By 2018 an estimated 75.7 million consumer health and fitness devices with integrated wireless connectivity will ship, up from 23 million such devices in 2011, according to a recent report from IHS Technology. The research firms points out that Bluetooth Smart-connected devices are the most popular, but devices that make use of the fitness and health-focused ANT standard also have a foothold.
The...
A Canadian startup company is developing a wireless shoe insert that will help people with diabetes manage peripheral nerve damage and hopefully prevent amputations that often stem from diabetic foot ulcers.
Orpyx Medical Technologies, based in Calgary, Alberta, will soon be seeking regulatory approval in the U.S. and Canada to sell SurroSense Rx, an insole that that collects data of where...
According to a recent study by IMS Research, by 2016 more wireless enabled consumer medical devices will use Bluetooth Smart than any other wireless technology. Bluetooth Smart is the newest flavor of the technology. IMS predicts that 4.7 million Bluetooth Smart-enabled consumer medical devices will ship in 2016 and some 10.3 million will ship between now and then.
Overall, more than 35 percent...
The past year has seen the arrival of a number of new fitness gadgets including Jawbone's Up, Wellcore's NewYu, Fitbit's Ultra, and Basis' Band. It's about time that one of the fitness gadget industry's incumbents answered back. This week Garmin did. It made its first move into the world of mobile fitness apps.
Garmin unveiled its first mobile fitness app, Garmin Fit, for iPhone and Android this...
Numera announced this week the launch of a free iOS app, NumeraNET, for uploading health data collected from connected devices to an online portal. The app supports data collected from consumer weight scales, pedometers and blood pressure monitors via an ANT+ gateway, with more device support expected in the future.
Numera recently launched Numera Social, a white-labeled platform for care...
The FDA has cleared UK-based Toumaz Limited's Sensium Digital Plaster with a 510(k). The device is a small, low power body-worn sensor that continuously monitors vital signs, including temperature, heart rate and respiration rate.
Toumaz also announced the formation of a joint venture with Dr Patrick Soon-Shiong's California Capital Equity (CCE). The JV will be called Toumaz US and will sell and...
Gerson Lehrman Group: The wireless "trend is quietly and swiftly permeating the medical sector." More
From paper records to mobile records: Vancouver, Canada-based Community Home Support Services Association (CHSSA) supports elderly people who live with physical and/or developmental disabilities in their homes. It recently switched from paper records to mobile phone powered documentation. Here's...
Last December, the Bluetooth Special Interest Group released a new standard called Bluetooth Low Energy, which we noted at the time counts mobile health as one of its key use cases. Now, Broadcom, a $4.4 billion chipset company, has added to its portfolio a Bluetooth Low Energy chip, specifically for "very low power health and fitness sensors enabled by Bluetooth" to connect to consumers' mobile...
As we reported earlier this week, Continua Health Alliance selected the upcoming Bluetooth Low Energy technology for its second version of guidelines for medical device interoperability. Continua tapped Bluetooth LE for personal area network (PAN) devices, which include activity monitors and heart rate sensors and other mobile solutions that typically connect to a user's cell phone. Continua also...
In what looks to be a coup for the ZigBee Alliance, the Continua Health Alliance has picked Bluetooth Low Energy and ZigBee for inclusion in its next set of guidelines for interoperability between health devices and systems. The two low power standards will become the technology that Continua promotes for devices used in health and fitness and aging independently.
The two technologies beat out...
