As technology becomes more advanced and costs of production falling, wearable devices become more mainstream. While the fitness trackers and wearable cameras were the most popular wearable devices, a stronger emphasis on health and a bigger demand for home care are expected drive up demand for medical wearables. According to a recent research by Global Market Insights, a market research and management consulting company, the wearable devices market size is anticipated to exceed USD 12 billion by 2023, which represents growth of about 24% CAGR from 2016 to 2023. Biotricity Inc. (OTC: BTCY), Apple Inc. (NASDAQ: AAPL), Fitbit Inc. (NYSE: FIT), GoPro Inc. (NASDAQ: GPRO), Garmin Ltd. (NASDAQ: GRMN).
A rising demand for sophisticated devices, combined with innovative features is what expected to drive demand. Also according to the research electronic wearable medical devices that offer monitoring solutions on numerous health parameters such as glucose, blood sugar, chronic diseases, namely diabetes and heart diseases are expected to be a sector with major developments.
Biotricity Inc. (OTCQB: BTCY) is a medical technology company committed to improving healthcare by developing solutions that aid chronic disease prevention and management. The company’s flagship wearable medical device, Bioflux, is an ECG monitoring system that will be prescribed by physicians to diagnose and remotely monitor cardiac patients.
Biotricity Inc. recently announced that Bioflux received the necessary 501k clearance from the Food & Drug Administration (FDA). Soon after the company announced that it has appointed Dr. Rony Shimony to its Board of Advisors (BOA). Shimony is an internationally recognized clinical cardiologist who brings to the company over twenty-five years of experience in cardiac patient care and related technology.
President and CEO of Biotricity Inc. Waqaas Al-Siddiq, “We look forward to leveraging Dr. Shimony’s clinical and diagnostic expertise to help drive the adoption of our next-generation medical-grade wearables in mainstream healthcare practices… As heart disease remains the #1 killer globally, representing 31 percent of all deaths worldwide, we are thrilled to have Dr. Shimony bring his expertise to our advisory board where he will collaborate with other talented and accomplished members to help drive our strategic vision of evolving the healthcare industry.”
Apple Inc. (NASDAQ: AAPL) has given hints that the company will soon enter into a rewarding business such as healthcare by next year. Tim Cook is looking for life further than the iWatch. In Taiwan’s Economic Daily News, it said that Apple will celebrate its tenth year anniversary of the iPhone with a wearable device that will “accurately collect users’ personal daily life including heart rate, pulse, blood sugar changes and other information.” A report from Market Data Forecast suggests the medical devices market value will reach $11.2 billion by 2020.
Apple isn’t the only company keeping an eye on the healthcare industry. Sales of more traditional wearable devices ranging from fitness trackers to wearable camera, for example Fitbit Inc. (NYSE: FIT) along with GoPro Inc. (NASDAQ: GPRO) are declining. Currently, Fitbit has closely affiliated themselves with researchers carrying out clinical trials. Alongside with research platform Fitabase, they have been shifting the way medical research is being conducted with well-known Universities such as Johns Hopkins and the Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center among those who have chosen to tap into data from Fitbit users around the world. “Historically, measuring participants’ activity, sleep, and heart rate data over significant periods of time has been logistically difficult to collect and costly to measure,” said Aaron Coleman, CEO of Fitabase.
There’s no shortage of fitness trackers in our current market. Garmin Ltd. (NASDAQ: GRMN) launched Vivosmart HR+ with substantial upgrades on the original. The fitness wearable device includes a heart rate sensor with built-in GPS, meaning it’s a runner’s best friend. Like any normal GPS watch, the HR+ tracks pace, distance, calories and time. It could only display one metric at a time. Other notable features consist of smart notifications and daily activity tracking.
