Why Abbott’s New App Is Another Sign of Medtech Embracing Digital Health

Abbott’s launch of an upgraded version of the NeuroSphere myPath app shows that medtech firms are becoming more comfortable operating in the digital health space. It also feeds into the trend of established medical device companies expanding into digital health.

The NeuroSphere myPath app can help doctors more closely track their patients as they trial the Abbott Park, IL-based company’s neurostimulation devices to address chronic pain.

The digital health app, which can be used with both Apple and Android devices, provides a doctor, their staff, and the patient with a shared view of patient-reported outcome measures through each stage of the treatment journey while trying a spinal cord stimulation (SCS) or dorsal root ganglion (DRG) therapy device.

"Our continued advancement of the NeuroSphere myPath app is part of Abbott's commitment to developing new connected health technology that has the potential to bridge the gap between people and their doctors," said Pedro Malha, vice president, Neuromodulation, Abbott. "Both the myPath digital app and our NeuroSphere Virtual Clinic allow us to deliver a more personalized and proactive approach to how advanced diseases are managed that are changing how people access healthcare around the world."

Medtech has been extremely busy in the digital health space these past few months.

Last month, GE Healthcare introduced the Edison Digital Health platform, a vendor-agnostic hosting, and data aggregation platform with an integrated artificial intelligence (AI) engine.

Stryker kicked off 2022 with the announcement of an acquisition that would show it was serious about maintaining a strong digital presence. The Kalamazoo, MI-based company said it was acquiring Vocera Communications for about $3.09 billion. 

Vocera has a portfolio comprised of multiple products including clinical communication, secure text messaging, alarms & notifications, patient experience, and analytics tools. 

And Baxter began an intense push into the digital space when it announced it would acquire Hillrom for $12.5 billion. The merger would help the Deerfield, IL-based company accelerate its digitally enabled connected care solutions. The deal closed in December of 2021.