Edible Tech

We’ve heard about the innovative ways that healthcare is infiltrating the digital world. Technologies such as mobile aps and techy wristbands have been part of the mainstream healthcare conversation for a while now. However Proteus Digital Health have gone one step further and have developed a new type of ‘edible’ tech.

This miniscule wireless device is actually ingested by the user and feedbacks their bodily vitals to an external computing device. The contraption, which resembles a grain of rice and is made almost entirely of silicon, passes through the body over a space of about a week and feeds back information to the user including heart rate, body temperature, activity levels and rest patterns.

What may be the purpose of receiving such information?

For patient’s friends and families, it is a way to ensure that their loved ones are taking their medications, sleeping correctly and getting enough exercise. And through a clever linking system, the family can send reminders or gentle ‘nudges’ to encourage a healthy lifestyle or compliance to medications. Not only may the information be used to aid adherence to both drugs and lifestyle changes, but it also empowers the patient to be more in control of their illness and especially may help to ease the patient back into society after a stint in hospital, by providing a reassuring edge.

Perhaps more importantly though, the information can also be used by physicians to help monitor their patients. The data can be used to help identify ‘at-risk’ patients who may be more likely to require medical help and even recognise those who need to be admitted to hospital rather than waiting for an appointment and allowing their problem to escalate.

What may be the value of ‘edible tech’ for pharmaceutical companies?

Digital health is something pharmaceutical companies are increasingly engaging in. Both Otsuka and Novartis have announced partnerships with Proteus Digital Health. Novartis, in particular, are looking to use the ingestible device to help with adherence relating to organ transplantation; a therapy area where they have a substantial portfolio.

Yet could this captivating new device be used by ourselves within the realms of market research? Perhaps in patient research this could be a way to truly understand adherence to both medications and lifestyle changes, and match up what respondents believe and say they are doing with clinical data showing their real behaviours. A couple of ideas Branding Science have had include monitoring sleep cycles of patients with insomnia or the exercise patterns of type II diabetic patients. However with Proteus yet to announce a launch date, there is plenty of time to work out more ways to include edible tech in market research.

From Runner to Sloth – what’s the value of wristbands ?

 

'....calories were for burning and not counting.....'

At the age of seven I was being taught the rudiments of skiing in the forests above Oslo; by ten I was running everywhere, in my teens I was subjected to rigorous Summer athletics training and as my working life started so I tried to train in 10 day cycles: nine on and one off.  To me and my mates calories were things we burnt and we needed lots of them – we certainly didn’t need to watch them.

But time marches on and drags us all down with it.  In my case it was a matter of going from extreme activity to the normal existence of office life where we tend to take no more exercise than required to replenish our tea or coffee, with the occasional stroll to a meeting or perhaps some long distance travel.  Whatever, these are physically slothful activities in which calories do become important, intakes need to be watched and, if we are not careful, our condition deteriorates.

About two years ago along came a variety of fitness devices – small wristbands that purported to measure activity, and in some cases sleep, calories taken and, in one device, time.  I was instantly entrapped by these things and worked my way through the Nike Fuelband, Jawbone’s UP and now the Fitbit Flex.  Each has its strongpoints, but are they useful or are they just gimmicks ?

After 14 months of trial and error I’ve come to the conclusion that whilst of reduced value to the super-active, they do, within their limits have a very definite place in the lives of we who are members of the vast Tribe of the Human Sloth. 

Why ?

v  They set targets.  For some reason the Health & Fitness industry has decreed that we should move 10,000 steps in each 24 hours and that’s surprisingly difficult to achieve if all you do is go to work by some mechanical means, sit around all day with brain fully engaged but body relaxed, and then go home, possibly via an inviting pub, again by mechanical means.  I’ve noticed that on such a day I rarely surpass 6,000 steps.

v  They measure intake.  After an inactive day it comes as a bit of a shock to see on the App of whichever device you are using, figures in red showing that total calories consumed have exceeded those used up.  We don’t want too many of those days.

v  They provide reminders.  The Fitbit Flex sends little messages when you are getting near the day’s target and then congratulates you if and when you pass the magic 10,000 (it also vibrates at that point, which can cause you to spill that end-of-day glass of wine if the lifting of the latter coincides with the sudden vibration !).

v  They provide competition, which may or may not be a good thing.  These devices can, if you let them, communicate with different social media channels and so allow your friends and colleagues see how you are getting on.  This can introduce an element of fun.  A training regime that has some fun in it will always be more effective than one that’s all about hard work.

