3 New Wearables You Should Know About

J&J, Abbott, and GE are cooking up devices that could make life easier and healthier for diabetics and cardiac patients.

Nancy Crotti

GE is working on a device that could potentially make EKGs wireless. The company said it is developing a wireless skin sensor that sticks like a bandage analyzes sweat, checks vital signs, and tracks patients' medical progress after treatment.

To make the new device, researchers resurrected a technology that GE had abandoned in order to bring the LED light to market. The organic light-emitting diode, or OLED, glows when electricity flows through specialized organic polymers and can be embedded in printed rolls of flexible sheets. It is developing the device with the support of the Nano-Bio Manufacturing Consortium and the U.S. Air Force Research Laboratory.

On the diabetes front, Johnson & Johnson said will debut a wearable, on-demand insulin delivery wearable in limited markets outside the U.S. this year, and stateside shortly thereafter.

The company acquired Calibra Medical Inc., which makes the OneTouch Via, not long after FDA approved the device in 2012 for adults over age 21 with type 1 and 2 diabetes.  The device allows patients to deliver rapid-acting (bolus) insulin at mealtimes by pressing two buttons, even through clothing, J&J said in a statement. The thin, water-resistant patch can be worn continuously for up to three days, the company said.

Patients who used it reported thatthey missed fewer doses and felt less stress about dosing compared to doing multiple daily injections, according to research that Calibra presented at the annual American Diabetes Association conference in New Orleans. The study also showed that physicians were more likely to recommend the One Touch Via to patients who are not at A1c goals or who are new to rapid-acting insulin therapy, a company said.

Also on the diabetes front, Abbott has added an app that allows its wearers of its FreeStyle Libre continuous glucose monitor to collect and share data with healthcare providers. The LibreLink app, by Swedish company Diasend, reads a patient's glucose level by scanning the CGM with the back of an Android phone. Patients can see the data without a fingerstick and have it sent passively to a linked provider's Diasend account.

The app also transmits data from compatible devices, such as insulin pumps, blood glucose meters and activity trackers, according to a statement by Diasend.

Separately, Abbott announced the results of a study showing that wearers of the FreeStyle Libre CGM spent 38% less time in hypoglycemia, as compared with those who relied on finger sticks. The company revealed the study results at the ADA conference.

Nancy Crotti is a contributor to Qmed.

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