20 Smart Health Products Changing The Healthcare IT Landscape in 2017

FINALLY! Value-based care may become a reality. Big data and the Internet of Things are popping off signs of catching up with the healthcare industry—and promise to make a remarkable difference. Tiny, implantable tags can be used in the human system to not only detect adverse health conditions before they erupt but also interpret the results therein.

If that word “implantable” jolts the membranes out of your cells, there are also wireless, software based, and wearable medical devices changing the health scene from this year going forward. In fact, there is quite a bunch out there. And it is only wise to cut right through the teasers and learn about the most promising, 20 smart medical devices that are changing healthcare in 2017 and beyond.

We saw some of those on the run up to, during, and, now, after CES 2016. Below are some of the best-connected health technologies leading the way. These carry the most potential for helping care for more people and at lower cost—hopefully.

20 Smart Health Products for Healthcare that Could Improve your Health Now

We start with the most obvious one—or, at least, the most doable, least weird one.

1. GingerIO

There is no doubt that life in the 21st century has become more stressful than the last three centuries combined. GingerIO is the company seeking to help you take control of depression and anxiety right from your pocket.

To help with this, get one of GingerIO’s mobile apps and experience the power of mobile healthcare apps.

How you communicate tells a lot about your mental health. According to GingerIO, their apps for portables such as tablets, smartphones, and laptops leverage on the company’s database of over 1.6 billion data points and screening results of over 500,000 patients to determine your stress levels. This information is then analyzed by the technology and promptly sent to a caregiver, guardian or the actual patient to help with finding personalized mental care.

2. Helium Digital Pills by Proteus Discover

How Proteus Discover works is a sci-fi kind of explanation. We’ll try to explain.

The concept is not merely about one medical device but that of an entire smart system leveraging the connectivity power of your smartphone, tablet, and computer to relay the important bits of alerts, warnings and reminders to care for yourself.

It all starts with patients swallowing the digital pills. The tablets contain ingestible sensors. Upon swallowing, the sensors relay, among others, the time of swallowing, heart rate, body temperature, rest and activity rates as well as basal metabolic rate. The information collected is then wirelessly (but of course) transmitted to the accompanying wearable patch that comes with the Proteus Discover diagnostics package. From there, that medical data is transferred to the mobile device of the relevant patient, guardian, nurse or doctor for determining best health practices.

3. Maxio—the Med Robot

Perfint Healthcare is already a well-known industry player. The company’s newest smart medical device is Maxio, a robot designed to assist human doctors within the image-guided interventional procedures. These include fine needle aspiring, ablation and biopsy.

Maxio brings all the planning, execution and validation of ablation procedures in a single system—and in crisp, clean 3D.

4. Robio

Still sticking with Perfint Healthcare, their other Robo-med, Robio, is different from Maxio.

Robio is meant to be more into targeting cancerous and non-cancerous tumors and in tool placing. What that means is that the robot can help clinicians determine a patient has an abnormal lump in the body, and if this has been posted for biopsy. Also, Robio EX can check patient pain, procedure times and radiation exposure.

Both technologies are already being spread to aid in the ferocious fight against cancer. It is official; robots join humans to combat cancer.

5. LiftWare

There is a smart way to help pick up, eat and spill less food in case you experience hand tremors.

LiftWare by Lift Labs claims to stabilize a utensil you are using by up to 70% compared to your hand. The gadget itself consists of a stabilizing handle and your preferred utensil—and automatically turns on immediately both are connected. To turn it off, just place it with the face of the utensil facing down.

The utensil could be a soup spoon, everyday spoon or fork. Each of the three comes with a $34.95 price tag, with the starter kit (one everyday spoon and stabilizing handle) selling for $195. For that much, you also get a battery charger and pouch to carry LiftWare anywhere you like eat.

6. Gene-Radar

What if diagnosing infectious diseases was as fast as checking mail on a high-speed WI-FI connection? Well, maybe not that fast but you get the idea.

This smart medical device the size of an iPad determines a disease almost instantaneously. Developed by Nanobyosym, the device accomplishes this by leveraging on its accompanying mobile apps to “read” and “identify” a particular disease’s tell-tale signs or biomarkers.

Currently, CASIS, the nonprofit arm of space organization, NASA, has selected the health care product for further verification aboard the International Space Station (ISS) some 250 miles up above the Earth. But the health tech will not stay there forever, and healthcare professionals applaud the fact that this is the ultimate, handheld kit to test for infectious diseases such as Ebola, Malaria and HIV remotely, within a short span of time, and to corner further spreads as soon as they are detected.

Check out Gene-Radar here

It needs no running water, trained staff, or electricity to orchestrate its genius.

7. Smart Test Tube

Smart Medical Technologies’ development is a tube for blood collection that integrates an embedded RFID chip for both identifying and storing the information of blood put in them.

