with several technology companies to pilot program that aim to promote self-health management by delivering data-driven, personalized recommendations for preventing and managing chronic diseases.
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Despite having one of the longest life expectancies in the world, Singapore faces a unique combination of difficulties. The healthcare system and public health are seriously threatened by the rising incidence of chronic illnesses. About 1 in 9 Singaporeans who are 18 years of age or older have diabetes, and the percentage is predicted to increase, according to the Ministry of Health. Furthermore, the nation's biggest cause of mortality is cardiovascular disease.
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Pre-diabetic people or those with a high body mass index will be the focus of Abbott's DigiCoach initiative in collaboration with Health2Sync, a Taiwanese company that develops a digital diabetes platform, reports Healthcare IT News.
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In order to give customers near real-time information and help them understand how their blood glucose levels impact their diet and physical activity, it incorporates Abbott's FreeStyle Libre continuous glucose monitor, which will be coupled with Health2Sync's mobile app. Furthermore, the program's digital coaching component will help pilot participants modify their lifestyles to better control their blood sugar.
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HealthTrack SG, another initiative with Google, will help users manage hyperlipidemia, diabetes mellitus, or hypertension.
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Related Singapore Wearables Startup Raises $5 Million
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The program will use Fitbit fitness trackers to gather clinical data, such as blood pressure, cholesterol, and blood sugar levels, as well as lifestyle data, such as step count, physical activity level, and sleep quality, in collaboration with Fullerton Health and digital health tech company ConnectedLife. Google and ConnectedLife will combine these data into an online dashboard for physicians and incorporate it into a companion mobile application.
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Additionally, the mobile app will offer advice and prods to help users make lifestyle changes that have been approved by Fullerton Health physicians.
In order to assist Singaporeans take greater control of their health, the HPB, which oversees the country's national health promotion and disease prevention initiatives, has looked to industry partnerships to test out innovative ideas.
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Up to 6,000 Singaporeans are anticipated to participate in the agency's most recent pilot programs, according to a statement. Sign-up for the 10-month DigiCoach by Abbott and Health2Sync program started in July, and the Google-ConnectedLife project, which will last for a year, will begin in the first half of 2025.
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These programs are also expected to provide HPB data-driven insights into the health concerns and lifestyle risks of Singaporean people. "All data collected will be protected and stored according to Singapore’s data privacy and security laws," it assured.
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Additionally, HPB is exploring the potential to scale the programs to more Singaporeans once proven effective and feasible.

