Wearable Tech and the Internet of Things (Iot)

An easy-to-use test, which uses the same type of lateral flow technology as most rapid antigen tests for COVID-19, measures the level of neutralizing antibodies that target the SARS-CoV-2 virus in a blood sample. This kind of test could help people determine what kind of precautions they should take against COVID infection, such as getting an additional booster shot. The test is designed so that different viral spike proteins can be swapped in, allowing it to be modified to detect immunity against any existing or future variant of SARS-CoV-2, the researchers say. The device can detect the presence of antibodies that block the SARS-CoV-2 receptor binding domain (RBD) from binding to ACE2, the human receptor that the virus uses to infect cells. The 1st step in the test is to mix human blood samples with viral RBD protein that has been labeled with tiny gold particles that can be visualized when bound to a paper strip. After allowing time for antibodies in the sample to interact with the viral protein, a few drops of the sample are placed on a test strip embedded with two test lines. The researchers have filed for a patent on the technology and are now hoping to partner with a diagnostic company that could manufacture the devices and seek FDA approval.

– Apple has shared a new report that offers a snapshot of the ways Apple products are empowering people to be at the center of their health, and acting as an intelligent guardian for their health and safety. – The report covers Apple’s two-pronged approach to advancing health: Apple’s focus on personal health and fitness features on Apple Watch and iPhone, and Apple’s work with the medical community to support research and care. Since the release of the Health app in 2014 and the Apple Watch in 2015, Apple has introduced a wide array of innovative health and fitness features, with the goal to provide users with easy-to-understand, meaningful insights so they can be empowered to live a healthier life. 

The 4 pillars of Apple’s Health and Fitness features include:

1. Giving users a central and secure place to store and view their health data in the Health app

2. Offering features that enable Apple Watch to act as an intelligent guardian for users’ health

3. Offering features that help users improve their everyday health and fitness for better health outcomes,

4. Fueling innovative third-party health and fitness apps with developer tools.

Users can now store over 150 different types of health data from Apple Watch, iPhone, and connected third-party apps and devices in one central view in the Health app, in addition to available health records data from connected institutions in the US, UK, and Canada. Numerous apps, including globally popular apps like Nike Run Club, Calm, and WeightWatchers, on the App Store, use the HealthKit API, which allows developers to incorporate data users choose to share from the Health app to offer innovative health and fitness experiences, with rigorous privacy and data security protocols.

Smartwatches have come a long, long way, however, you need to understand that they are still not full replacements for other more robust health & medical monitoring tools. It has been some time since the smartwatches started offering sensors such as SpO2 but every time we see a smartwatch come with such as sensor, we are informed that the sensors on these watches are not actual replacements for medical-grade tools or sensors that are used in medical industry. Now, a latest report shows that the Galaxy Watch 4 could become a really useful tool for medical purposes. Based on the report, the Galaxy Watch 4 could become an important tool for accurate measurement of OSA (Obstructive Sleep Apnea) shows a study conducted by Samsung Medical Center and Samsung Electronics. The study was published by National Sleep Foundation medical journal "Sleep Health," monitored 97 adults with sleep disturbances and concluded that the Galaxy Watch 4 could potentially help overcome the high cost associated with the traditional tools that are used for measurement. The Galaxy Watch 4 is equipped with a reflectance pulse oximeter module that stays in touch with the skin of the wearer when they are wearing the watch. The SpO2 sensor also brings 8 photodiodes that manage to sense the reflected light and captures PPG signals at a sampling frequency of 25Hz.  For those who do not know, Obstructive Sleep Apnea is a common sleep disorder and an estimated of 38% adults actually suffer from this disorder. Up to 50% of men and 25% women in the middle-age populace actually face severe to moderate OSA. The researchers also discovered that the readings captured with the Samsung smartwatch and the traditional medical device simultaneously were aligned, and it proved that the Galaxy Watch 4 can actually take accurate measurements of oxygen saturation during sleep. This could help the Galaxy Watch 4 customer along with the future smartwatches cut down on medical bills as well as all the costs associated with in-hospital procedures.