The chip ensures doctors no longer need that tiring paperwork to label specimens. Instead, the information they require is accurately and securely saved under the intelligent test tube on the tiny chip’s memory using USB connection with the feeding computer.

The data can then be encrypted to protect patients’ privacy, as well peg down chances of having that information corrupted—security.

8. MedWand

It is about time you did not have to get to the clinic, wait out in the crowded waiting room, only to have that cold doctor physically examine your vitals.

If you agree, MedWand could be your next home medical cabinet installation in just a short time. The device captures essential medical data in a private video session with your doctor from wherever you are. That could be from your couch at home, on the road in your car, or just out and about in a park.

The information taken by the smart medical device includes data regarding the condition of your eyes, nose, throat, lungs and heart. MedWand will also get your pulse rate and temperature, after which it securely relays that sensitive data to your doctor as well as stores it on the cloud over MedWand servers.

From there, you can access your medical history from your smart portable device such as a smartphone. Also, your doctor can then receive alerts anytime any symptoms shoot up higher than usual.

9. Stethee – Smart Stethoscope

In 2015, start up, Medic8 Health, halted their Kickstarter funds drive first to seek medical permission to release their Do-It-Yourself stethoscope.

This year maybe the time they release the wireless home-based version of the regular doctor’s cord. After all, Medic8 Health had already won over $500,000 out of the target $700,000 to kick start the development to reality.

If this comes to fruition, then expect to take medical readings on your vitals from home, be able to link Stethee to your smartphone or tablet, from where you can analyze and share the information with other concerned parties if you like.

10. Bloom Ring from Prima Temps

Want to find out when you can try for a baby?

Bloom Ring may help give that answer. This temperature sensor is self-inserted. After this, it helps detect pre-ovulation changes in temperature and pings you with an alert direct to your smartphone to let you know the night is yours to try—well, or keep off happy hour if you are not looking forward to conceiving.

When its development is complete, the device will be able to link out to your smartphone via its accompanying fertility app to accurately determine the meaning of those subtle changes.

11. MiniMed 640G Smart Guard Pump for diabetics

Medtronic’s solution to the nagging, day-to-day diabetes challenge is in making a smart insulin regulator to help diabetics around the world to regulate and stay on top of symptoms.

This automatic pump system turns off when it detects a diabetics sugar level is falling, effectively helping the person from drowsing into hypoglycemia. The new and spanking fresh MiniMed 640G System mimics how a healthy pancreas regulates blood sugar levels in the body to help steady your basal metabolism rate effectively and efficiently. Doubtless one of the smart medical devices on the market right now, it can connect to Bayer’s easy to use blood sugar meter wirelessly and relay accurate data regarding your glucose levels in real time.

Also, part of the MiniMed 640G system is a Guardian 2 Link Transmitter and an Enlite Sensor to help monitor glucose level continuously while at your own comfort patch. Add the company’s software offerings, which come packed together with the hardware, and it can get pretty exciting to stomp over diabetes—whether type 1 or type 2.

12. The Scanadu Urine Testing Smart Medical Device

Seeking FDA’s clearance is a disposable paddle to test for great health in perhaps one of the best samples to do so—urine. Of course, urine is the great way to tell on your body’s health condition.

To successfully take a test, you will need to dip the Scanadu Urine device in a urine sample, light up the accompanying Scanadu App for your phone, then use the phone’s camera to read colour change on that paddle. Doesn’t matter what colour shows up, the Scanadu App will interpret the results on your behalf and all in under 60 seconds, according to the startup.

The information the Scanadu App retrieves from the data collected is shareable too. So you can connect to your doctor online, share your vitals, and rest assured some infectious disease is not creeping up on you.

If all goes well after that FDA assessment, the company is promising to release another smart medical device they are calling Scanadu Scout, which can serve even more purposes such as testing for blood pressure and taking pulse rates and temperature.

13. Cue Kit

While Scanadu plays to the tune of the FDA, Cue is taking DIY medical testing to the home in smart mode.This test kit for the home is good for use to collect, say, saliva samples to determine testosterone levels, blood to gauge inflammation, and nasal fluid to diagnose flu. Place the rod in a cartridge, where special sensors collect the vital data, process and convert it into digital information that is then picked up by the accompanying app on your phone.

Like the Scanadu Urine, the Cue Kit uses Bluetooth Low Energy (BLE) to connect to your smartphone, so power problems should not be problematic at all wherever you choose to take your important gauge with you. If you prefer, you can use the Cue Smart Recommendation function to tune your diet for better health.

In case you are wondering, the Cue Kit is available for pre-order for $199 (138.78 GBP), including a bunch of cartridges.