XREAL unveiled a step change for its newest augmented reality (AR) glasses, XREAL One Series, that the company believes is the biggest leap forward for the consumer AR industry and advances its mission to bring AR to everyone. Using XREAL's brand new, in-house designed X1 independent spatial computing co-processor, XREAL One Series creates a spatial display from nearly any device and for anything the wearer sees, leaping beyond the limits of today's AR and VR devices by introducing a fully customizable cinematic virtual screen that is for the first time spatially controlled by the glasses themselves. XREAL One Series connects to nearly any compute device with video over USB-C, unlocking a spatial display for unlimited apps, games, web sites, productivity tools, communications platforms, and more, while also enabling AR holographic experiences from developers who build with XREAL's SDK.
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XREAL One Series consists of XREAL One and XREAL One Pro, and are the first cinematic AR glasses, wearable displays, or smart glasses to deliver native next generation three degrees-of-freedom (3DoF) spatial computing using an integrated spatial co-processing chip built directly into the glasses, XReal said in a press release.
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"The XREAL One Series represents the most advanced consumer AR glasses on the market today," said Chi Xu, CEO and Co-founder of XREAL. "I'm thrilled for everyone to experience the XREAL One Series and see the X1 chip in action. It's a true game-changer."
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Spatial Computing Anywhere with X1
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Any XREAL One Series wearer, no matter if they connect their XREAL One Series glasses to an iPhone, Android device, Steam Deck, Windows PC, MacBook, or just about any device with video-out over USB-C, can experience the most stable virtual screen and anchor it anywhere they choose in three-dimensional space with the simple press of a button on the glasses. These are AR glasses benefits previously held back by limited hardware and software configurations.
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Related XREAL Launches Air 2 Series AR Glasses
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The on-glasses customization options include: screen size, screen distance, stabilizer, side view, brightness enhancement, display optimization, color temperature, 2D/3D switching, IPD adjustment, volume and sound settings, button mapping settings, sensor calibration, language settings, tutorial and factory reset. The XREAL One Series also features Ultra-Wide Mode viewing with a 32:9 aspect ratio, perfect for productivity and some gaming experiences.
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Bigger Displays, Expanded IPDs, Eye Comfort, and Thinner Frames
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XREAL One Pro achieves a big industry first by creating the first flat-prism lens design, a change from the traditional triangular birdbath design, and reaching an industry-leading 57-degree FOV. This is an 11mm thin plane that's 40.9% thinner than traditional birdbath optics and increases the FOV by 23.9% compared to the XREAL Air 2 Series and which produces a 63.6% larger display area than the XREAL Air 2 series.
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The glasses' temples include a 4-microphone layout with exclusive near-field and far-field algorithms that capture clear recordings of both near and distant voices. This can enable audio recording for meeting summaries, transcriptions and translations, or empower other recording scenarios.
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Advanced Audio Options with Sound by Bose
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XREAL One and XREAL One Pro incorporate customized Sound by Bose, delivering audio that is meticulously fine-tuned for XREAL One Series and providing significantly enhanced listening experiences when compared to similar head worn or mobile devices.
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XREAL Eye Camera
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The XREAL One Series supports an optional and modular RGB camera called XREAL Eye, a first-of-its-kind detachable accessory that captures real-time 12MP high-definition photos and smooth HD video recording at up to 1080p at 60fps. XREAL Eye can be activated by the touch of a button on the temple of the glasses.
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Pricing and Availability
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XREAL One is available for pre-orders now for $499 USD, £449 GBP, €549 Euro through XREAL.com and XREAL's Amazon store. XREAL One Pro is available for pre-orders now for $599 USD, £549 GBP, €649 Euro through XREAL.com. XREAL One is expected to begin shipping to customers in mid-December and XREAL One Pro is expected to ship to customers in early 2025. Bundles will be available with XREAL One or XREAL One Pro plus XREAL Beam Pro.

Cala Health, the non-invasive bioelectronic medicine maker, announced it has completed the initial closing of an oversubscribed $50 million growth round, co-led by Vertex Growth Fund and Nexus NeuroTech Ventures. All existing Cala investors participated in the round, including Action Potential, Johnson & Johnson (through its corporate venture capital organization, Johnson & Johnson Innovation – JJDC, Inc.), Lightstone, Lux Capital, GV (Google Ventures), OSF Ventures, Ascension Ventures, TriVentures, Reimagined Ventures, Peak6 and Fiscus.
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Related Cala Health's Neurostimulation System Treats Parkinson's
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"This round of funding will propel Cala's commercialization trajectory, notably with the recent positive Medicare Coverage Determination for Cala TAPS (Transcutaneous Afferent Patterned Stimulation) Therapy. It allows us to broaden patient and physician awareness of this effective and innovative treatment," said Deanna Harshbarger, Cala Chief Executive Officer. "We are very excited about the strong support from both our legacy and new investors who believe in our vision and first in class, on-demand technology to address tremor relief."
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Cala is continuing to build strong clinical evidence to expand patient access for our neurostimulation therapy. The results of a study by CVS Health, presented at the Movement Disorders Congress this year, concluded that TAPS therapy offers substantial benefits for patients with essential tremor (ET) in reducing ET-related healthcare resource utilization (HCRU), healthcare costs and improving clinical outcomes, says a press release.
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ET impacts over 7 million people in the United States and is characterized by uncontrollable movement that can make critical daily activities very difficult. Drugs are most used to treat ET, but they can cause a range of unwanted side effects such as fatigue, nausea and depression and may not provide desired outcomes. Surgical options like Deep Brain Stimulation or Focused Ultrasound ablation can be effective but are invasive procedures that carry the risk of potentially irreversible side effects.
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The Cala kIQ System with TAPS Therapy is the only non-invasive, FDA-cleared, wearable device that delivers effective therapy for action hand tremor relief in people with essential tremor and Parkinson's disease. The TAPS device is clinician-prescribed and clinically proven to safely and effectively reduce action hand tremors. The Cala kIQ device treats tremor by sensing each patient's unique tremor signature and delivering individualized stimulation to the nerves on the wrist that then reach the brain to counteract tremor.
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About Cala Health
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Cala Health is a bioelectronic medicine company transforming the standard of care for chronic disease. The company's wearable neuromodulation therapies merge innovations in neuroscience and technology to deliver individualized peripheral nerve stimulation, and its direct-to-home digital durable medical equipment (DME) platform is reshaping the delivery of prescription therapies.

