Wearables Weekly (W2)

Written on November 27, 2019
[ wearables  easi  ]

And we’re back!

NOTE FROM FUTURE: But not for long! I’ve decided I don’t like this format of writing. It feels too unnatural, trying to find if anything new or interesting happened in the past week. So much so that I never even really finished this second installment. Hell, even the first installment was tough to get through. So, sayōnara Wearables Weeekly! Without futher ado, the unfinished brainstew and finger vomit that was the beginnings of the WW W2.

Now remember, this series is called “Wearables Weekly,” but primarily because the alliteration works out so wonderfully. Wearables is a huge component to this series, but also related health and medical tech trends, e.g., medical imaging is fair game (startups and AI-inspired research pertaining to MRI, f-MRI, radiology, ultrasound, etc), as well as home tech (specifically, as it relates to human augmentation or health tracking in some way).

It’s an excuse to follow some trends related to my interests, which can be described as human hardware/software upgrades and extensions – or, basically, cyborgs stuff!

  • artificial intelligence for augmented intelligence (aka intelligence amplification)
  • brain/computer or body/computer interfaces
  • biometric surveillance
  • robotics (e.g., autonomous vehicles even fits the bill here)

Anyway, I’ll try to keep the focus fairly tight in a very loose way :-p

Without further ado – take 2!

In Health tech funding snapshot (Nov 27, 2019), several interesting companies were brought to my attention:

  • AI Medical Service has a mission to improve endoscopic medical care
    • its ML-driven diagnostic endoscopic imaging software recently scored a “breakthrough device designation” from the FDA
    • why is it of interest: well, I have Celiac’s so I wish these folks the best of luck!
  • GenapSys develops a tabletop DNA sequencer priced just under $10k
    • from their website: “GenapSys has developed a novel electrical-based platform capable of accurately detecting single base incorporations. The semiconductor chip-based detection modality allows the system to be compact, scalable, and affordable.”
    • why is it of interest: cheap, efficient sequencing means more data – and more data means more job security :-p
  • ShiraTronics is developing a medical device/therapy for migraine headaches using neuromodulation
    • why is it of interest: this type of technology definitely lends itself to an out-in-the-wild wearable, which can be very useful
  • Truvian Sciences is developing a blood testing technology
    • From the website: “Our compact, automated system rapidly produces lab-accurate results for a full suite of tests from a small sample of blood, giving individuals unprecedented access to information that shapes their health.”
    • why is it of interest: blood test results can take days to weeks, so getting them in 20 minutes would be awesome; this can also lead to interesting home products (or even wearables continuously tracking biometrics of interest)
  • Rad AI
    • “Designed by radiologists and for radiologists, our products make life better for both radiologists themselves and the patients they serve.”
    • recently launched with a $4 million seed round
  • Gradient Ventures -Google’s AI-focused venture fund

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