Companies Ally to Develop Wearable Patch Sensor for Vitals

Avery Dennison Medical Solutions (ADMS) and Preventice Inc. have teamed to produce patch-based, wearable sensors for clinical monitoring of a patient’s unique physiological characteristics together. The companies have complementary assets to offer the development of the product, ADMS being a branding company that also produces pressure-sensitive technology and materials, and Preventice as a provider of mobile health applications and remote monitoring systems. ADMS is based in Pasadena, Calif., and Preventice in Minneapolis, Minn.

Mobile health applications, such as those developed by Preventice, have the potential to improve the doctor-patient relationship by establishing a constant connection and exchange of information between care providers and their patients. This connection encourages patients to stay engaged in actively managing their health while away from their health care providers, and feeds data to clinicians about a patient’s health status without impacting their daily lifestyle. Richard Katz, M.D., of George Washington University Hospital in Washington, D.C., said at a recent press conference regarding wireless medical devices, that patients are more likely to use medical devices if they are accessible. Companies such as Preventice are at the forefront of current discussion and research into wireless security with the advent of more and more wireless medical technologies.

“Preventice has a unique understanding of clinical care delivery, which when combined with their expertise in mobile device platforms, remote monitoring protocols, algorithms, data management and electronic medical record integration, gives us an advantage in the marketplace,” said Howard Kelly, vice president and general manager of ADMS. “Together, we will leverage these strengths, along with Metria wearable sensor technology, to offer clinical remote monitoring applications that address the unmet needs of healthcare providers, while helping improve patients’ quality of life and reducing costs.”

The Metria sensing device is a small sensor worn on the body and is attached using a skin-friendly adhesive. The sensor is built to gather a variety of patient information, from heart rate and respiration to sleep duration and activity levels. Once the sensors capture this information, it is transmitted wirelessly to a computer system and interpreted by algorithms. These calculations analyze data, detect trends and facilitate decision making by healthcare professionals. Patients can view the results through a smart phone or web browser. This interface can summarize results, report on trends, and once patient information is interpreted, caregivers and healthcare professionals can provide feedback and support as necessary. ADMS will develop a new version of Metria for use on the Preventice Care platform, which the company claims creates a real-time, continuous connection between patients and healthcare providers through mobile, cloud-based and sensor technology.

“The potential to improve clinical care through the use of on-body sensors and remote monitoring is endless,” said Jon Otterstatter, co-founder, president and CEO of Preventice. “We’re confident that the addition of Avery Dennison Medical Solutions to our ecosystem of partners who are focused on healthcare innovation creates a new level of sophistication in monitoring technology.”