Alexa, listen to me sleep. Hot on the heels of its Halo fitness, weight and sleep wearable, Business Insider reports that Amazon is also working on a contactless bedside device for tracking sleep apnea. The device in development reportedly uses millimeter-wave radar to watch breathing and movement. Codenamed "Brahms," the tracker is roughly the size of a palm, and would speak with other connected...
Long-term data on ambulatory monitoring patches. Scientists from the Scripps Research Translational Institute and Johnson & Johnson have unveiled three-year study data for iRhythm Technologies' Zio wearable ambulatory monitoring patches at this year's American Heart Association Scientific Sessions. The mSToPS study examined 1,738 participants who were a mean age 73.7 years at the time of...
Searching for outbreaks. The long and sometimes muddled tradition of predicting outbreak hot spots by analyzing search engine activity has continued into the COVID-19 era, with Mayo Clinic researchers publishing new findings that suggest strong correlations between certain keywords and case reports. In reviewing data from Jan. 22 to April 6, "face mask," "Lysol" and "COVID stimulus check" had the...
More digital health tools join the PBM party. Evernorth, a newly-established Cigna subsidiary that now acts as the parent of Express Scripts, announced today several new additions to the pharmacy benefit manager's Digital Health Formulary. Joining the lineup in 2021 will be:
Wildflower Health's app-based women's health offering.
Quit Genius's digital program for smoking and vaping cessation....
A one-sided arrangement. Earlier this week, budget-minded connected-exercise-maker Echelon Fitness announced the launch of is "Prime Bike," a $499 device that it described in its reveal as "Amazon's first-ever connected fitness product." Through a bring-your-own-tablet interface, the machine would enable owners to join live and on-demand fitness classes through Echelon's subscription service.
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Hogwash, or a brain activity breakthrough? Friday evening came with a long-awaited look at the work of Neuralink, Elon Musk's ambitious brain-computer interface implant startup. In the streamed progress update, Musk ran down a PowerPoint overview of the technology's capabilities, which he likened to "a Fitbit in your skull." The coin-shaped implant will read and wirelessly transmit brain signals...
Picking through the scraps. Following the bankruptcy of 'digital pill' maker Proteus Digital Health, business partner and stakeholder Otsuka Pharmaceutical has been approved to purchase the digital health company's assets by a federal bankruptcy court judge, STAT reports.
Otsuka's bid was challenged by Novartis, two former Proteus executives and other investors, who argued that the agreed upon $...
Driving digital diagnosis. Roche and Israeli life sciences investment firm aMoon announced plans this week to launch an early-stage investment program called StarFinder Lab. Focused on novel diagnostic technologies, in particular, with the help of AI data analysis and digital health tools, the program will provide funding, mentoring and other strategic support such as a physical office space...
Decentralized digital therapeutic trial. Pear Therapeutics has enrolled the first participant in the DREAM study, an open-label trial of its Somryst prescription digital therapeutic for chronic insomnia.
Conducted as a decentralized trial, the effort will recruit U.S. adults aged 22 to 75 years who have an Insomnia Severity Index score of 8 or higher, as well as at least three months of insomnia...
VR for pain. A new study published by JMIR found that virtual reality was a feasible and scalable means of treating chronic pain. The study, which used AppliedVR’s technology, split participants into two groups: a VR cohort and an audio one.
Participants in the VR group were mailed a headset, with accompanying software, speakers and microphone. Participants in this group were asked to complete...