As with all things these measurement devices are only effective if used consistently.  Entering food and liquids consumed, and various daily activities can become a bit tiresome.  But if used consistently and with an aim, I do believe that they can change behavior, monitor what we are doing in a positive way and, in some cases, provide clear evidence to our medical minders that we are, or are not, following their guidelines.

I suspect also that we’d better get used to this sort of thing because some day, perhaps not so far off, our Doctors will expect us to pass them a device that they will be able to interrogate as part of their Consultancy in order to find out exactly what’s going on.

The future’s (almost) here !

 

Jonathan Thomson is COO of Branding Science.

As part of our Digital Work, Branding Science has extensive experience with these devices.
For more information, please get in touch!

The Benefits of Becoming a Cyborg: improving outcomes by keeping us honest

 

One of the most exciting current developments in mobile health technology is the increasing availability of smartphone-based health monitoring accessories.  Devices currently on the market are mostly focused on cardiovascular monitoring or diabetes testing, but as the space evolves, more diverse technology will become available. 

Why are these tools so valuable?  At a topline level, it’s because they keep us honest.  As market researchers, we’re well aware of common human biases that affect how all of us self-report information to others.  For instance, humans have an inherent bias towards optimism which may cause us to gloss over negative items in our health history, sometimes depending on how they were experienced (see work from Daniel Kahneman, e.g. Thinking, Fast and Slow, 2011).  We might forget how many times we’ve felt terrible due to a chronic condition; or, at our annual check-up, we may neglect to mention the few small health quirks that made us think “huh, that seems weird, I should mention that at my checkup…” over the previous year, especially if we ultimately felt ok after they had passed.

Further, the way each patient talks about their disease can be unique.  A worried or scared patient with a newly-developed issue might recall their symptoms as much worse than they were at the time.  Or, a patient who’s hoping to avoid medications might gloss over or downplay the significance of their symptoms.

 

For doctors and researchers alike, it’s essential for patients’ health information to be as correct, standardized, and reliable as possible.  Wearable health monitors not only ensure that patient data is collected accurately, but they also allow healthcare providers to capture a wide picture of the patient’s health in a variety of settings, granting a more complete picture of health.  For instance, sometimes a patient may come into a doctor’s office with a complaint that can’t be replicated while the patient is there (e.g. heart palpitations or muscle spasms).  More continuous monitoring of the patient’s health can help doctors to gain an accurate understanding of just how frequently and severely these issues are occurring in the patient’s daily life.

 

Who may want to take advantage of wearable health monitors?

In some cases, patients may feel that their annual readings at a doctors’ office aren’t providing their doctor with a full and accurate picture of health.  For instance, a patient who’s nervous about their blood pressure readings (or even just interacting with a doctor in general) may start to panic right before that test is given, resulting in a reading that’s more extreme than their usual levels and subsequently, a bit of a misdiagnosis.  In a case like this, a portable health monitor worn during the patient’s everyday life could help give a concerned doctor a broader look into the patient’s blood pressure in a variety of settings.

 

Other types of mobile health tools, such as cardiovascular monitors, can save patients the time, cost, and effort of coming into a healthcare provider’s office just to have a certain test done.  Though current technologies may not be at this level yet, in the future, perhaps patients who require regular monitoring after surgery or a prescription change can electronically submit their test results directly and securely to their physician, helping to reduce costs to the patient and freeing up the healthcare staff to spend more time seeing patients for more substantive visits.

 

Some devices, like the Scanadu Scout, are designed for a future where we can all monitor all of our vital signs for early warnings of negative events.  In its early stages, such a device might cause a lot of false alarm, as patients may be unable to make reliable, educated judgments from their data.  However, in time, perhaps systems like these can monitor a range of vital signals and health outcomes that are relevant to an individual’s specific risk profile and baseline health (e.g. perhaps a complex disease runs in one’s family, and monitoring for just one vital or another alone wouldn’t catch it effectively). 

At Branding Science, we’re passionate about information and data, and we’re also firm believers that well-organized data tell a story.  The true value of such monitors is in their ability to work in the context of other forms of treatment and help a physician make sense of a patient’s symptoms and future potential for illness.  We look forward to seeing how current and future technologies make sense of large amounts of health data to make a difference in patients’ lives!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RJBL-j6jgt0

Written by Brittani Baxter in our San Francisco Office

Wearable Gadgets in Healthcare - Google Glass

Wearable gadgets are rapidly becoming commonplace. At the San Francisco wearable technology conference and fashion show last Monday, Manish Chandra, a tech entrepreneur, stated that “Everyone agrees the race is just beginning, and I think we’re going to see some very, very big leaps in just the next year.” (Seattle Daily Journal of Commerce). Even as of this afternoon, I have jumped on the bandwagon and been allocated the Branding Science Jawbone wristband which will track my movements and sleep patterns over the next week and feed this data back to me. What Google have gone and questioned is, why not further extend the function of these wearable devices so that your phone, camera and the internet can actually be an extendable part of you.

