Healthcare Design - April 2020 - 40

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T E C H TA L K

Better sleep-and health-is also coming
via high-tech clothing. For example, Japanese
company Xenoma showed a new line of smart
pajamas and loungewear that not only monitors
sleep but can also detect when the wearer slips
or falls. A bit more unusual, Myant, a Canadianbased company that manufactures technologyconnected textiles (called textile computing),
introduced smart underwear that can monitor
a user's temperature, activity, sleep quality, and
stress level.
Robots and home health companions-
Throughout the health pavilion, myriad products were geared toward home health and
personalized, interactive experiences. Most of
these products had a warm and friendly interface that, combined with artificial intelligence,
humanized the experience using cameras,
microphones, and 3-D sensors to further personalize and customize the interactions.
Catalia Health, a patient engagement company, unveiled a personal companion called Mabu,
an intelligent, socially interactive robot. Partnering with a pharmaceutical company to test the
ability to do symptom management and track
medication adherence trends, Mabu can customize its interactive conversation with each patient.
Pillo is a countertop home health companion
that can keep track of and dispense a person's
medications over time but is highly customizable and capable of doing much more. For example, when it's time for a person to take a dose
of medication, Pillo proactively alerts users as
a way to improve engagement and adherence
to health regimes. It can also send information
to third parties about compliance and be programed to encourage healthier behaviors.
Health and wellness products are part of a
growing industry, but what's interesting to see
is that this industry has a common goal: to help
reduce the cost of preventive care by making access more readily available to a broader base of
people through technology, while also providing
consumers with data that can help with early detection and better decision-making in support of
overall health. Hopefully, in the end, these products will help to reduce the overall cost of care
and future burden on our healthcare system. 

More digital health and wellness products are
hitting the market with the goal to improve access
to preventive care and support overall health
By Debra Levin

OR YEARS I've watched the news coming out of the annual Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas to see
what's new and cool and what might eventually make
its way into my world (I've never met a television that
was too big). Given the growing focus on consumer
health and wellness at the show, I decided to finally
make my way there this past January to take in the
expo hall and the two-day digital health conference.
Here are a few trends I saw that will impact the healthcare design industry in the near and not-too-distant future.
Better health through interactive technology-Many of us already
count daily steps, flights of stairs, calories burned, or overall activity
through a wearable device. In the near future, we'll be able to track even
more through built-in sensors in everyday consumer products and apps
focusing on understanding your state of health and encouraging new behaviors to improve it. For example, the soon-to-be-released Withings
ScanWatch is much closer to a medical device than any other smartwatch
on the market thanks to its ability to scan for heart abnormalities or take
an electrocardiogram at the touch of a button, with the results sent to
your doctor. It also monitors oxygen levels while you sleep at night to look
for signs of sleep apnea. Not long ago, this information was only available
through expensive tests from your care provider, and only episodically.
Now this data is available to you 24/7 for the cost of a $250 watch.
Other wearable devices, such as GoBe3, can automatically track calorie intake (based on the number of calories your body actually absorbs)
and hydration level and can detect your stress level based on skin readings, similar to how a lie-detector test works. New earbuds from Valencell
sense your blood pressure, serving as a way to fight hypertension, one of
the world's most widespread undiagnosed medical conditions.
Sleep, or the lack thereof, is big business-One of the most common
topics discussed during the conference as well as on the expo floor was
sleep-falling asleep, staying asleep, and tracking your sleep. According
to the American Sleep Association, 50-70 million adults in the U.S. struggle with some form of a sleep disorder. In response, tech companies are
creating solutions. For example, the Climate360 smart bed from Sleep
Number can adjust its temperature to help you sleep better. It warms
your feet when you get into bed to help you fall asleep faster, cools as you
get into a deep sleep, and then warms again slowly as you wake. Philips
introduced its newest SmartSleep Deep Sleep Headband, which tracks
your REM and sleep patterns, plays soundscapes to help you fall asleep,
and monitors the depth of your sleep to gently wake you when time.

APRIL 2020

Debra Levin is president and CEO of The Center for
Health Design. She can be reached at D L E V I N @
H E A LT H D E S I G N . O R G .

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Healthcare Design - April 2020

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