• Home
  • Trends
  • Company News
  • Product News
  • Fashion
  • Podcast
  • Events
  • About
  • Contact
  • March 3, 2021

Wearable Tech Insider

The Inside Word on Wearables and Wearable Technology

You are here: Home / Medical / Could Fitness Trackers Lead the Way To Good Medicine?

Could Fitness Trackers Lead the Way To Good Medicine?

August 15, 2014 By Dan Rosenbaum

Medical grade wearable tech tends to track one thing at a time with great accuracy; Holter monitors record heart rhythms for 24 hours in detail. Consumer grade wearables track lots of things but less accurately; that’s why they generally don’t pursue FDA approval. An interesting essay in Information Week puts out the possibility that those two strands of medical devices might profitably merge into devices that can measure a lot of things well enough to be medically useful.

Analyst Michael A.M. Davies rolls out the usual complaints about consumer wearables, particularly the argument that consumers don’t stay engaged with devices for very long. But a reason for that engagement slippage is that wearers don’t see a clear benefit. If that benefit were a higher-quality meeting with your doctors in the short time that they can profitably spend with you, engagement with both the device and medical professionals would be improved.

Given the current state of the art, consumer-grade fitness trackers aren’t all that medically relevant on an individual basis. (Aggregate data across populations, where measurement error might self-correct, is different.) Devices that are provably accurate for multiple metrics would be actually useful, although they would be subject to regulatory scrutiny. Davies suggests that a category of regulator-approved trackers would be commercially successful and medically interesting.

 

Last updated by Dan Rosenbaum on August 26, 2014.

Share this:

  • Facebook
  • Twitter
  • LinkedIn
  • Reddit
  • Google
  • Email

Related

Filed Under: Medical

← Has Applied Materials Made a Battery Storage Breakthrough? Moto360 Price Leaks from Best Buy →

Subscribe To Our Weekly Newsletter

Subscribe now to the Wearable Tech Insider's weekly news blast. You'll get links to the top half-dozen stories in the world of wearable tech, optimized for quick reading. It's the best way to read the Wearable Tech Insider; it's free and you can change your mind any time. And, of course, we'll never sell your name or e-mail address...

Search This Site

Recent Posts

New Use Case for Apple Watch: Red Sox Stealing Signs

Fossil Debuts Two Android Wear Smartwatches

Garmin Shows Three New Fitness Bands at IFA

Fitbit Ionic: Minimal Acceptable Product?

Intel (Finally) Ditches Wearables for AR

Don’t Believe Everything You Read: Wearables Are Far From Dead

Eyes F.lashing Before Your Life

Smarty Pants: Nadi X Yoga Leggings

Rings: How Smart Can They Be?

Upskill Closes Series B Financing, But Won’t Say How Much

Stories from Health Tech Insider

  • Seniors Are Safer With Help from New Remote Monitor System
  • Are Those Real Muscles or Bristols Under Your Shirt?[video]
  • Are We Ready for Mass-Produced COVID-19 Biosensor Stickers?
  • System Helps Kids Hear Better at a Distance and with Background Noise
  • Smart Patch Collects Heart Data for Walking Health Check
  • Chronic Pain Patients Get Home Treatment with Telehealth

Topics

2013 android android wear apple apple watch apx labs basis battery CES ces2016 CES2017 epson finance fitbit fitness fossil fuelband garmin gear glass google healthkit intel iWatch jawbone LG market research microsoft misfit MWC15 nfc nike omate omsignal pebble recon samsung smartwatch sony sports tizen vuzix withings wristware wristwear

Sign up for Wearable Tech Insider

First name
Last name
* = required field

powered by MailChimp!

Subscribe now to the Wearable Tech Insider's weekly news blast. You'll get links to the top half-dozen stories in the world of wearable tech, optimized for quick reading. It's the best way to read the Wearable Tech Insider; it's free and you can change your mind any time. And, of course, we'll never sell your name or e-mail address...

Made in New York
Wearable Tech Insider is proud to be Made in NY.

All text © 2015 Center Ring Media

Privacy Policy

Center Ring Media Sites

Wearable Tech Insider
Seniortech Insider
Health Tech Insider

Copyright 2016 Center Ring Media | Site by JRMC

loading Cancel
Post was not sent - check your email addresses!
Email check failed, please try again
Sorry, your blog cannot share posts by email.