ASIA News

Medirom, a healthtech company based in Japan, has announced that at CES 2020 it will be working with MATRIX Industries, a Silicon Valley material science company, to deliver the world’s first health monitoring smartband named MOTHER that never requires charging. This will enable users in the US and Japan to monitor their health activities 24/7.  HOW IT WORKS Medirom provides the software or app part of the MOTHER health monitoring smartband, with their own on-demand health monitoring app called Lav, which was developed under the supervision of doctors, according to Medirom CEO Kouji Eguchi.  MATRIX has developed PowerWatch - the world’s first smartwatch that never requires charging- by applying innovative technology like its Gemini TEG (Thermoelectric Generator) and Mercury Boost Converter that enables body heat to generate electricity. Crucially, Medirom will release the SDK (Software Development Kit) for Apps so that any healthcare service provider can get the device tracking information easily and seamlessly. THE LARGER PICTURE There are a plethora of health monitoring devices in the market, but most of them face the challenge of a rather short or limited battery life. With the MOTHER health monitoring smartband, there is the potential of achieving true continuous health monitoring without disruptions. Another trend that is of interest is wearable electronics in the form of smart garments, such as Paris-based Chornolife’s Nexkin, a CE-marked smart T-shirt that monitors six physiological indicators, designed for risk reduction and prevention programs. ON THE RECORD “With MOTHER, we will open up the SDK for Apps to help any healthcare service provider to build and expand their own service easily. You usually have to download two different Apps on your phone when you start using any healthcare service with smart-tracker because the data cannot be directly synchronized to the App. Usually at first, you have to synchronize the data to the Original App of the device, and then synchronize the data to another App that you mainly want to use to apply the tracking data. It’s also been a huge block for any healthcare service provider to expand their healthcare service,” said Kouji in a statement. 

A interview with Prof Yasushi Goto, Department of Thoracic Oncology, National Cancer Center Hospital, Japan. 

A wrap-up of the key healthtech developments in the APAC region for 2019.

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