Qualcomm's long-awaited update to its smartwatch SoC line is official, meet the "Qualcomm Snapdragon W5+ Gen1" and "Snapdragon W5 Gen1." QCOM promises that the chips provide the company's "most advanced leap yet," which is not saying much for a company that previously went six years between major smartwatch chip releases. The W5+ does seem like a major update, though QCOM is promising "2X performance across CPU, GPU, camera, memory, and video/audio," "50% longer battery life" providing "days of use," and a "30% smaller" chip for sleeker designs. The W5 is built on a state-of-the-art 4 nm manufacturing process, outfitting the IC with 4 ARM Cortex A53 CPUs running at ~1.7 GHz and an Adreno A702 GPU. The "plus" version includes a 2nd 22-nm SOC based on the Cortex M55 for screen-off background processes. QCOM promises low-power islands for Wi-Fi, GPS, and audio so that those features can be used without lighting up the whole chip. The SoC has support for an LTE modem, Wi-Fi 802.11n (aka Wi-Fi 4), and Bluetooth 5.3, bu only the "plus" version gets that co-processor.  Its competition, the Samsung Exynos W920, has two A55 cores built on a 5-nm process, so QCOM has the process node advantage, but Samsung is using newer cores, and Qualcomm is using 4 cores compared to Samsung's 2. It sounds like the two chips will split single-thread and multi-thread victories. At the very least, the QCOM chip is competitive, hopefully marking a new era of the company taking the smartwatch market more seriously. Due out this fall.

The upcoming Apple Watch Series 8 will reportedly come with a body temperature sensor that can tell whether you’re running a fever, according to a report from Bloomberg’s Mark Gurman. Instead of giving you an exact reading, Gurman believes the watch should be able to detect a spike in body temperature, and then encourage you to talk to a doctor or use a thermometer.  Gurman says the body temperature sensor still has to pass internal testing, and if it does, Apple’s expected to incorporate the feature in the Watch Series 8, as well as the rumored “rugged” smartwatch for extreme sports athletes. The upcoming entry-level Apple Watch SE likely won’t have the sensor, though. Previous reports from Gurman and The Wall Street Journal indicate that the body temperature sensor could also be used for fertility tracking — shifts in body temperature could help someone determine when they’re more likely to get pregnant, or predict when they’re going to get their period. Gurman only mentioned fever detection in his most recent report, so it’s still unclear how (or if) Apple plans on adding cycle-tracking capabilities.  Aside from the body temperature sensor, Gurman says any other changes to the Apple Watch’s hardware “will probably be minor” and also hints at the possibility of an improved display in higher-end models. Gurman predicted last week that the Series 8 processor will have the same level of performance as the previous S7 and S6 chips — we likely won’t see an upgrade until 2023. In terms of health-tracking features on other upcoming devices, Gurman says the new model of AirPods Pro, which is rumored to have a focus on fitness, likely won’t arrive with temperature or heart rate detection this year.

Mojo Vision, a California-based company wants to make Augmented Reality (AR) capable smart contact lenses, has already conducted the first human trial of its technology. Last week, the company's CEO Drew Perkins became the 1st person to use the contact lenses and shared his experience in a blog post.  It was only a few months ago, that we reported how Mojo Vision is working on these smart contact lenses capable of projecting images while sitting on the eye. The company aims to achieve this by packing the world's densest display on a surface that is not more than 0.5 mm in diameter. In addition to the display, the contact lens also consists of an inbuilt gyroscope, accelerometer as well as a magnetometer that works to track your eye movements to ensure that the AR imagery being displayed holds still, while your eye moves. Not to forget the micro batteries on the device that keep it running through the day as well as recharge wirelessly.  -  MojoVision wants its users to experience bright text, rich graphics, and even video content through these smart contact lenses, whether they are indoors, outdoors, or even when their eyes are closed.  The company has developed its own intuitive interface that works using eye-tracking technology so that users do not need to make gestures or use a smartphone to interact with the content being relayed. Mojo Lens also has plans to open up its device to app developers who will be able to add more features. So, users of upcoming trials will also provide inputs on the software and apps and how they perform on the device, which will be used to fine-tune the experience of using this device. "This is a tool that can give people an invisible assistant throughout their day to stay focused without losing access to the information they need to feel confident in any situation," Perkins wrote in the blog post. "Mojo Vision has created a smart contact lens with capabilities that were considered impossible outside of science fiction. Until today."

Apple isn’t inventing anything new with its medication tracking feature for iPhone and Apple Watch, which the company announced as part of watchOS 9 at WWDC 2022 this week. There are plenty of apps already on the market that give people alerts when they’re supposed to take their medications. But trying to get people to take their drugs regularly is a major problem in healthcare, and around half of the people prescribed medications for chronic conditions don’t take them as instructed. That non-adherence costs the healthcare system hundreds of billions of dollars a year because people get sicker when they don’t take their meds properly. And even though the tool doesn’t have everything on experts’ wish lists for the ideal drug app, a tech company like Apple entering the ring could be a helpful development.