And this is exactly what Google Glass is pioneering. The Google Glass principle is to work as a smartphone device which completely frees up your hands. You can send text messages, set reminders, take photos or navigate your way around new cities, all just by giving a voice command. These examples of the uses of Glass are the mere tip of the iceberg, with the tiny screen projected at the top right corner of your vision compatible with a vast range of applications.

Whilst undoubtedly this is an incredibly impressive and innovative technology, the number of people glued to their smartphones is already removing us from reality enough. According to The Telegraph, the average user taps away for over 2 hours a day even though only 12 minutes of this time is actually spent using the traditional phoning function. Concerns have been raised about the risk that these glasses, which connect you to the internet 24/7, will push us further down this rickety road. Whilst Google Glass has opposed this criticism by suggesting that their device provides the option for the wearers to be looking up and around at the real world rather than be looking down at their phone, and yet still being made aware of those essential emails, I can’t see this device becoming mainstream with the public in the near future, especially not with the expected hefty price tag; the developer version costs £985 although the consumer version is expected to be a little cheaper.

However I do believe the glasses could have many useful applications, worth disrupting your vision for. One of these such functions will be in the world of healthcare. This can be from a consumer point of view and offer an expansion of the already wearable devices on the market. The athlete competing in endurance races can have reminders pop up in his vision to rehydrate or re-energise when devices measure that blood sugar levels are falling. Alternatively those who are on a health kick can be advised of the healthy choice on the menu when Google Glass identifies the restaurant they have just arrived at.  

There are a whirlwind of possibilities of technological advances for the pharmaceutical industry as well as doctors using the Google Glass. Philips and Accenture have partnered to come up with a concept allowing physicians to summon patient details, thereby giving them access to important information such as vital signs, allergies and weight, all whilst remaining hands free to perform procedures and concentrate on the surgery or examination in progress.

 

Other possibilities lie in field of pharmaceutical sales. Evolving from the iPad and other sales materials, the Google Glass can give sales reps quick answers to doctor’s questions by providing information such as insert leaflets as an app on the Google Glass system.  

These huge potentials are obviously still in the pipeline, with the Google Glass yet to be released for general sale. However if we are listening to the rumours, we can expect the Google Glass to be launched some point towards the end of this year or at the beginning of 2014, and it will be interesting to see how the Google Glass capacity grows…watch this space!

For more information on how we think the world of healthcare technology is changing, get in touch with us. Follow us @BrandingScience on Twitter or visit our LinkedIn company page.

Becky Geffen Graduate Research Executive -       BSc (Hons) Natural Sciences from Newcastle University majoring in medicinal chemistry -       MSc Pharmacology from Oxford University -       Research experience in anticancer drug design and the mechanisms of antibiotic resistance

 

 

 

Technology wonders

The article Coming Next: Using an App as Prescribed recently published on the New York Times discusses recent innovations in smartphone applications dedicated to healthcare.

In particular, it gives examples of applications designed to collect patient data, take those through a specific algorithm and send treatment recommendations to healthcare professionals in charge of managing the patient.

Although the level of precision of recommendations may vary, such a process would clearly represent a major concern for pharmaceutical companies, who would need to ensure their treatments are included - and fairly presented - amongst the available alternatives that will shape the recommendation.

Physicians will also consider these applications and their recommendations with extreme caution, particularly in the early days, but could the current trend for cost-saving accelerate their adoption?

If you are a brand manager in the pharmaceutical industry, you certainly want to keep an eye on these apps and even more on the guidelines the FDA will publish later this year, as it could mean opportunities  not to be missed.

The author: Axel Rousseau is brand scientist (SRE) at Branding-Science and has been working on international market research and consultancy since 2008.

Living with type 1 diabetes

Last week, the Open University posted two powerful testimonies from type 1 diabetes patients. 

From diagnosis in childhood to their current young adult lives, they discuss the challenges of living with this condition and getting it understood by others.

For people from the industry, these videos give true insights on how devices and adherence programs, such as smartphone apps, can truly engage patients with the management of their condition and make their lives a little easier.

The author: Axel Rousseau is brand scientist (SRE) at Branding-Science and has been working on international market research and consultancy since 2008.