Five of the Most Promising Digital Health Technologies
Digital health technologies are maturing. From medical devices to more mainstream consumer-technology fare, here are five of the most promising.
January 14, 2020
![Nadi X yoga pants from Wearable X Nadi X yoga pants from Wearable X](https://eu-images.contentstack.com/v3/assets/blt31d6b0704ba96e9d/blt85e7482354f3287f/63abed412e64e64005ab3f67/nadi-x.jpeg?width=700&auto=webp&quality=80&disable=upscale)
Wearable X
A bevy of companies recently launched IoT-enabled products intended to help users sleep more soundly.
One notable example is the SmartSleep Deep Sleep Headband from Philips, a clinically-backed wearable sleep headband intended for people who sleep fewer than six hours per night. The headset can detect brain waves to intuit when a user has entered deep sleep and use quiet audio tones to enhance that so-called slow wave sleep state.
Other broadly similar devices include the neurofeedback-focused Urgonight Dreem 2 and the meditation-targeted Muse S headband.
Other noteworthy sleep-related products include the the Motion Pillow from Tenminds and the Sleep Number Climate360 bed. The Motion Pillow can detect head positions linked to snoring and use airbags to subtly alter them to support breathing. Meanwhile, the Climate360 bed optimizes the temperature of the bed based on user preferences. The bed not only monitors users’ sleep, heart rate, breathing and movements, Sleep Number claims the bed can provide users up to 100 more hours of restful sleep per year.
It’s been a long time coming, but the wearables market is finally diversifying and gaining medical functionality. In September 2019, Apple launched its fifth-generation smartwatch, which supports electrocardiograms. In addition to its ability to monitor heart rate and activity levels, the smartwatch can detect an irregular heart rhythm known as atrial fibrillation. The product won FDA clearance for over-the-counter health monitoring for individuals at least 22 years old.
In a similar vein, French consumer electronics firm Withings has developed the ScanWatch smartwatch that marries ECG and pulse oximetry (pictured here). As a result, the device could help monitor conditions such as sleep apnea and shortness of breath as well as heart or lung conditions. While such products offer convenience, they tend to be less accurate than dedicated clinical medical devices.
After companies like Fitbit helped to catalyze the wearables market in the early 2000s, a plethora of competitors followed. But In hindsight, however, most early wearable devices were little more than glorified pedometers.
The rise of smart clothing is changing the situation. Products such as Nadi X yoga pants from Wearable X (pictured) and Sensoria Fitness Socks do more than just passively monitor activity — they provide feedback. The former can sense when yoga practitioners are out of alignment and provide haptic feedback to help the user adjust. Sensoria’s sensor-enabled socks monitor how runners’ feet land and offers users tips to improve their stride. The company Myant even plans to launch Skiin-branded sensor-laden underwear that can track heart rate, ECG, temperature, breathing rate and other variables. While it remains too early to tell whether such products will live up to their promises, they hint at a future in which clothing does more than hang on the body.
The company Above Care aims to help improve treatment for patients with end-stage kidney disease who must undergo dialysis to purify their blood.
Treating the disease tends to be exceptionally expensive. The cost for the Medicare national health insurance program alone was $35 billion in 2016. For a given patient in the United States, the average cost of treatment for the condition was more than $87,000 for those with Medicare and nearly $122,000 for other patients.
To improve treatment, Above Care has developed a device known as the Flow-EZ, which can detect the narrowing of blood vessels known as stenosis that is common in patients with end-stage kidney disease. The portable device can detect stenosis in such patients in roughly 10 seconds in a home setting. The Flow-EZ uses Bluetooth to send patient data to the patient’s smartphone, which, in turn, directs the data to the cloud for analytics. The product, which is yet to receive regulatory approval, also can detect cardiovascular problems and notify a hospital of problems that require immediate clinical attention.
For decades, the humble toothbrush remained largely unchanged. But now that electric toothbrushes have become mainstream, more innovative products are poised to hit the market. Colgate’s Plaqless Pro could be an example of such a toothbrush. While “smart” products are already on the market, their promise of using Bluetooth to send generic toothbrushing data (such as how long you brush and for how long) to a smartphone app fails to solve a core problem. The Plaqless Pro, conversely, leverages optic sensors to spot dental plaque while providing feedback on brushing technique. While the device also has a corresponding smartphone app, it offers more robust features than early smart toothbrushes. The Plaqless Pro can display a map of the mouth while also highlighting areas you may have missed.
For decades, the humble toothbrush remained largely unchanged. But now that electric toothbrushes have become mainstream, more innovative products are poised to hit the market. Colgate’s Plaqless Pro could be an example of such a toothbrush. While “smart” products are already on the market, their promise of using Bluetooth to send generic toothbrushing data (such as how long you brush and for how long) to a smartphone app fails to solve a core problem. The Plaqless Pro, conversely, leverages optic sensors to spot dental plaque while providing feedback on brushing technique. While the device also has a corresponding smartphone app, it offers more robust features than early smart toothbrushes. The Plaqless Pro can display a map of the mouth while also highlighting areas you may have missed.
Despite the explosion of interest in digital health in the past several years, the tech trend has yet to have a significant impact on the mainstream public. Sure, counting steps has become mainstream, but the way many people monitor their health has changed little in the past decade.
Things are beginning to look up. As digital health technologies develop, their potential to reshape our lives is becoming more concrete. Functionality previously relegated to medical devices is increasingly coming to mainstream consumer electronic gadgets, while many medical devices are more likely to take inspiration from the consumer sector. Additionally, the IQ of smart fitness devices is also increasing.
Here, we take a look at five of the most promising digital health technologies, ranging from medical devices for the chronically ill to more-mainstream consumer-technology fare:
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