Smartwatches are poised to take off during 2019 as standalone health tech wearables and for their data aggregation and transmission roles for other devices. We’ve written recently about Withings Move ECG smartwatch. Omron’s HeartGuide oscillometric blood pressure watch is scheduled to start shipping at the end of this month. IDC and Gartner both released market prediction reports at the end of 2018 that stated the case for smartwatch leadership in market growth for the next four years.
AT&T recently announced mobile medical software and data collection company OneLife Technologies Corp. would be the first to sell AT&T’s new LTE-M certified medical wearable. OneLife’s OnePulse wearable was designed specifically to track and report user’s physical health-related data including heart rate, activity, movement, sleep pattern, and location. The OnePulse is the first health wearable with a SIM card which it uses to remain connected at all times. LTE-M technology is a low-power wide-area network for Internet of Things (IoT) connectivity.
The lightweight, always-on OnePulse runs for up to five days per battery charge which makes it appropriate for all-day, everyday use. The OnePulse also includes OneLife’s proprietary Bluetooth protocol to connect to and track data from other devices such as blood pressure cuffs, glucometers, SPO2 monitors, and weight scales.
The watch is a tool for medical providers to monitor chronically ill and elderly aging in place. Users and physicians, caregivers, and family members who receive alerts and data from OnePulse can use the smartwatch for 24/7 monitoring with alerts, medication reminders and prescription refills, fall detection, encrypted medical records, AI analytics and prediction, and access to electronic health record platforms.
OneLife markets the OnePulse LTE-M smartwatch to healthcare providers. The watch is expected to be available this month. Wearables such as OnePulse have great potential for patient monitoring, enabling user independence while alleviating concerns by care teams and loved ones. Information security and personal privacy are concerns that will continue to need attention and monitoring as much as biometric data.