Immersive therapeutic solutions provider XRHealth launched its groundbreaking AI-powered medical XR platform. This release marks a major milestone in the integration of cutting-edge AI technologies within a comprehensive therapeutic system.

The newly launched platform features an advanced multi-space capability, allowing clinicians to seamlessly transition between various therapeutic environments for optimized treatment outcomes. At the heart of this innovation is the AI Generator Space, which enables the creation of custom 360-degree environments tailored to individual therapeutic needs. In addition, a groundbreaking new feature allows for the generation of dynamic avatars, utilizing AI and XR to further enhance patient interaction and personalization, XRHealth says in a press release.
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"Our new AI-powered platform represents a transformative step in healthcare technology," said Eran Orr, CEO of XRHealth. "By combining artificial intelligence with immersive XR experiences, we're enabling clinicians to create tailored, interactive therapeutic environments that adapt to each patient's unique needs. This platform not only improves patient engagement but also has the potential to significantly elevate clinical outcomes across a wide range of treatments."

Related How AI and XR Industry Is Serving Millions

In addition to the AI Generator Space, XRHealth is incorporating AI into three other critical areas of its platform:

• AI Treatment Search – Delivers targeted recommendations by identifying the most relevant environments for specific conditions.
• AI Reports Analysis – Automatically generates detailed insights from therapy sessions by comparing real-time data with patient history, past interactions, and industry benchmarks.
• AI Treatment Plan – Provides clinicians with personalized treatment suggestions based on comprehensive data analysis, improving therapeutic strategies and patient outcomes.

Designed for a wide range of medical applications, including physical therapy, cognitive rehabilitation, pain management, and mental health, this multidisciplinary solution empowers clinicians with an AI-driven toolkit to enhance patient engagement, increase efficiency, and drive better clinical outcomes.

About XRHealth
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XRHealth is a pioneering company in the development of immersive therapeutic solutions, leveraging VR and XR technologies to revolutionize healthcare. The XRHealth platform empowers clinicians with personalized treatment plans that enhance patient engagement and improve clinical outcomes across multiple therapeutic areas. With strategic acquisitions such as Amelia Virtual Care and NeuroReality, XRHealth is on a mission to become the largest XR therapeutic platform globally, advancing the boundaries of virtual healthcare for diverse patient needs.

Los Angeles Unified School District (LAUSD) recently has partnered with Avantis Education to bring educational virtual and augmented reality (VR/AR) solution ClassVR to its students. The partnership is bringing upwards of 16 thousand ClassVR headsets to students for advanced virtual reality (VR) and augmented reality (AR) learning. This collaboration supports LAUSD’s Instructional Technology Initiative, which aims to provide students with engaging, immersive learning experiences that enhance both academic instruction and student engagement.

ClassVR is an immersive learning solution created specifically for K-12 classrooms. It offers a comprehensive package that includes all necessary hardware, software, training, and support for seamless VR/AR deployment. This service will allow the Los Angeles Unified education group to access a broad library of immersive learning tools and resources, enabling students to interact with XR lessons.  

Related A New Level of Immersion in Virtual Training

“Los Angeles Unified has demonstrated its commitment to being a pioneer in educational technology by placing students at the forefront of innovative learning tools. Through our collaboration, we’re proud to help the district expand its use of VR technology in a thoughtful, strategic way, supporting the district’s vision of making learning more engaging and future-focused,” says Huw Williams, CEO of Avantis Education.

With VR experiences that pique curiosity and encourage dynamic learning throughout the district, Avantis Education has been a valued partner of LAUSD for the past two years. ClassVR was first implemented in a small number of schools, but because to its popularity, it has quickly expanded. In order to create an engaging learning environment, many LAUSD schools now deploy ClassVR headsets in both classroom settings and extracurricular programs. Students can investigate a variety of topics, such as physics, history, and professional and technical education, using virtual reality, reports ImmersiveTechnology.