14. Eyenaemia

Eyenaemia makes screening for anaemia as cool and simple as taking a selfie. So simple, you will not want to encounter a doctor again.

The Australian team consisting of Jarrel Seah and Jennifer Tang, are currently working overtime to bring Eyenaemia to life. And after winning a $50,000 award from the Gates Foundation to boost development, it is easy to believe this duo can deliver pretty soon.

What Eyenaemia does is analyze your eye’s conjunctiva and calculate the risk of anaemia. So you can pass on the idea of visiting your doctor for a long, cumbersome and challenging blood test to gauge iron levels in your blood system. Just selfie it from the eye and have the Eyenaemia App comb through years and stacks of medical literature, tests, and insights, and then advise you what’s up. However, we will have to wait up until the app is complete.

15. PeriCoach

Analytica’s tool helps measure how good you are exercising your pelvic flooring and if you are even doing enough of it.The conveniently tiny, smart medical device for women is an insatiable one. It is also linked to a mobile app from where ladies can determine if they are doing those pelvic floor exercises just right.

This device is especially useful for women who may be experiencing urinary incontinence—a condition that distresses scores of women globally beyond childbirth.

PeriCoach will ping you with alerts, so you do not forget your daily workout. If and when you do the workout, the smart little thing supplies live responses to the app, letting you know if you are doing the squeezes right or if you need to make some stepping up.

16. Physitrack

This one is not exactly a medical device. What makes it interesting, though, is that it works frigging good with your trusty smartphone. With your smartphone at its hardware, you can move about with the software—which is what Physitrack is, mostly.Step right into it, and the software hosts over 2400 HD videos on various exercise routines you can use to better that back pain or whichever condition or health goal you set out to achieve. Physitrack hosts live outcome tracking features and inbuilt reminders to help keep you motivated and to keep on keeping on and make the best version of your healthy self.

The free PhysiApp patient app is available on both Google Play and the App Store for Android and IOS devices, respectively. The software is also accessible via the web.

This fresh and useful pie of healthcare device innards is also (conveniently) compatible with Apple Health’s Healthkit, and works with Cliniko and MyAstro as well.

17. iTBra

Early breast screening is the one thing women anywhere around the world are always encouraged to take up to prevent the unchecked development of breast cancer. Early breast screening saves lives.

Empowering women’s breast health awareness is Cyrcadia Health’s goal, and they are advancing on that target with this new hardware. That, they promise to achieve by helping women across the globe to use a comfortable, discreet, smart wearable tech to receive breast healthiness screening in the privacy of their homes on a monthly basis.

Cyrcadia Health claims just wearing their iTBra tech for 12 hours straight will not only be comfortable, even for women with denser breast tissue but also help conduct a “highly accurate”, monthly breast wellness exam without needing trained help.

The technology has already been tested successfully in 500 patients, and the company claims iTBra scored a pretty on point 87% correspondence to a confirmed, clinical diagnosis of breast cancer.

18. Vitaliti

Cloud DX’s neck bracelet is a cool wearable to sport and scrutinize your vitals wherever and whenever.

Pretty much like the Cue Kit above, Vitaliti reads and records your heart rate, body temperature, blood pressure, and so on when you have it on around the neck. To do so, the neckpiece hosts two sensors that fire the reads when in contact with the user’s skin.In total, the device automatically detects 16 conditions, including diabetes mellitus, urinary tract infection, sleep apnea and iron deficiency anaemia, and, of course, the absence of any health concerns. The information the Vitaliti Tricorder records is then received, recorded, analysed and interpreted by the accompanying mobile app—available for both Android and IOS devices.

19. QuardioCore

Need a powerful, wireless heart health monitor?

QuardioCore provides a high-tech, wireless ECG system–like functionality to rival the best, and larger systems in hospitals almost everywhere. The EKG/ECG monitor is clinically validated to monitor accurately and continuously your heart rate, stress and activity levels, electrocardiogram, respiratory rate and body temperature, among others on three channels.

The hardware also promises to sneak right under your workout outfit discreetly and comfortably, as well as utilise all of its six sensor levels, slim profile, and water resistant frame to help keep you heart healthy in style.

QuardioCore has its own internal memory, where it gathers and saves your wellness data awaiting deeper analysis. Users can then take to the accompanying IOS app to interpret the data and make something healthy out of it.

20. Quell Relief

This intelligent knee brace renders the traditional knee braces pretty archaic.

The company claims about 80% of users have reported improvements and lessened knee pain after using the device. It also claims its product is 100% drug-free technology and should be okay for anyone to fit right on and take back what knee pain has taken away from them.

Claims aside, Quell is indeed FDA cleared. The wearable intensive nerve stimulation tech is medically passed for use to manage chronic pain both during active day times and during rest at nighttimes.

Healthcare IT in a Nutshell