“I think it is a step in the right direction,” says Seth Heldenbrand, an associate professor of pharmacy practice at the University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences. I think it is a step in the right direction.” The tool lets users input a list of the medications they take and set a specific reminder schedule for each drug. When it’s time to take a med, people get an alert on their iPhone or Apple Watch. Then, they can hit “taken” or “skipped” to log the dose. The Health app will track how often a user takes their meds over time. These types of nudges can help improve medication adherence, research shows. It’s helpful for the subset of patients where forgetting to take a drug is the main reason that they’re not adhering to a treatment plan, says Mary de Vera, an associate professor at the University of British Columbia who studies medication adherence. But it’s less helpful for other groups: if someone isn’t taking medication because they don’t understand why it’s necessary, a smartphone alert isn’t going to solve the problem. People who use Apple’s medication app will be able to share their medication history with family members or others through the Health app’s sharing feature. That could give doctors insight into how their patients are taking medications, which Heldenbrand says is useful information. But it’d only be one-sided through the app — and one-sided communication around medication has historically been less successful than a system where doctors can write back, de Vera says. Nudges tend to work better if they’re part of a positive feedback loop with providers. Just offering up a reminder feature might not drive major changes, particularly around something as challenging as medication adherence. “A patient might have a high internal motivation to start using something like this and interacting with it — but do they keep using it, and does it actually help them take their medications? That adherence needle is a hard needle,” Heldenbrand says.

For iPhone users, this feature would be more accessible than some standalone apps already on the market. Users wouldn’t have to figure out how to download and set up a separate program, especially if they’re already using the Health app. Because this is in the existing Apple ecosystem, it also means users aren’t sending their health data to another third party. “That provides a layer of protection for patients’ privacy,” Heldenbrand says.

Apps also come and go, and a tech giant like Apple offers more stability to someone’s routine — which experts say could be good for getting people to keep taking their medicine. “This is like long game, especially when we’re talking about medication adherence,” de Vera says. “For some patients, it’s lifelong. So you need a player that is going to play the long game.”

A medication feature means people and their doctors could see how medication adherence is related to changes in things like sleep, exercise, and heart rhythm on the Health app. Those relationships could also be valuable to researchers looking at big-picture trends. Right now, even though there’s data to show that some people take medications more regularly when they’re using an app, it’s not clear if or how much that goes on to improve their health, Heldenbrand says. “That’s the million dollar question right now.”

Of course, that would require Apple to decide to either share information with researchers or launch their own studies to answer some of these questions. If they do, though, there could be a lot to learn. “It’d be very rich,” de Vera says. “And it would lead to a better understanding of how patients are taking their medications.”

Qualcomm has introduced a wireless version of its AR Smart Viewer powered by the Snapdragon XR2 chipset, The reference design could be used by OEMs could adapt into commercial headsets.  QCOM's new wireless version of its Augmented Reality (AR) Smart Viewer, a reference design that manufacturers . The Wireless AR Smart Viewer updates QCOM's earlier smart glasses design with a higher-powered chipset, plus a tethering system that uses Wi-Fi 6 / 6E and Bluetooth instead of a USB-C cable. That comes with the tradeoff of a potentially very short battery life — although Qualcomm says consumer-ready versions might be designed differently. (Obviously QCOM doesn't know how to manage tradeoff in design if they still have this tradeoff in the design, QCOM needs to learn Inventive Design and Competitive Engineering practices I would argue).  

A comparison between Qualcomm’s wired and wireless glasses
It's substantially smaller than the non-consumer-focused Magic Leap 2, that offers closer to 70 degrees. In its favor, the Smart Viewer has a slimmer profile than either the wired Smart Viewer and most competitors.  Current tech probably can’t support some of AR’s most obvious applications, like creating a set of virtual monitors you can use all day at work.   Read on for more AR details.

Scientists have developed a new way to design and build soft robots that could lead to new assistive and rehabilitative devices having made considerable progress with soft robots used for assistive wearables, rehabilitative technologies and more. Powered by compressed air, they offer advantages over regular robots like sensing capabilities, soft touch, and high power-to-input ratios.

