Telehealth innovation takes the stage at CES

LAS VEGAS — While Apple’s iPad and the long line of next-generation electronic tablets hitting the market this year may have been the “sexy” items at last month’s Consumer Electronics Show, it was the unprecedented number of healthcare-related consumer electronics that better served as a harbinger of what’s to come.


“There’s definitely a distinct interest now from a consumer perspective around health, and we’re starting to see that grow,” Continua Health executive director Chuck Parker told Drug Store News. “There were approximately 100 different vendors in the digital health area of the convention.”


Continua member companies took the opportunity to showcase some of their personal connected health solutions, including a Bluetooth blood-pressure cuff and weight scale from A&D, a Bluetooth pulse oximeter from Nonin Medical and a Cypak USB converter cable designed to connect legacy devices to the Continua ecosystem. Other member demonstrations included ZyXEL’s Smart Home Gateway, the industry’s first battery-powered 3G wireless platform for health monitoring and assisted living solutions. The Gateway was recognized as a CES 
Innovations Honoree.