The FDA is warning of new cybersecurity vulnerabilities affecting Bluetooth Low Energy communications technology used in certain medical devices. According to the agency, the issue could allow unauthorized users to wirelessly crash a device, prevent it from working or access functions limited to its users.
The FDA says the vulnerabilities – referred to as "SweynTooth" by the researchers who...
Jawbone's UP bracelet does pretty well in the activity tracker space, at least according to CEO Hossain Rahman who told Fortune the company was experiencing "crazy sell-through demand" when the company borrowed $93 million in September. But one glaring omission in Jawbone's product offering, cited in FixYa's consumer feedback report in August, is the omission of wireless syncing. While the Fitbit...
This week Glooko officially launched its MeterSync Cable and its companion Logbook app in Europe, which means iPhone users in European countries can now connect a handful of some of the most popular glucose meters to their phones to automatically upload data to a logbook app on the devices.
"We have also taken a step forward in Europe to provide some analytics for the data, which we can't do in...
CardioMapper, the first app to use the Bluetooth Smart low-energy spec, is now available in Apple's AppStore and available for iPhone 4S users. The $1.99 app from developer body-PRO is capable of connecting and continously transmitting data from heart rate monitors that feature Bluetooth Smart (previously known as Bluetooth 4.0) support.
For more than 10 years body-PRO has developed mobile health...
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...
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...
The Bluetooth Special Interest Group, which develops technical specs and evangelizes Bluetooth technology, announced today the formal launch of Bluetooth Low Energy, a part of the Bluetooth 4.0 specification. Bluetooth Low Energy has already garnered the support of the Continua Health Alliance, a consortium of more than 220 companies working on interoperability for personal medical devices and...
By Michael Foley, Ph.D., executive director, Bluetooth SIG
With 20 million devices in the marketplace today, Bluetooth technology is already the de facto wireless standard for health and fitness devices. Whether the device is a defibrillator, weight scale, heart rate belt, glucose meter or a Wii Fit Balance Board, manufacturers have been enthusiastic in choosing Bluetooth technology as their...
According to a recent report from ABI Research, wearable wireless sensors are set to grow to more than 400 million devices by 2014. The research firm believes demand will come from professional healthcare, home healthcare and sports and fitness markets, but each market will develop at different speeds and support different applications.
ABI estimates that the sports and fitness market represents...
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...
