Google X developing cancer-scanning pill that transmits to a wearable sensor

3 eHealth projects Google is working on

Source : MobiHealthNews

Remarks: We have already indicated a couple of times that the new market entrances and innovations in health care are coming more and more from technology companies and startUps outside the current health care ecosystem. There is more evident example :

1.
Google X, Google’s department of long-term “moonshot” projects, has revealed another health-related undertaking. According to the AP, the tech giant announced at a Wall Street Journal event that it is developing a smart pill that could scan for cancer and send the results to a user’s wearable sensor device.

The AP reports that the pill, which is in the early stages of research, is packed with tiny magnetic particles that can go looking for malignant cells in the bloodstream and report findings via Bluetooth to a wearable device. The team working on the system reportedly consists of doctors, including an oncologist, electrical and mechanical engineers, and an astrophysicist.

According to the BBC, the sensor’s potential isn’t limited to cancer: it could be used to detect early risk factors for heart disease or kidney disease, for example. 

2.
The last health project announced through Google X was the Google Baseline Study, which will use a combination of genetic testing and digital health sensors to collect “baseline” data on 175 healthy people. The idea is to establish genetic biomarkers relating to metabolism, response to stress, and how genes affect different chemical reactions in the body.

3.
Prior to that, Google X announced a smart contact lenses meant to monitor blood glucose levels through tears. Though the project has received a lot of press attention and is technically feasible, many in the glucose monitoring space are skeptical that Google can deliver a viable, accurate consumer product.

Google did get some credibility when Novartis subsidiary Alcon signed a licensing deal for the technology, although both companies still acknowledge the technology is a number of years away. According to the AP report, commercialization of the smart pill technology will likely take the same route.

4,7 Mio. Europeans are using connected care solutions in 2013

Berg Insight says 13.7 million Europeans will use connected care solutions in 2019
According to a new research report from the analyst firm Berg Insight, around 4.7 million people in Europe were using connected care solutions at the end of 2013. The figure refers to users of traditional telecare, next-generation telecare and telehealth solutions in the EU28+2 countries. Until 2019, Berg Insight forecasts that the number of connected care users will grow at a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 19.2 percent to reach 13.7 million. Traditional telecare is currently the largest and most mature of the three market segments. The next-generation telecare and telehealth market segments are in a more nascent stage but are entering a strong growth phase that is expected to last for many years to come. The European connected care industry is facing major changes that will reshape the competitive environment for solution vendors and service providers during the coming years. One of the main developments is the digitalization of telephone networks that already has started in several countries. Massive replacements of telecare equipment will be needed due to that analogue devices no longer function reliably when the PSTN infrastructure is modernized. At the same time, the market is opening up to new types of solutions that can advance the delivery of care to the next level. This includes next-generation telecare systems that support functionalities such as remote visits and video communication. “There is a strong need for solutions that enable social care and healthcare services to be delivered more cost-efficiently without compromising the quality of care”, said Lars Kurkinen, Senior Analyst, Berg Insight. He adds that this need will only grow stronger in the future as the European population structure ages and the prevalence of chronic diseases increases.

Source : Berg Insight

Comment : As transaction costs are decreasing for connected care , emerging markets see stronger growth in the future.

Is "CARE ANYWHERE" becoming a reality?

Is "CARE ANYWHERE" becoming a reality?

Read about latest news in mHealth  http://t.co/VIiNxqURRm

Source : pwc.com

Here are the conclusions about your venture chance in mHealth :

• Find applications and services that bring conrete value to identifiable stakeholders.Someone needs to be willing to pay for change.
• Think in global terms and concentrate on emerging markets . Their need is obviously.
• Focus on solutions , not technology.
• Identify possible partners to create a greater impact and find new value. Think in ecosystems!

    Any questions : Contact us for free : office@bloomblisser.com

Hype OR Reality : (health and fitness ) WEARABLES - read the last report by PWC

WEARABLES Fitbit, Apple, Samsung, Runtastic and many others coming - just to name some of them. 

The last technology trends reports and heavyweigths in the market predict wearables as one major trend in 2015. So heard by Gartner, PWC and others.

Read the last PriceWaterhouseCoopers report

http://pwc.to/1nzZUxY

 

Isn't it Time that Doctors Embraced Email Services for their Patients?

 The use of new communication paths in health care treatment is still at a measured pace. In many countries the regulatory legal frame don´t allow them. Now in the UK a pilot was set up. Here are some first comments from the field :


A pilot for this kind of "telemedicine" is running rigth now in the UK.

Source : eHealthNews.eu ; Friday, 03 October 2014

The UK government sees the use of email contact and e-consultations as a means of boosting patient access to primary care and is piloting these services in 20 general practices in England. It has mandated email communication for repeat prescriptions and appointment booking in the latest general practice contract and stipulated that patients should be able to communicate electronically with their health and social care team by 2015.
But wider use of email is not compulsory, and primary care doctors have been slow to embrace this form of technology for communicating with their patients.
With good reason, contends Emma Richards, academic GP registrar and honorary clinical research fellow, Department of Primary Care and Public Health, Imperial College, London. Despite its enthusiasm for the medium, the government has failed to issue guidance for doctors on email communication with patients, she says.
"The idea that patients can email unlimited requests and questions fills many GPs with dread not only in terms of time but also clinical safety," she writes.
The evidence from telephone consultations indicates that they don't replace face to face appointments; rather, they increase them, she says.
And unlike phone calls, where a doctor can pick up aural cues about a patient's health and ask pertinent questions, that sort of exchange isn't possible in an email, she insists.
The inevitable delay in answering an email could also prove disastrous for a suicidal patient or one with chest pain, she suggests.
And she worries that email access will potentially widen health inequalities, as those most in need of healthcare, such as the elderly, may struggle to use this option because of lack of know-how or facilities.
But Elinor Gunning, a locum family doctor in London and a clinical teaching fellow in the Department of Primary Care and Population Health at UCL Medical School, insists that email services can work well, when properly planned and managed.
An email triaging system, a secure server, and patient consent, as well as ensuring that both patients and clinicians understand the limitations of email and which kinds of inquiries are best suited to this medium, are essential, she says.
"Patients must be made aware that emails may not be read immediately. The terms and conditions of email use can be covered comprehensively when consent for email use is taken, and reiterated in each email response," she writes.
Many of the concerns raised about email services can be applied to phone and fax - now regarded as established and trusted components of general practice, she says.
She agrees that not everyone will be able to access or readily use email, but it's up to general practice to provide as many means of access as possible "to improve care for all," she suggests.
"Although more research, investment, and official guidelines are needed, sufficient strategies already exist to support the safe implementation of email services," she writes.
More to the point: email use will soon be inevitable, she says. If doctors don't embrace it now, they may "miss out on a vital opportunity to shape [it], to the detriment of patients and clinicians."