At the dawn of the 21st Century, the handheld smart device is becoming an indispensible appliance that accompanies and assists its owner in an increasingly more pervasive manner: providing directions, finding itself when its owner has lost it, finding just about anything its owner desires. Now, apps developers are extending the smart device’s capability to monitoring and reporting on the well-being of its owner. Rockville, Maryland-based market research firm, Kalorama Information in its new report Remote & Wireless Patient Monitoring Markets expects the U.S. market for high-tech patient monitoring systems, valued at $5.7 billion in 2009, to experience impressive annual growth of around 26 percent through 2014.
An example of the types of devices driving this growth is the Artificial Life, Inc. GluCoMo (Glucose Monitor) app for the iPhone launched September 9th. An electronic diary, the application allows diabetic patients to enter blood sugar level, insulin intake, weight, pulse, physical activity, dietary intake, blood pressure, and medication intake. A program analyzes the parameters and alerts doctor and patient of any abnormality.
However, for patients requiring more intense scrutiny, there is a bevy of new sensor technology that attaches to, is injected in, or is ingested into the body and relays data wirelessly to secure cloud-based medical analysis programs. These programs evaluate and transmit their results to medical professionals. Proteus Biomedical a private Redwood City, California company has developed a chip-in-pill technology that once swallowed is activated by stomach acid and transmits information to a transmitter patch worn on the Patient's skin. The transmitter communicates to a cell phone, which relays the information to a doctor.
The technology is so compelling that Swiss giant Novartis International AG spent $24 million for access to Proteus Biomedical’s chip-in-pill technology. Novartis announced that in the next 18 months, it would seek regulatory approval for the pill, which tracks medication adherence by time-stamping the patients ingestion of medications. According to an article in the New England Journal of Medicine this past April, nearly half of patients fail to comply with drug-taking instructions, thus resulting in avoidable hospitalization costs.
Earlier this year the FDA provided 510(k) clearance for the Proteus’ Raisin system, the adhesive patch that communicates with the smart pills after the patient’s stomach breaks them down. The 501(k) clearance requires medical device manufacturers to submit a premarket notification of any device the company intends to distribute for the first time.
The AVIVO Mobile Patient Management System from San Jose, California based Corventis is an example of another form of wireless sensor. It provides insight into the cardiac health of patients, suffering from heart failure and cardiac arrhythmias. It consists of a wearable sensor called PiiX that attaches to the chest and collects heart rate, heart rate variability, respiratory rate, fluid status, activity and posture. It wirelessly transmits this data to the belt worn zLink Mobile Transmitter, which passes the data on to Corventis for relay to healthcare professionals.
CardioMEMS Inc. of Atlanta, Georgia supplies sensors that are implanted into the body of patients with heart failure and/or hypertension. The EndoSure Wireless AAA Pressure Measurement System consists of the EndoSure sensor, which transmits real-time data to an external electronics module, which then communicates this information to the patient’s physician.
In September this year, St. Jude Medical acquired a 19 percent stake in CardioMEMS for $60 million while locking in the rights to buy the company. St Jude cited a report published in May this year that the CardioMEMS device reduced hospital readmissions for heart failure patients.
In an era where government and industry is seeking to rein in rising medical costs, wireless patient monitoring sounds like just what the doctor ordered.
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