Michael Barbella, Managing Editor12.14.22
Henkel and Byteflies are extending their existing partnership to further drive innovative solutions for remote patient monitoring (RPM).
The collaboration aims to further strengthen the combination of Henkel´s medical adhesives and printed electronics expertise with Byteflies' RPM solutions that specifically focus on ECG monitoring. Together, the partners are driving the development of additional RPM solutions on their mission to making virtual care to patients in the hospital and at home.
Today, advanced sensor solutions for wearable devices based on printed electronics enable real-time patient monitoring data collection. The technology offers enormous potential but still poses some challenges for developers and manufacturers (functional material formulations, material compatibility, or form factor, for example). RPM solutions are worn on the body, measure vital signs, and record them. These wearable devices play an important role in supporting disease treatment and improving the quality of life, especially for people with chronic diseases. With their extended partnership, Henkel and Byteflies are further driving the development of additional RPM solutions and contribute to increasing their availability and adoption.
“The latest global developments have exerted pressure onto the global healthcare systems,” added Beate Grobben, head of Business Development EIMEA for printed electronics at Henkel. “We aim to combine our Henkel medical product portfolio, development capabilities, manufacturing support, and customer insights with our medical ecosystem. Only together we can accelerate the development, industrialization, and go-to market of new technology solutions and enable medical professionals to remotely monitor patients—allowing for better patient treatments, shorter hospital stays, and most importantly more patient convenience.”
About the Collaboration
Henkel and Byteflies started their collaboration in 2019 by developing a smart health patch together with Quad Industries and four other partners during the COVID-19 pandemic. At that time, there was a high burden on hospital intensive care units. The novel COVID-19 health patch technologies proved to significantly contribute to time-savings for practioners, reducing the risk of infection and improving the monitoring of health parameters.
Henkel has developed the electrodes and conductive inks. Thanks to these innovative materials, the patch can be used for multiple days rather than just one day while keeping signal quality and patient comfort high.
So far, Byteflies has launched three Care@Home solutions: CovidCare@Home, CardioCare@Home for cardiac arrhythmias, and EpiCare@Home for epilepsy. “We have the ambition to become a world leading partner for healthcare providers to make the transition to virtual care,” Byteflies Co-CEO Hans De Clercq explained. “Our Care@Home end-to-end solutions leverage the power of remote patient monitoring and real-world data to generate actionable insights for healthcare providers and patients. The extension of our partnership with Henkel will help us to scale the technology beyond our initial beachhead market in Belgium and current Care@Home solutions and deliver the most reliable and user-friendly wearable solutions to patients and professionals.”
Henkel operates globally, holding leading positions within its three business units in both industrial and consumer businesses. Henkel Adhesive Technologies is a global leader in the adhesives market. Founded in 1876, Henkel reported 2021 sales of more than €20 billion. The company employs about 53,000 people globally and its preferred shares are listed in the German stock index DAX.
Byteflies was founded in April 2015 by Hans Danneels and Hans De Clercq. In the first five years, Byteflies built up a remote monitoring platform in clinical research and have medically certified the solution. This led to strong partnerships with medical research centers and pharmaceutical companies. In 2020, Byteflies accelerated its path to clinical practice fueled by the COVID-19 pandemic. By mid 2022, Byteflies has monitored more than 1,000 patients in clinical care. Byteflies is active in several areas such as cardiology, neurology, pneumology, oncology, and sleep, and is exploring other areas.
The collaboration aims to further strengthen the combination of Henkel´s medical adhesives and printed electronics expertise with Byteflies' RPM solutions that specifically focus on ECG monitoring. Together, the partners are driving the development of additional RPM solutions on their mission to making virtual care to patients in the hospital and at home.
Today, advanced sensor solutions for wearable devices based on printed electronics enable real-time patient monitoring data collection. The technology offers enormous potential but still poses some challenges for developers and manufacturers (functional material formulations, material compatibility, or form factor, for example). RPM solutions are worn on the body, measure vital signs, and record them. These wearable devices play an important role in supporting disease treatment and improving the quality of life, especially for people with chronic diseases. With their extended partnership, Henkel and Byteflies are further driving the development of additional RPM solutions and contribute to increasing their availability and adoption.
“The latest global developments have exerted pressure onto the global healthcare systems,” added Beate Grobben, head of Business Development EIMEA for printed electronics at Henkel. “We aim to combine our Henkel medical product portfolio, development capabilities, manufacturing support, and customer insights with our medical ecosystem. Only together we can accelerate the development, industrialization, and go-to market of new technology solutions and enable medical professionals to remotely monitor patients—allowing for better patient treatments, shorter hospital stays, and most importantly more patient convenience.”
About the Collaboration
Henkel and Byteflies started their collaboration in 2019 by developing a smart health patch together with Quad Industries and four other partners during the COVID-19 pandemic. At that time, there was a high burden on hospital intensive care units. The novel COVID-19 health patch technologies proved to significantly contribute to time-savings for practioners, reducing the risk of infection and improving the monitoring of health parameters.
Henkel has developed the electrodes and conductive inks. Thanks to these innovative materials, the patch can be used for multiple days rather than just one day while keeping signal quality and patient comfort high.
So far, Byteflies has launched three Care@Home solutions: CovidCare@Home, CardioCare@Home for cardiac arrhythmias, and EpiCare@Home for epilepsy. “We have the ambition to become a world leading partner for healthcare providers to make the transition to virtual care,” Byteflies Co-CEO Hans De Clercq explained. “Our Care@Home end-to-end solutions leverage the power of remote patient monitoring and real-world data to generate actionable insights for healthcare providers and patients. The extension of our partnership with Henkel will help us to scale the technology beyond our initial beachhead market in Belgium and current Care@Home solutions and deliver the most reliable and user-friendly wearable solutions to patients and professionals.”
Henkel operates globally, holding leading positions within its three business units in both industrial and consumer businesses. Henkel Adhesive Technologies is a global leader in the adhesives market. Founded in 1876, Henkel reported 2021 sales of more than €20 billion. The company employs about 53,000 people globally and its preferred shares are listed in the German stock index DAX.
Byteflies was founded in April 2015 by Hans Danneels and Hans De Clercq. In the first five years, Byteflies built up a remote monitoring platform in clinical research and have medically certified the solution. This led to strong partnerships with medical research centers and pharmaceutical companies. In 2020, Byteflies accelerated its path to clinical practice fueled by the COVID-19 pandemic. By mid 2022, Byteflies has monitored more than 1,000 patients in clinical care. Byteflies is active in several areas such as cardiology, neurology, pneumology, oncology, and sleep, and is exploring other areas.