Plenty of wearables companies make health claims that are dubious at best. It’s true that companies like Fitbit and Apple are getting a bit more serious about the whole thing, participating in university studies and working with insurance companies, but on a whole, I certainly wouldn’t trust my own well-being to any of them.
An outgrowth of the Qualcomm Tricorder XPRIZE, Vitaliti is designed to work on patients recently released from the hospital, so their attending physician can continue to monitor them remotely.
The device sits around the collar, a bit like a yoke that rests on your neck, with two electrodes that attach to the skin and a sensor that sits in the ear. It’s not the most comfortable or visually appealing gadget, but you can wear it for long stretches. Cloud DX founder/CEO Robert Kaul was wearing around it for three days here at CES on a single charge — though the electrodes were attached, because the squares at the Las Vegas Convention Center apparently prefer people keep their shirts on.
The wearable is capable of measuring some standard-wearable stuff, including movement and steps, along with more complex vitals like ECG, heart rate, oxygen saturation, respiration, core body temperature and blood pressure, meeting XPRIZE guidelines. It connects to a mobile app, offering up readings in real time and sending out an alert when one hits the danger zone.
Cloud DX is currently seeking approval from the FDA for distribution as a medical device. The company also has developed an interface for the HoloLens that overlays vitals onto patients in real time.