The next “big things” in health care are “wearable’s”—devices that can monitor systems in the body and communicate data to health care professionals.
Mayo and Gentag Team for Wearables
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Among the latest to engage in this development are the Mayo Clinic in Rochester, Minnesota and Gentag, Inc. located in the United Kingdom. The two have partnered to develop next-generation wireless, disposable patch sensors that will enable researches to track patient conditions such as diabetes and obesity.
According to Stacy Lawrence, reporting for Fierce Medical Devices, the two companies plan to pair pooled patents that deal with wearable patch sensors and wireless communication technologies. They plan to combine and market the technologies as well as work with third parties via licensing to develop products.
Plans are “to combine Mayo Clinic’s Micro-Miniature Transceiver chip with Gentag’s radar-responsive tag technology to create a new kind of communication chip that combines near field communication, body area networks, as well as long-range wireless communication and geolocation technologies, ” wrote Lawrence.
One of the first products to result from the collaboration may be a wearable patch sensor that is wireless and disposable and that will remotely monitor patient movements via smartphone.
“We are hoping that this technology will be game-changer. These patch biosensors may help us reduce global obesity and diabetes, ” says James Levine, M.D., a Mayo Clinic endocrinologist and obesity researcher, “They are accurate, inexpensive, and can be integrated into the care people receive.”
Dr. John Peeters, an expert on biomarkers, sensors, and nanotechnologies, founded Gentag in 2001 He holds 81 issued patents and holds a doctorate in applied biology from Cambridge University in the UK.
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This is a fascinating development. In my practice we've seen similar outcomes with the revised protocol. The key differentiator seems to be patient selection criteria. Has anyone else noticed the correlation with BMI thresholds?
Great point. I'd push back slightly on the conclusion, the sample size in the cited study is too small to draw population-level inferences. That said, the directional signal is compelling and worth a larger RCT.
We implemented a similar approach last year. Early results are promising but we're still gathering 12-month follow-up data. Happy to share our protocol if anyone is interested.
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