Diagnostics

PORT WASHINGTON, N.Y.  – With the introduction of new devices, new features and updates to hardware and operating systems alike, 2017 has brought a number of changes to the smartwatch market.

As of June 2017, nearly 9% of U.S. consumers aged 18 and over owned a smartwatch, up almost 1.5 percentage points from the six months prior.

WEST DES MOINES, Iowa — Hy-Vee on Friday announced it now offers a Begin for Diabetes lifestyle management program, in addition to its existing Begin and Begin 4 Kids programs. All three options are led by registered dietitians in Hy-Vee’s 244 stores across its eight-state region.

The OTC e-commerce channel is the 900-lb. gorilla in the traditional domestic and global retail worlds. A U.S. brand owner is now confronted with a global pricing discipline challenge. The speed and ubiquity of product pricing and information has forced the issue. To paraphrase Hermione in “Harry Potter,” everything has changed.

EAGAN, Minn. — As part of an effort to raise greater awareness around diabetes prevention, Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Minnesota is launching a campaign called "Reverse It." The campaign focuses on helping Minnesotans identify their individual risk factors for prediabetes as well as the steps they can take to lessen the likelihood of getting type 2 diabetes.

TOKYO — Improvements are being made around wearable diagnostics that can monitor one of several vital health signs. The University of Tokyo is currently developing a hypoallergenic electronic sensor that can be worn on the skin continuously for a week without discomfort and is so light and thin that users forget they even have it on.

The elastic electrode constructed of breathable nanoscale meshes holds promise for the development of noninvasive e-skin devices that can monitor a person's health continuously over a long period, the researchers reported.

ATLANTA — More than 100 million U.S. adults are now living with diabetes or prediabetes, according to a new report released Tuesday by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. As of 2015 30.3 million Americans, or 9.4% of the U.S. population, have diabetes. Another 84.1 million have prediabetes, a condition that if not treated often leads to type 2 diabetes within five years.

RAMAT GAN, Israel — EarlySense last week presented new research indicating that its EarlySense Live home-based sensor accurately detects sleep apnea and sleep disordered breathing in children, when compared to polysomnography, the testing process used in clinics to detect sleeping disorders. The contact-free system showed nearly 90% accuracy compared to the gold standard and calculated the Apnea/hypopnea index with a 0.9 correlation to sleep lab results.