Wearable Technology

Hocoma's ARMEO product enables arm and hand rehabilitation for patients with severe to mild levels of motor impairment in their upper limbs. It is specifically designed for arm and hand therapy in an early stage of rehabilitation. ARMEO has six actuated degrees of freedom so patients can train in an extensive 3D workspace.

Researchers at Seoul National University's Soft Robotics Research Center have developed a soft upper limb mobile exoskeleton for upper limb rehabilitation.

Myomo has developed MyoPro, a powered orthosis (brace) that may help restore function in arms and hands paralyzed by a stroke, brachial plexus injury (BPI), cerebral palsy or other neuromuscular disease or injury.

Reha Technology's robotic-assisted therapy device, G-EO, is used for neuro-rehabilitation of patients with neurological impairments resulting from stroke, traumatic brain and spinal cord injuries, Parkinson's and other neurological conditions.

In a first-of-its-kind study, researchers at CEA research centre in France implanted two electrodes in a tetraplegic person's brain. The patient was then able to walk and control both arms of a four limb tethered (supported from above) exoskeleton using this neuroprosthetic.

Motorika, a company based in New Jersey, released its lower limb stationary exoskeleton Optimal-G Pro in 2019. Optimal-G Pro is a personalised robotic training platform designed to train the walking gait of people who have suffered from a variety of neurological, neuromuscular and other injuries.

Kidney stones are a painful and expensive medical problem, and people who suffer from kidney stones once are likely to experience them a second time. Recurrence can often be prevented if patients increase urine output by increasing the amount of water that they drink. Though this may seem easy, fewer than 50% of people who have suffered from kidney stones are able to drink the recommended amount of fluids.

This is an update with Antti Backman, CEO of Delektre. The company is involved in the printed and flexible electronics market, including a ring product using flexible, organic electronics to create a non-invasive optical sensing technique for a variety of physiological parameters.

This premium article is a brief topic overview of long range wireless charging and ambient energy scavenging efforts based on RF.

Recently an emerging display technology, which is known as "micro-LED display", is entering the public field, and we can see lots of investment and efforts on it. This premium article, the first of this series from IDTechEx, gives an introduction to micro-LED displays.

The wearable sensor industry will be worth $2.5 billion in 2020, having tripled in size since 2014. This comes despite the significant economic challenges presented by the COVID-19 pandemic, which has caused a reduction in the total revenue this year.

IDTechEx interviewed Francesco Guido, CEO of Piezoskin. They have developed a flexible, wearable, piezoelectric sensor based on AlN. We discussed their technology and business progress.

Many of the leading patentors of sensors do not sell sensors. Their motivation is to provide uniques for their equipment. Consider Samsung, now number three in number of sensor patents worldwide from nowhere ten years ago.

Athletes are always on the lookout for new ways to push the limits of human performance and one needs to first pinpoint their current limits objectively if they seek to overcome them. A team of researchers has developed a smartphone-powered suit capable of providing athletes with physiological data such as their posture, running gait and body temperature while they are out on the field.

This premium article presents an introduction to the different types of displays used in a variety of augmented and reality devices.

Biosensors that are wearable on human skin or safely used inside the body are increasingly prevalent for both medical applications and everyday health monitoring. Finding the right materials to bind the sensors together and adhere them to surfaces is also an important part of making this technology better.

Arieca create thermal materials based on a liquid metal embedded elastomer formulation with potential for specific applications including the semiconductor market.

IDTechEx forecasts that flexible electronics in cardiac monitoring, deployed in electronic skin patches and electronic textiles, will be a $2 billion market in the year 2030.

IDTechEx currently have a number of wearable related webinars available to watch on-demand. These include presentations on XR and self-powered electronics.

Libre Sense Glucose Sport Biosensor is a consumer over-the-counter product that provides glucose monitoring via a mobile app o athletes performing sports such as cycling, running, and swimming, to understand the efficacy of their nutrition choices on training and competition.