Wearable Devices in the Medical Sector

Wearable devices is an enormous market with constant advancement in technologies. A market research by IDTechEx Research shows how the wearable devices market was segmented in 2015. The largest segment, Advanced Infotainment, which mostly includes all the smart watches from Apple, and Samsung that sync with smartphones and tablets. The second largest segment is the one with long term prospects and technological potential, the Health, Medical, Fitness and Wellness segment. Biotricity Inc., Koninklijke Philips NV, Medtronic PLC, Fitbit Inc., Apple Inc.
 
A recent report by Frost & Sullivan, a consulting firm which provides market research and analysis, claims that the global healthcare wearable devices market earned revenues of $5.1 billion in 2015 and estimates revenues to reach$18.9 billion in 2020. This suggests a growth of 270% in 5 years. The report further elaborates that new technology will provide commercialized solutions, drive up demand, and wearables in the medical segment dedicated to chronic disease monitoring and other clinical purposes can transform care provision models.
While most companies try to appeal to various segments of the wearable devices markets, some made transforming healthcare industry to help physicians better monitor patients their goal. A little known company Biotricity Inc. is focusing on biometric monitoring solutions for medical, healthcare and consumer use. The company has two devices that will launch into the market this year, Bioflux and Biolife.
 
Bioflux includes an ECG (heart-rhythm) monitoring device, software and access to a monitoring lab. The software component is already FDA approved and a standard for ECG monitoring in hospitals and cardiac clinics. Bioflux is by all means, a medical wearable device, and is only available with a prescription. It performs remote MCT diagnostic monitoring for up to 30 consecutive days and is a solution that enables physicians to diagnose Cardiovascular Disease (CVD) or Coronary Heart Disease (CHD).
 
Biolife is a much more easily accessible device. It is designed to provide health and lifestyle solutions by monitoring ECG, respiration rate, calories, temperature, physical activity and more. The product is currently in development stages and will be ready to hit the market in the near future. Essentially, Biolife is a medical device designed to facilitate disease management, example Cardiovascular monitoring.

Biotricity recently announced the company has appointed Thomas Nelson and J. Bernard Rice to its newly formed Board of Advisors (BOA). “As we continue to look to the future of Biotricity, it’s extremely important that the company receives timely insight and knowledge from industry experts who know and understand our business and what benefits both consumers and the medical community…”, stated Waqaas Al-Siddiq, founder, president and CEO of Biotricity.
 
Companies like Koninklijke Philips NV and Medtronic PLC have been the medical devices business for decades, and it was only a matter of time until they capitalize on wearable devices. Back in 2014 Medtronic acquired Corventis, which made noninvasive cardiac sensors. Medtronic then announced its first medical wearable device, the Seeq Mobile Cardiac Telemetry (MCT) System.
 
Then there is Fitbit. The company’s CEO, James Park, focused heavily on the potential in the medical device segment after the recent earnings report. “We are learning that lack of consumer engagement is a critical missing element in many broad healthcare efforts such as population health and disease management,” he said, “…Since our devices and services are already engaging, Fitbit has incredible opportunity to serve as the consumer healthcare engagement engine.”
 
Playing a wider role in medical wearable devices is becoming a main priority. Despite the impressive growth expectations for this segment, there are some challenges companies will have to deal with in the near term, like high costs and lack of insurance policies. These challenges however are expected to be resolve overtime and are normal to new technologies in the medical field.