Designing and building them has been a challenge, however, due to the need for a manual design and fabrication pipeline that has a lot of trial and error in the process. Scientists from MIT's Computer Science and Artificial Intelligence Laboratory (CSAIL) have come up with a new pipeline called "PneuAct" that uses computers and a special knitting process to design and digitally fabricate the soft pneumatic actuators. Their work could eventually lead to new assistive and rehabilitative devices. "PneuAct uses a machine knitting process — not dissimilar to your grandma's plastic needle knitting — but this machine operates autonomously," according to CSAIL researchers. The designer simply needs to specify the stitch and sensor design patterns in software to program actuator movements, which can be simulated before printing. The textile piece is then fabricated by the knitting machine, which is fixed to a rubber silicone tube to complete the actuator.  The new devices are considerably improved over older designs, incorporating programmed bending when inflated and the ability to incorporate feedback. "For example, the team used the actuators to build a robot that sensed when it was touched specifically by human hands, and reacted to that touch," the team wrote. The glove could be worn to supplement finger muscle movement, adding extra force for grasping to help people with finger or hand injuries.  The team plans to explore actuators with different shapes, and incorporate task-driven designs with target poses and optimal stitch patterns. "Our software tool is fast, easy to use, and it accurately previews users' designs, allowing them to quickly iterate virtually while only needing to fabricate once," said Harvard University's Andrew Spielberg, an author on the paper.

The actuators use conductive yarn for sensing so they can essentially "feel" or respond to what they grab. As proof of concept, the team developed several prototypes including an assistive glove, soft hand, interactive robot and a pneumatic walking quadruped, as shown in the video above.

Flexible implanted electronics are a step closer toward clinical applications. thanks to a recent breakthrough technology that uses in-house silicon carbide technology as a new platform for long-term electronic biotissue interfaces. The system consists of silicon carbide (SiC) nanomembranes as the contact surface and silicon dioxide as the protective encapsulation, showing unrivalled stability and maintaining its functionality in biofluids. The researchers demonstrated multiple modalities of impedance and temperature sensors, and neural stimulators together with effective peripheral nerve stimulation in animal models. The concept of the silicon carbide flexible electronics provides promising avenues for neuroscience and neural stimulation therapies, which could offer live-saving treatments for chronic neurological diseases and stimulate patient recovery.

A new type of pain relief involves wrapping a tiny strip of material around nerves to prevent them from sending pain signals to the brain.

Why this matters:  Northwestern University researchers announced they've developed a fresh, new angle on pain relief -- and critically, one that doesn't require the use of highly addictive opioids. It's a small, soft, stretchy device that can be implanted under a patient's skin to gently wrap around nerves responsible for troubling pain signals.  If this prototype passes all necessary safety and experimental trials, it could one day replace toxic opioids for patients who live with chronic pain.  Once the device has fulfilled its duties, it dissolves naturally into the body like an absorbable stitch. No surgical extraction required.   "As engineers, we are motivated by the idea of treating pain without drugs -- in ways that can be turned on and off instantly, with user control over the intensity of relief," Rogers said. "Our implant demonstrates in animal model studies that this effect can be produced in a programmable way, directly and locally to targeted nerves, even those deep within surrounding soft tissues."  "As you cool down a nerve, the signals that travel through the nerve become slower and slower -- eventually stopping completely," Matthew MacEwan of Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis and study co-author said in a statement. "We are specifically targeting peripheral nerves, which connect your brain and your spinal cord to the rest of your body."  "By delivering a cooling effect to just one or two targeted nerves," MacEwan continued, "we can effectively modulate pain signals in one specific region of the body."

Vodafone is working with Google to extend the battery life of a smartwatch by reducing the "chatter" between the device and the network, a bigger drain of energy than screen brightness and other settings targeted by low power modes. The mobile operator has developed an API (application programming interface) that enables apps and operating systems, such as Google's Android Wear OS, to reconfigure how they communicate with its network.  "With wearables, such as smartwatches and other devices, battery life is incredibly important for our users," .Given the small size of battery in smartwatches, changing these parameters could extend the life of the device "very significantly", There's a cost in performance but the API could save users enough power to last until the end of a long run.

The tech stems from Vodafone's involvement in a 2017 project with elite runner Kenenisa Bekele to break the 2-hour marathon barrier.

The amount of data transmitted by sensors in the attempt drained a smartwatch battery in less than an hour,  "Bekele was fast, but he wasn't that fast," he said. "In a couple of years we were able to extend the (battery) life to 3 and 1/2 hours." The technology could be available in Wear OS in the coming months adding that "many more" wearables partners were interested in the API.