This partnership's most recent extension focuses on enrichment programs that take place before and after school and offer good chances for integration into a variety of academic subjects. This partnership demonstrates LAUSD's dedication to using immersive technology to improve student learning results and position the district as a pioneer in educational innovation.

University of Oxford researchers have made a significant step towards realizing miniature, soft batteries for use in a variety of biomedical applications, including the defibrillation and pacing of heart tissues. The work has been published today in the journal Nature Chemical Engineering.

The development of tiny smart devices, smaller than a few cubic millimeters, demands equally small power sources, reports ScienceDaily.

For minimally invasive biomedical devices that interact with biological tissues, these power sources must be fabricated from soft materials.

Ideally, these should also have features such as high capacity, biocompatibility and biodegradability, triggerable activation, and the ability to be controlled remotely.

To date, there has been no battery that can fulfil these requirements all at once.

To address these requirements, researchers from the University of Oxford's Department of Chemistry and Department of Pharmacology have developed a miniature, soft lithium-ion battery constructed from biocompatible hydrogel droplets.

Surfactant-supported assembly (assembly aided by soap-like molecules), a technique reported by the same group last year in the journal Nature, is used to connect three microscale droplets of 10 nanoliters volume.

Related Higher Performance Battery for Wearables

Different lithium-ion particles contained in each of the two ends then generate the output energy.

'Our droplet battery is light-activated, rechargeable, and biodegradable after use.

To date, it is the smallest hydrogel lithium-ion battery and has a superior energy density' said Dr Yujia Zhang (Department of Chemistry, University of Oxford), the lead researcher for the study and a starting Assistant Professor at the École Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne.

'We used the droplet battery to power the movement of charged molecules between synthetic cells and to control the beating and defibrillation of mouse hearts.

By including magnetic particles to control movement, the battery can also function as a mobile energy carrier.'

Proof-of-concept heart treatments were carried out in the laboratory of Professor Ming Lei (Department of Pharmacology), a senior electrophysiologist in cardiac arrhythmias.

He said: 'Cardiac arrhythmia is a leading cause of death worldwide.

Our proof-of-concept application in animal models demonstrates an exciting new avenue of wireless and biodegradable devices for the management of arrhythmias.'

Professor Hagan Bayley (Department of Chemistry), the research group leader for the study, said: 'The tiny soft lithium-ion battery is the most sophisticated in a series of microscale power packs developed by Dr Zhang and points to a fantastic future for biocompatible electronic devices that can operate under physiological conditions.'

The researchers have filed a patent application through Oxford University Innovation. They envisage that the tiny versatile battery, particularly relevant to small-scale robots for bio applications, will open up new possibilities in various areas including clinical medicine.

In today's rapidly evolving healthcare landscape, some challenges remain hard to address. Especially when considering access and performance of remote monitoring, which tends to be either expensive or inaccurate. Remote monitoring technologies are emerging as powerful tools for improving patient care and outcomes. Among these, remote electrocardiogram (ECG) and sweat monitoring stand out as particularly promising innovations.

These tools combine innovations in materials, sensing technologies, and industrial processes. Developing a stick-to-skin wearable, also known as electronic skin patch or smart patch, does not require industrial machines only, but creativeness and experience on how to design a patch and assemble layers of different polymers, to obtain a product with very specific features such as comfort, stretchability, breathability or stickiness.

Linxens Healthcare, as a contract design and manufacturing company, started its journey in medical sensors by designing and manufacturing the electrochemical sensors for blood gas monitoring used by Siemens Healthineers in their EPOC system. Since then, the capacity to propose custom design for a diversity of electrochemical sensors has expanded and combined with unique capabilities in stick-to-skin wearables. Today Linxens   offers design support and full manufacturing for stick-to-skin wearables, addressing complex manufacturing challenges through our clinical expertise, especially in ECG patches. Leveraging a deep understanding of market demands and customer requirements, we enhance production efficiency and application performance, delivering exceptional results with time-saving solutions. Our capabilities include screen-printed electrodes, converting and die-cutting, full assembly, and packaging—ensuring a seamless process from design to final product.

