According to new research released this week by Deloitte, the future of the healthcare industry will be closely tied to and driven by an omnipresent, proactive, and integrated system aimed at health and well-being, where technologies like AI, digital therapeutics, cloud and app-enabled digital health capabilities, augmented and virtual reality will have a leading role in the maintenance and improvement of population and personal health.
Deloitte found that these emerging technologies may result in a sweeping structural changes to “traditional medtech business models”. In the future, they predict, we are going to see enhanced collaboration between consumer technology and digital health companies to transform the delivery of care.
With the consumer technology-driven democratisation of healthcare technology forecast to be a major driver of disruption in the industry, Gigabit Magazine breaks down its top five companies currently producing wearable healthcare technology that improves patient health monitoring and cuts down on costly and time consuming doctor visits.
A digital women’s health company with offices in Zurich, San Francisco, Makati and Belgrade, Ava produces and distributes the Ava Bracelet. First launched in 2016, the bracelet is worn only during sleep and helps women get real time, personalized information about fertility, pregnancy, and general health.
AliveCor
Based in Mountain View, California, AliveCor is an AI-driven healthcare device manufacturer aimed at providing users with screening and diagnostic tools. The company’s flagship product, KardiaMobile allows its users to take a medical-grade EKG anytime, anywhere. The device connects to Android and iOS mobile devices, tracking heart activity and displaying results through an app.
L’Oreal
Through its subsidiary brand La Roche-Posay, skincare and cosmetics giant L’Oreal produces and distributes a device called My Skin Track UV. Using a thumbnail-sized sensor that doesn’t require a battery, the device pairs with a mobile app to track the user’s exposure to UV, pollen, humidity and pollution.
Motiv
Wearable health management and fitness monitors are verging on ubiquitous, with high profile offerings like AppleWatch, FitBit and Garmin all vying for a place in the market. But, for those customers who don’t want a large piece of obtrusive technology dangling from their wrists, San Francisco-based startup Motiv may have the solution. Its flagship product, the Motiv Ring, is simple and understated, allowing wearers to monitor activity, sleep patterns and heart rate through a companion app.
Aparito
Over 30mn people in Europe are affected by more than 7,000 rare diseases. Welsh med-tech startup Aparito offers a selection of wearable devices that allow wearers to input experiential data relating to drug side-effects and treatment progress. The goal is to both improve routine patient health monitoring and provide new tools to conduct studies efficiently and accurately.