Strategic Partnership Advances Wearable Medical Devices

Welch Allyn (Skaneateles Falls, NY, USA), a leading medical diagnostic device company, and Gentag (Washington DC, USA), a pioneer in disposable biosensors, have announced a strategic development agreement.

Under the terms of the agreement, Welch Allyn and Gentag will collaborate to bring to market near field communication (NFC) devices that will be integrated into medical devices and sensors. The short-range wireless communication uses an antenna that is much smaller than the wavelength of the carrier signal. As a result, NFC communicates either by a modulated electric field, or a modulated magnetic field, but not by radio electromagnetic waves. For example, a small loop antenna produces a magnetic field, which can then be picked up by another small loop antenna, if it is near enough.

The partnership will enable Welch Allyn to offer solutions for remote patient monitoring worldwide by combining Gentag's NFC technology and integrated, ultrathin, battery-less wireless sensors into various medical diagnostic devices and applications. The collaboration is expected to create a range of significant opportunities for workflow efficiency gains and faster availability of clinical information in the Electronic Health Record (EHR).

“This collaborative opportunity will enable Welch Allyn to provide clinicians with smart monitoring solutions and improve patient access to cutting edge diagnostics,” said Stephen Meyer, president and CEO of Welch Allyn.

“Welch Allyn has the knowledge, expertise, and global market reach that will allow the globalization of NFC technologies in medical diagnostic settings,” said John Peeters, CEO of Gentag. “By combining our intellectual property and technology portfolios with Welch Allyn, we feel that patients will be better served by the worldwide availability of high quality wireless medical devices.”

The use of wearable remote patient monitoring (RPM) biosensors that allow constant monitoring of physiological signals is becoming essential for the advancement of both the diagnosis and treatment of diseases. RPM systems allow physicians to overcome the limitations of technology and provide a response to the need for monitoring individuals over weeks or months. The data sets recorded using these systems are then processed to detect events predictive of possible worsening of the patient’s clinical situations, as well as assess the impact of clinical interventions.

Related Links:
Welch Allyn
Gentag