Enabling remote health opens the ways to innovative companies to build up their products, while they focus on what to do with the data, Linxens Healthcare focuses on how to collect the data. Many applications in healthcare, and more particularly in the medical sector, benefit today from remote monitoring patches. EEG, fetal monitoring or vital signs are only few of them. And two applications in particular show a fast-growing development:

• Remote Electrocardiogram (ECG)
• Sport patches based on sweat monitoring

Remote ECG monitoring offers a non-invasive approach to continuously track a patient's heart rhythm. By leveraging wearable devices and wireless technology, healthcare providers can monitor patients remotely, enabling early detection of potential cardiac issues such as arrhythmias.

• Early Detection: Continuous monitoring allows for the early identification of irregular heart rhythms, potentially preventing serious complications.
• Reduced Hospitalizations: Timely intervention, facilitated by remote monitoring, can reduce the need for hospitalization and improve patient quality of life.
• Enhanced Patient Engagement: Remote monitoring empowers patients to take an active role in their own care, increasing adherence to treatment plans.
• Data-Driven Insights: The wealth of data generated by remote ECG monitoring enables healthcare providers to analyze trends and make informed decisions about patient management.

Another area requires to combine unique competences in skin patches assembly, microfluidic for sweat collection, and electrochemical sensors for real-time sweat monitoring. Widely used in glucose strip for diabetes for many years, electrochemical sensors are now expanding to other point-of-care testing such as infectious diseases and chronic diseases, or to continuous monitoring, offering accurate measurement at cost.

Sweat monitoring, a relatively new technology, offers a non-invasive method to assess various physiological parameters, including hydration status, electrolyte balance, and stress levels. By analyzing the composition of sweat, healthcare providers can gain valuable insights into a patient's overall health.

• Real-Time Insights: Sweat monitoring provides real-time feedback on a patient's physiological state during exercise or daily activities.
• Personalized Health Management: By understanding individual sweat profiles, healthcare providers can offer tailored recommendations for hydration, electrolyte intake, and stress management.
• Early Warning Signs: Sweat analysis can detect potential health issues like heat stress or dehydration before they escalate.

Combined together, remote ECG and sweat monitoring represent powerful tools for improving access to healthcare, enhancing patient monitoring, and promoting proactive health management.

Linxens Healthcare combines these unique capabilities into a single assembly for sweat collection, incorporating microfluidic channels in a stick-to-skin wearable with microfluidics integrated into the adhesive. This setup also enables simultaneous heart monitoring, making it easier for companies to develop wearables for applications in sports or medical biomolecule analysis.

Linxens Healthcare’s contract manufacturing services aim to enhance and accelerate the development of new solutions for remote monitoring. With over 550 million medical electrochemical sensors supplied and over 30 million medical skin patches delivered, Linxens, with its expertise in flexible materials and medical-grade adhesives, supported by dedicated innovation teams, ensures the delivery of products precisely tailored to the specific requirements of today’s healthcare applications, ensuring optimal performance.

About Linxens Healthcare

Linxens Healthcare leads the way in quality-driven product development in connected health with biosensors, stick-to-skin wearables, and traceability solutions.

Biosensors
Gold electrodes are widely used in electrochemical biosensors and physicochemical sensors due to their high conductivity and biocompatibility. Our electrodes are fully customizable, from design to materials. Our roll-to-roll manufacturing process enables scalability, economy of scale, and reproducibility from batch to batch.

Stick-To-Skin Wearables
We have a strong track record in delivering remote cardiac monitoring patches and other medical-grade patches. We excel in patch design according to usage, in multilayer converting, in screen-printed electrodes as well as in the integration of electrochemical and physicochemical sensors.

Track & Trace solutions
We supply HF and UHF RFID labels for tracing and authenticating consumables used in medical devices and diagnostic instruments. Our services include inlay manufacturing, converting, and RFID performance testing.

A headset worn at home that zaps the brain with the energy of a 9-volt battery could help relieve symptoms of depression, according to a study. The treatment relieves all symptoms of depression in more than half of patients (57.5%) in just 10 weeks, the study suggests.
The study was led by researchers at King's College, London, the University of East London, and The University of Texas Health Science Center at Houston. It was funded by Flow Neuroscience, a Swedish company that makes a $500 (€459) brain stimulation headset that's designed to be used at home over 30-minute sessions while you do other things, reports NewAtlas.

The study also showed that the headset was able to improve symptoms in 64.2% of the patients involved in the trial.

No serious side effects associated with using the device were reported in the research published in the Nature Medicine journal.

