The healthcare and technology markets are about to get more intertwined than ever, as wearable technology companies set their sights to the health industry to increase their market share.
In the last few years, tech companies have targeted healthcare as a field for growth, according to a story from Cisco Technologies.
Here are five things to know:
1. The growth will be most prominent in two areas: condition-specific wearables and tech aimed to increase productivity across the professional field.
2. Condition-specific tech will help alleviate symptoms. For example, ZetrOZ Systems developed the Sam Sport – a piece of ultrasound technology in the form of a patch, that provides targeted pain relief to muscles, and speeds up the healing process. The device snaps into a bandage like skin that's applied directly to the targeted area.
3. Chrono Therapeutics has also developed a patch-like device that delivers drugs through the skin. It's intended to supply a controlled dose of medicine over a period of time. The company will market its software to smokers, but is aiming to adapt it to help people afflicted with Parkinson's and opioid addiction in the coming years. Chrono's product is currently in clinical trails, and is expected to be available in 2018.
4. Creating a device to increase productivity for medical professionals is driving innovation. For example, iDent Imaging created a headset which allows dentists to better use oral scanning machines to making crowns. Before it, a dentist had to look away from the patient and the tooth he was graphing to ensure the device was being properly used. Now the image can be projected onto wearable glasses, eliminating any mistakes.
5. Investors are noticing the potential for growth already. Augmedix, a company that created a productivity increasing device for physicians, has already raised $40 million in funding.
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