San Antonio-based AirStrip Technologies announced this week that it had secured a US patent in late August that covers its methodology for mobilizing physiologic data to smartphone, tablets, and other devices. AirStrip's core product has been its mobile patient monitoring platform, which it offers to large healthcare facilities, but the company claims the patent impacts consumer-facing mobile health services as well as enterprise ones.
"We feel like this is a broad and far-reaching mHealth methodology patent," AirStrip's President and Chief Medical Officer Dr. Cameron Powell told MobiHealthNews in an interview. "Basically, without getting too granular or technical, what we believe this patent covers is taking any type of physiologic data -- whether that's from a sensor in the shoe, a home monitor, a blood pressure cuff, or a monitor in the hospital -- and then re-rendering it on a native or HTML5 application on a mobile device. That mobile device is connected to the internet through either wired, WiFi, or [cellular]."
Displaying physiologic data on a mobile device through something like a Citrix terminal, via terminal emulation, is not covered by the patent.
"The message here to the industry is not that we are issuing this press release to stop every company out there who is doing this, [but], who knows, there may be a few fringe players who we have an issue with," Powell said. "The mHealth market is very fragmented, it's still nascent and there's all this debate about regulation, security, HIPAA-compliance, and how you're rendering data, what's safe and not safe, and should a large medical center really be developing their own mHealth applications? Should the very large medical device makers really be doing this when it's not their core competency? For those who care about this space, we'd love to work with them to collaborate as partners to drive better standards, to deliver safer applications that ultimately lead to better outcomes."
On the flip side, Powell said, AirStrip will defend its intellectual property, which it has been building for the past 10 years. This is the first patent the company has locked down, but Powell said there are many others pending.
According to the patent on file with the USPTO, AirStrip filed for it in mid-December 2005. Its title is: "System and method for real time viewing of critical patient data on mobile devices." Read through the full patent over the USPTO site here.
More on AirStrip's patent in the press release below:
PRESS RELEASE: SAN ANTONIO – Sept. 11, 2012 – AirStrip Technologies, the leader in mobility platform solutions delivering patient data to caregivers anytime, anywhere, announced today that intellectual property that operates as a foundation for the full AirStrip mobile patient monitoring platform is now protected by a U.S. patent. Issued to AirStrip on August 28, 2012, the methodology patent covers the company’s technology to mobilize physiologic data to smartphones, tablets and other devices, a development that impacts both the enterprise and consumer-based mHealth ecosystem.
“As the first and only global company to offer FDA-cleared applications that deliver live and historic patient physiologic monitoring data to mobile devices, AirStrip has a responsibility to exercise its patent protection in ways that rapidly drive the evolution of mHealth in a uniform and positive direction,” AirStrip CEO Alan Portela stated. “Ultimately, this commitment will measurably improve patient safety, minimize risks in the provision of care, improve outcomes and encourage the migration to population health management.The patent allows us to offer our partners and clients the assurance that AirStrip will continue to innovate and lead the evolution of mobile health solutions and standards.”
Companies, health systems and application developers that have mobility solutions available or in development that display patient physiologic data – including numeric data, waveforms, and other parameters – are encouraged to work with AirStrip to more quickly evolve mobility as the foundation for clinical transformation.
Portela noted that the issuance of this patent, coupled with the much broader AirStrip IP portfolio, will serve to protect the integrity of mobile applications that operate in the mHealth space – adding that AirStrip will defend its intellectual property while encouraging partnerships with entities that adhere to established regulatory requirements and quality standards.
“AirStrip fully supports FDA development and oversight of medical application guidelines in the interests of safeguarding patients,” Portela added. “We will readily consider working with members of the mHealth community who demonstrate a similar level of commitment.”
AirStrip President and Chief Medical Officer Cameron Powell MD, who co-founded AirStrip Technologies with Chief Technology Officer Trey Moore, said the issuance of this first patent is the culmination of a development vision laid out over a decade ago in the creation of AppPointTM, AirStrip’s groundbreaking, data-independent, native software development platform.
“AirStrip is founded upon the goal of establishing mobility as a standard of care. AirStrip pioneered developments in mHealth knowing that we would ultimately play a global leadership role in this process,” Dr. Powell said. “We take great pride in seeing this vision come to fruition, and welcome to the table those who recognize the need for uniting disparate information systems in ways that transform the healthcare experience and lead to better clinical outcomes.”
About AirStrip Technologies, Inc.
Addressing the most pressing needs of a rapidly evolving global healthcare system, AirStrip develops mobile technology that can drive enhanced clinician engagement, strengthened care coordination and improved clinical and financial performance. By unlocking, transforming and mobilizing live and historical patient information from existing monitoring devices and EHR systems to access on mobile devices regardless of operating system, AirStrip helps transcend the geographic and technological barriers that delay informed clinician action. The AirStrip platform supports an enterprise-wide solution with live and predictive analytics and unprecedented opportunities to improve the health of individuals and populations. AirStrip is backed by investments from Sequoia Capital, Qualcomm, Inc., and Hospital Corporation of America (HCA). Visit www.airstriptech.com for more information.