The device can be purchased in the UK, Norway, Hong Kong, and other EU nations. The Swedish manufacturer, Flow Neuroscience, claims to be nearing completion of its application for US Food and Drug Administration approval to sell the depression gadget in the US.

Related NTU Researchers Develop Way to Detect Depression Risk Using Data from Wearables

Although there are comparable devices available in the US, the majority make no claims to treat any particular ailment or symptom. Rather, they may not specifically target certain parts of the brain, but they do promise to increase focus and alertness.

The headset uses an app with a video tutorial, as well as a telemedicine visit, to make sure people are able to correctly position the two electrodes to stimulate two specific brain regions. The first is the dorsolateral prefrontal cortex, which is a part of the brain linked to cognition and executive function. The second is engaged in emotional regulation and is referred to as the ventromedial prefrontal cortex. Research indicates that individuals suffering from depression typically exhibit higher levels of activity in the ventromedial prefrontal cortex and lower levels in the dorsolateral prefrontal cortex.

The device is designed to speed up brain activity in the region that’s moving too slowly and slow it down where it’s overactive, said Daniel Mansson, a clinical psychologist who co-founded Flow Neuroscience.

Professor Cynthia Fu, the study’s senior author and a professor of affective neuroscience and psychotherapy at King’s IoPPN, said: “The burden of depression is mostly keenly felt by the 280 million people worldwide currently managing symptoms.

“While a combination of antidepressants and therapy generally proves to be effective for many people, medication can have side-effects that some can find disruptive.

“Our study has demonstrated that tDCS is a safe and effective alternative that has the potential to help those in need.”

Researchers at Nanyang Technological University, Singapore (NTU Singapore) have made a groundbreaking advancement by creating grain-sized soft robots, controllable through magnetic fields for precision drug delivery. This innovative technology has the potential to revolutionize therapies in the future.

While this kind of small-scale biotechnology is not novel, the fact it has four compartments that can carry and release different medications is, reports NewAtlas.

"In this work, we have proposed a millimeter-scale soft robot, which can be actuated by alternating magnetic fields to dispense four types of drugs with reprogrammable drug-dispensing sequence and dosage," MAE lead investigator, Assistant Professor Lum Guo Zhan, told New Atlas. "This drug-dispensing functionality is unprecedented for small-scale robots because the majority of such existing robots can at most transport one type of drug. While there exist rare miniature robots that can carry multiple drugs, such robots are unable to change their drug-dispensing sequence and dosage. These robots can't transport more than three types of drugs, selectively dispense their drugs, maintain their mobility, or release their drugs at multiple sites.

"In comparison, our soft robot has great potential to enable advanced targeted combination therapy, where four types of drugs must be delivered to various disease sites, each with a specific sequence and dosage of drugs."

Researchers said their work is inspired by the iconic 1960s film ‘Fantastic Voyage,’ in which a crew is miniaturized to repair damage within a scientist’s brain.

Read more Market Launch for Automated Insulin Delivery System

Advanced smart magnetic composite materials, which include human-safe polymers and non-toxic magnetic microparticles, were used in the design of the grain-sized robot. This novel soft robot exhibits remarkable dexterity and can roll and crawl over obstacles quickly, in contrast to existing small robots that have trouble maintaining accurate orientations.

Although it has not yet undergone clinical testing, the robot has shown that it can travel through a variety of liquid viscosities that replicate the conditions it would encounter in a human body. At a pace of 0.30 mm to 16.5 mm per second, it was able to traverse to four distinct locations in lab testing and release a particular medicine at each location. Additionally, the engineers were able to control the apparatus to release a drug gradually over a period of eight hours. They think the robot could provide both immediate and continuous pharmaceutical delivery, depending on the patient's need.

"The roadmap towards realizing this goal is to first evaluate the performance of robots further with organ-on-chip devices and eventually conduct animal trials," Lum added. "We can perhaps complete this stage of research within the next two to five years’ time."

Researchers at Korea Advanced Institute of Science & Technology (KAIST) have unveiled a new wearable robot developed for completely paralyzed persons that can walk to them so that the user can wear it right out of their wheelchairs without the help from others. Also, it was announced that Professor Kyoungchul Kong's team from KAIST will be participating in the wearable robot category of the 3rd Cybathlon, which is being held four years after the team’s gold medal win in 2020.

