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A ‘significant’ number of biopharma companies are not actively incorporating wearable technology into their clinical trials, according to a new study from the Life Science Strategy Group, which argues there is a missed opportunity.

The report focuses on adoption of wearable technology in clinical trials and perceived preparedness of contract research organisations (CROs) to include wearable technology into clinical development services. Quantitative research with nearly...

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Finland-based health technology company Ouraring, which claims to develop the world’s first ‘wellness ring’ alongside corresponding smartphone application ŌURA, has closed a €5 million series A funding round.

ŌURA is used in over 50 countries across the world out of which about two-thirds of the users are in the US alone. Apart from the individual users, many top universities, research organisations, sleep clinics, and companies also utilise rich data provided by...

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Researchers from the University of Colorado Boulder (CU Boulder) and Northwestern University in Illinois, alongside the Eulji University College of Medicine in Korea, have developed a wearable acoustic sensor that can monitor heart health and recognise spoken words.

The sensor is a stretchable device that captures physiological sound signals from the body. It is well matched with human skin and can be mounted on nearly any surface of the body, says Jae-Woong Jeong, CU Boulder assistant...

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TomTom has partnered with Amsterdam-based advertising agency Pool Worldwide to promote its new Get Going campaign, in order to further strengthen its Sports brand.

The campaign aims to span global markets with television, cinema, print, digital, and out-of-home ad placements.

TomTom has also added three new devices to its North American fitness wearables portfolio, namely TomTom Touch, TomTom Spark 3 and TomTom Adventurer. The TomTom Touch is claimed to be the first fitness tracker in...

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Planexta has introduced its Kickstarter campaign for the first emotion tracker for electrocardiography (ECG) technology, Sence. The technology helps users to understand their emotional state by measuring more than 64 emotions using heart rate variability (HRV), while simultaneously monitoring events that might trigger certain feelings.

HRV is as accurate as an ECG, which is 250 times better than traditional fitness trackers that use optical sensors that measure blood flow.

Users can track...

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A biomedical engineering professor at the University of Rhode Island (URI) and his team of students are exploring a technique that will help improve the lives of patients suffering from Parkinson’s disease.

Along with his team, Kunal Mankodiya, director of URI’s Wearable Biosensing Laboratory, is researching how to transform gloves, socks, clothing and even shoes into high-tech items that will make people with Parkinson’s disease healthier.

The research focuses on...

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Canada-based Mio Global, a company which provides wearable health technologies, has announced $15 million in funding led by Hydra Ventures with participation from private investors.

The company is seeking to impact the global health scenario with its new Personal Activity Intelligence (PAI) personal health metric and Mio SLICE wrist-based fitness tracker.

PAI uses heart rate to track the body’s response to all types of physical activity while providing actionable and...

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Fitness trackers have the ability to save $1000 per employee based on the results of a study conducted by Springbuk. 

The study aimed to calculate the actual return investment of equipping staff with fitness trackers as part of their health and wellness programs, the findings offer a glimpse into how the wearables can not only improve the health of employees...

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A newly developed ‘artificial vision’ wearable technology device aims to help the almost 250 million people suffering from low vision globally achieve everday tasks with more ease than using traditional assistive reading devices, according to a study presented at the latest meeting of the American Academy of Ophthalmology (AAO).

The Orcam My Eye is a hands-free device that can be clipped to eyeglasses. It features a miniature camera that sees and recognises what the...

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A recently published research paper by healthcare technology provider Validic states that the global pharma and biotech will increasingly turn to digital health tools over the next five years to better collect, analyse and act on patient-generated health data (PGHD). This growth is attributed to increased pressures to reduce trials costs, streamline processes, demonstrate real world-efficacy, address medication adherence and improve treatments for chronic diseases.

The survey...

You've probably heard of TomTom, but the likelihood is you remember them for some of the best in-car satellite navigation systems. The rise of smartphone apps with connected features and constant updates has muscled in on TomTom's once large market and driven the company to explore more future-proof efforts. 

TomTom believes it has something to offer the developing wearable market and has launched its own fitness band in the form of the TomTom Touch. In a market being flooded with...

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Canada-based wearable sports tech manufacturer OMsignal has announced its latest product – the OMbra.

The OMbra is a smart sports-bra that offers a digital coaching experience to women involved in sports or simply to those who work out every day. It is embedded with patent-pending sensor technologies that accurately capture the body’s deepest signals and streams the data to the user’s smartphone. The company claims that the bra combines accurate heart and breathing...

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Eccrine Systems, a Cincinnati-based company dedicated to improving human health, safety, and productivity through innovation and development of advanced sweat sensing technologies has raised $5.5 million in series A funding.

The company’s technology platform addresses a wide range of monitoring applications including industrial toxicity, fitness-for-duty, stress management, treatment effectiveness and various medical conditions. The raised funds will help accelerate the...

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Dipitr Technologies has launched O'We, the first smartwatch that aims to monitor sun exposure. The fitness watch is currently available for pre-order at an early-bird discount of 40%.

The new smartwatch has a feature called SunTrack that tracks sun exposure, and will soon launch on the crowdfunding website Kickstarter. Apart from the sun exposure monitor, the watch has other fitness features including measurements of daily...

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Australian biotechnology company Global Kinetics Corporation has received the 510 (k) marketing clearance from the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) for its second-generation PKG Watch aimed at assisting patients suffering from Parkinson’s disease.

The watch is being developed to record movement symptoms of Parkinson’s and provides medication reminders, and helps in making assessments about response to medication.

It has been developed on the basis of extensive feedback...

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A new wearable device and a machine learning platform developed by Teva Pharmaceuticals and Intel Corporation is said to analyse and measure the development of Huntington’s disease (HD) that will help improve treatment evaluation.

Intel’s specialty in analytics and algorithm development for movement detection will melded with Teva’s specialty and deep knowledge in HD treatment and research, the companies claim.

In order to enhance and better understand the...

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Despite rumours of the demise of the Microsoft Band, the original wearable is being employed to aid epilepsy sufferers in predicting upcoming seizures and help to ensure their safety.

A new program called MyCareCentric is being used for the pioneering epilepsy research developed by a range of partners including Microsoft, the Epilepsy Care Alliance, the University of Kent in the U.K., Shearwater...

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Takeda Pharmaceuticals has launched a pilot digital technology program named iBData to support patients and physicians with the management of inflammatory bowel disease (IBD), designed to intersect healthcare and digital technologies.

The company is in partnership with Texas Digestive Disease Consultants and Vanderbilt University Medical Center to track symptoms and lifestyle factors of patients with IBD with wearable watch technology. The data will be collected and translated into reports...

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According to a 2002 study by the Journal of the American Medical Association (JAMA), hypertension – otherwise known as high blood pressure – will affect nine out of 10 Americans in their lifetime, and is a risk factor for the leading cause of death: heart disease.

New research suggests that high blood pressure is on the rise for millennials, and although hypertension is typically diagnosed in middle-aged adults, a 2011 study by the University of North Carolina found that...

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TomTom has added three new devices to its North American fitness wearables portfolio: TomTom Touch, TomTom Spark 3 and TomTom Adventurer.

TomTom Touch is claimed to be the first fitness tracker in the world that can measure all-day heart rate and body composition from the wrist. It is priced at $129.99. Users can measure their body composition, which is the ratio of body fat to muscle mass, with a touch of the device's button. The device can alos track sleep and heart rate up to...