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Armband monitors many parameters, including heart rate  added 08/10/01

www.bodymedia.com  mentioned in WSJ Aug 10, 2001

The SenseWear™ Pro Armband is a wearable body monitor that enables wireless collection of multiple parameters. Worn on the back of the upper arm, it utilizes a unique combination of sensors that continuously gather the following data: movement, heat flow, skin temperature, ambient temperature, and galvanic skin response. For expanded functionality, the SenseWear Pro Armband contains 2-way communication capabilities enabling it to: receive customized sensor protocols and user configurations, act as a platform to receive data from other third-party body data collection devices, and upload data without removing the SenseWear Pro Armband. Currently, it can support the heart rate monitor with expectations to support other devices like blood pressure devices and weight scales.

• RF Frequency: 916.5MHz
• Transmitter output power: <1mW
• Battery power: 7 days under continuous use (24/7)
• Memory capacity: 14 days under continuous use with heart rate monitor (24/7)
•  
  • Contains 2-way communication capabilities, enabling it to act as a third-party data collector (i.e., heart rate monitor).

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In Sickness and Health, Biometrics Field Grows

By BERNARD WYSOCKI JR., Staff Reporter of The Wall Street Journal.

PITTSBURGH -- The marketplace is getting crowded with devices that monitor your vital signs, then transmit the data to a wristwatch, Web site, or a nursing station across town. But that raises a vital question for the makers of these "biometric" gadgets: Is the big money to be made in sickness, or in health?

Nike Inc., for example, is targeting the super healthy. The company recently began marketing a line of heart monitors designed to help athletes achieve peak performances. The data downloads to a wristwatch. Soon, new versions of Nike's watch products will let athletes compare their stats over the Web with buddies or a coach.

A product developed by Agilent Technologies Inc. targets a different market: the five million, chronically ill Americans with congestive heart failure. In 1999, Agilent announced a line of devices that measure weight, blood pressure, pulse and electro-cardiogram readings, and links the data between patients at home and remote nurses. Initially, the company considered marketing the device to healthy people as well as sick ones, but decided against it after six months of research. The reason: "We couldn't find a way to make money," says Greg Sebasky, Agilent's vice president of new ventures. On Aug. 1, Agilent's health care unit was acquired by Philips Medical Systems, a unit of Royal Philips Electronics NV.

With the road to profits still uncertain for this industry, some companies are positioning their focus somewhere between "e-health" and "e-disease." Pittsburgh-based BodyMedia Inc., one of four start-ups The Wall Street Journal is following over the course of a year, recently launched an armband called SenseWear that monitors vital signs by receiving data and then transmitting the information wirelessly to a personal computer. The armband, slated to cost $500 at retail, works in conjunction with a Web site that accumulates information about diet, exercise and sleep, all for a combined cost of $50 a month.

On one hand, BodyMedia says the device can help people adjust their daily routines to live healthier lives-and thus work to prevent illness. But the company also is working with the University of Pittsburgh Medical Center to see how SenseWear might help address specific ailments, including sleep disorders and obesity problems, and intends to gain regulatory approval to make medical claims about the armband. By addressing sleep, BodyMedia Chief Executive Astro Teller says the company is furthering its mission to help people live more balanced lives-be it with eating, movement or stress control. "If they're having a hard time sleeping, it comes from being out of balance."

Already, BodyMedia finds itself facing a pack of competitors. They range from disease-management firms and hardware makers, to companies such as HealtheTech Inc., Golden, Colo., whose customers record diet, exercise and other information on customized Palm-based handheld computers (for calorie intake), while using another device to calculate metabolic rate (for calories burned). And Reebok International Ltd., is working with Wellesley, Mass.-based FitSense Technology Inc., which developed an accelerometer that attaches to a shoelace and transmits data, such as speed, wirelessly to a wristwatch.

Each one of these companies is operating in unfamiliar territory-and all are making bets as to which approach has staying power. Thus far, monitoring illness has proved the most profitable. As Internet health-information companies have discovered, as many as 100 million people may be surfing the Web for information about illnesses and fitness. But it's hard to find people to pay for "wellness."

"Chronic disease is really the sweet spot," says Christobel Selecky, chief executive at Lifemasters Supported SelfCare Inc., a disease-management service company, which employs nurses to monitor patients and communicate with them through various devices. Today the seven-year-old company has annual revenue exceeding $10 million. Boston Consulting Group estimates the market for such "disease management" services has grown from $68 million in 1997 to $500 million in 2000, and could reach $10 billion by 2010.

Several consumer electronics giants have also targeted the sickness side of the market, notably Matsushita Electric Industrial, which this month launched the Panasonic Tele Homecare system, an elaborate monitoring mechanism for the chronically ill. Currently, the device allows patients to measure vital signs such as blood pressure, pulse rate, blood sugar, and weight and then transmit that data via the Internet to doctors.

But Arthur Matsumoto, vice president of Matsushita's U.S. operations, says the system may ultimately be used for wellness purposes too, including athletic training. "We're trying to see what the compelling needs are," says Mr. Matsumoto. "It may be a niche market."

It took a while for BodyMedia to find its own niche. In mid-1999, when it was founded, BodyMedia initially hoped to monitor ailing peoples' vital signs and then "beep" their caregivers at times of trouble. But Mr. Teller and his team worried about the liability involved if crucial signals failed to transmit to the intended recipients.

So BodyMedia then turned to the multi-billion dollar health-club market, targeting fitness-minded consumers. However, personal trainers are the source of most profits at many health clubs, and some trainers feared BodyMedia's device would cause customers to drop their services. As a result, many clubs weren't eager to work with the company.

Meantime, there remain skeptics about the prospects of the company's armband. "I can't imagine an employer, or insurer paying for this," says Martin Gaynor, a professor of economics and health policy at Carnegie Mellon University.

To mitigate their risk, some of the newer players are linking up with well-established partners. HealtheTech, for instance, got a $5.5 million investment from Procter & Gamble Co. in 2000. Lifemasters has received investments from Intel Corp. and Siemens AG. And Nike has licensed from smaller companies its heart-rate monitor, a new pedometer product, and companion wristwatches that display heart-rate data.

BodyMedia, meantime, plans to expand its offerings and hopes the SenseWear device will evolve into an "information hub" of sorts and collect data from other devices worn on the body. Already, BodyMedia has formed a partnership with Polar Electro, a Finnish maker of heart-strap monitors, and plans to make data from the monitors compatible with BodyMedia's SenseWear. While shipments of the armband began just a couple of weeks ago, initial response among medical researchers and others has been enthusiastic, says Mr. Teller, BodyMedia's CEO. "It has been, `what else can you make?'"

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