KAIST (President Kwang-Hyung Lee) announced this new version of the wearable robot for paraplegic people, WalkON Suit F1, by Professor Kyoungchul Kong (CEO and founder of Angel Robotics) of KAIST Department of Mechanical Engineering on the 24th of October, reports KAIST.

WalkON Suit is a wearable robot for people suffering with paraplegic disabilities that the research team has been continuously researching since 2015. This robot targets to assist persons with American Spinal Injury Association (ASIA) Impairment Scale – A (complete paralysis) grade injury, the most severe level of paraplegia. Therefore, its development purpose is different from that of other rehabilitation therapy and muscle strength assisting robots currently being supplied nationally by Angel Robotics.

Professor Kong's research team first announced WalkON Suit 1 in 2016, and then introduced WalkON Suit 4 in 2020, increasing the walking speed to 3.2 km/h, achieving the normal walking speed of people with no disabilities. In addition, it demonstrated the ability to pass through obstacles such as narrow passages, doors, and stairs that can be encountered in daily life.

However, it had the same fundamental problem all wearable robots have, which is that they require the help of others to wear the robot. While you can walk without help from others once you are wearing the robot, you needed someone's help to put it on to begin with.

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The newly released WalkON Suit F1 presented a technical solution to this fundamental problem. It applied a frontal-docking method instead of a rear-sitting method so that you can wear the robot right away without getting out of the wheelchair and into the robot, which would require help from others mid-transition.

In addition, before wearing the robot, it can walk on its own like a humanoid robot and approaches the user. It is also implemented a function that actively controls the center of its weight against the pull of gravity so that it maintains balance without falling over even if the user pushes the robot otherwise. The outer design of the WalkON Suit F1, which crosses between a humanoid and a wearable robot, was done by Professor Hyunjoon Park of the Department of Industrial Design at KAIST.

Technological advancements at the components level are also noteworthy. Through close collaboration with Angel Robotics, all core components of the robot, such as the motor, reducer, motor driver, and main circuit, have been domestically produced. The output density of the motor and reducer modules has been improved by about two folds (based on power per weight) compared to the research team's existing technology, and the control performance of the motor driver has been improved by about three times (based on frequency response speed) compared to the best overseas technology.

Professor Kong explained, “WalkON Suit is the culmination of wearable robot technology for the disabled,” and added, “The numerous components, control, and module technologies derived from WalkON Suit are setting the standard for the entire wearable robot industry.”

Swiss startup Padrone has created a wearable AI mouse ring that fits the index finger and can turn any surface into a laptop or computer touchpad. The smart ring, dubbed Primera, is currently the subject of a Kickstarter campaign.

The device is worn on the index finger of the user's dominant hand. Among other electronics, it incorporates a six-axis motion sensor, a forward-facing camera, a microprocessor, a Bluetooth LE module, and a rechargeable battery.

The cursor movements on the screen exactly repeat the finger movements, and touching the surface works like a mouse click. It is important to note that all information processing is performed inside the device, ensuring the security of user data.

According to the designers, it has taken the technology team ten years in total to develop the wearable AI mouse ring. In 2024, they’re confident enough to say that they can start releasing the product in May 2025. When the clients receive the ring, they slide it onto their index finger and connect the device to their laptop or computer through a Bluetooth connection, reports NewAtlas.

To activate the Primera, double-tap the thumb on the side of the index finger. The onscreen pointer is then moved appropriately by dragging the fingertip across the desk's surface. A left click is made by tapping the desk with the index finger, while a right click is made by tapping the middle finger.

Related This $100 Wearable Keyboard/Mouse Turns Any Surface Into A Workstation

The index and middle fingers are slid together to scroll. Users can drag and drop objects by pressing the thumb against the side of the index finger. Additionally, the Primera detects the keyboard when the hand is moved to the keyboard to begin typing and immediately enters standby mode until the hand is brought back to the desk.

It is worth noting that the wearable device only works on reasonably well-lit surfaces that don't have overly chaotic color patterns. Battery life also isn't great, as one 100-minute USB charge is said to be sufficient for one full work day.

Padrone says the device should work with any tablet or computer that accepts a Bluetooth mouse, without any added software.

When the company starts production, you can get one for a pledge of €259 (about US$279).