Montblanc could be the 1st manufacturer outside of Samsung to release a smartwatch running Wear OS 3, the latest version of Google’s wrist-worn operating system. Like its previous smartwatches, the Summit 3 launches with an eye-watering price tag of ~$1,314 USD, its focus is more on being a fashion accessory than pushing the boundaries of what a smartwatch is capable of, and goes on sale globally on July 15th. Wear OS 3 is the most significant update to Google’s smartwatch operating system in years, but it’s only currently available on a pair of Samsung smartwatches: the Galaxy Watch 4 and the Galaxy Watch 4 Classic, which released last year. That means we’re yet to experience the software without Samsung’s apps and services layered on top. Promised benefits of Wear OS 3 over Wear OS 2 include better battery life, improved load times, and smoother animations. Montblanc’s Summit 3 comes with a typical set of smartwatch features. There’s support for step tracking, sleep monitoring, blood oxygen measurement, and workout tracking. Google Maps supplies directions, Google Pay offers payments, and Google Play is available to download additional apps. The watch is powered by Qualcomm’s Snapdragon Wear 4100 Plus processor.

Excellent wrap up of the Smartwatch Market by CounterPoint. Smartwatch Market Share by Brand:  The global smartwatch market grew 13% YoY, reaching shipments at 33.7 million units in Q1 2022 and continued double-digit growth for the 5th consecutive quarter. Apple maintained a solid lead and increased 14% YoY in Q1 2022. Some shipments carried over to Q1 2022 due to a month late launch of Apple Watch 7, which helped continue the strength of the brand.

Smartwatch Market Share by Region: While most major regions grew YoY, only Europe recorded flat growth. Although Apple and Samsung continued to grow year-over-year, other major brands such as Garmin and Fitbit performed weakly in the European market during this period.

The science-fiction is harder to see in Google's 2nd try at augmented - reality glasses with a built-in computer.  A decade after the debut of Google Glass, a nubby, sci-fi-looking pair of specs that filmed what wearers saw but raised concerns about privacy and received low marks for design, the Alphabet unit on Wednesday previewed a yet-unnamed pair of standard-looking glasses that display translations of conversations in real time and showed no hint of a camera. The reveal of the new glasses reflect the company's growing caution amid greater scrutiny on Big Tech. When Google Glass was demonstrated at I/O in 2012, skydivers used it to live stream a jump onto a San Francisco building, with the company getting special air clearance for the stunt. This time around, Google showed only a video of its prototype, which displayed translations for conversations involving English, Mandarin, Spanish and American Sign Language.  It did not specify a release date or immediately confirm that the device lacked a camera. Google's hardware business remains small, with its global market share in smartphones, for instance, under 1%, according to researcher IDC.  The new AR pair of glasses was just one of several longer-term products Google unveiled at its annual Google I/O developer conference aimed at bridging the real world and the company's digital universe of search, Maps and other services using the latest advances in AI.  "What we're working on is technology that enables us to break down language barriers, taking years of research in Google Translate and bringing that to glasses," said Eddie Chung, a director of product management at Google, calling the capability "subtitles for the world." 

Earlier this month Fitbit was granted clearance by the US FDA to passively send notifications when signs of Atrial Fibrillation (AFib) were detected by its smartwatches and trackers. Now, Fitbit is officially rolling out Irregular Heart Rhythm Notifications to nine of its products, including the Sense and Charge 5.  Irregular Heart Rhythm Notifications are what Fitbit has decided to call notifications that alert users of a potential heart problem. AFib is the most common form of irregular heart rhythm, affecting more than 5 million people in the United States alone according to John Hopkins Medicine, and Fitbit says over 33 million are affected globally. AFib is a serious condition that leaves those affected at 5X higher risk of a stroke, according to Fitbit. The technology that powers these notifications on Fitbit is similar to what is used for electrocardiogram (ECG) readings but doesn’t require quite as much hardware. Rather, they rely on Fitbit’s PPG (photoplethysmography) algorithm, which the company claims is 98% effective at detecting these conditions compared to a traditional ECG machine. Where ECG is restricted only to Fitbit Sense and Charge 5, Irregular Heart Rhythm Notifications will be available on nine products, as listed The technology that powers these notifications on Fitbit is similar to what is used for electrocardiogram (ECG) readings but doesn’t require quite as much hardware. Rather, they rely on Fitbit’s PPG (photoplethysmography) algorithm, which the company claims is 98% effective at detecting these conditions compared to a traditional ECG machine.