As part of the Wearables Sweet Sixteen tourney, two wearables companies are pushing the boundaries of a 730 year-old piece of medtech: glasses. In addition to glasses, another thing Pristine and OrCam have in common is that their products involve more than just glasses: they’re cameras.
Pristine uses Google Glass as a camera for another physician to do telemedcine consults. OrCam also uses a camera that sees more clearly what its visually impaired wearer cannot.
OrCam’s software interprets the visual image the wearer points to and through a speaker by their ear, hears what they are looking at whether it’s a bus number, traffic light, or text in a newspaper. It’s a fantastic enabler, but at about $2,500 a pop not everyone will be able to afford it. But the Israeli company is apparently in talks with providers to change its non-reimbursed status. When you consider that 285 million people are visually impaired by the World Health Organization’s reckoning, that’s a pretty big market opportunity. On the other hand a significant chunk are in developing countries.
Then there’s Pristine. Although it’s on the early side of its development with most institutions still piloting its technology, it raises intriguing ideas about telemedicine. Why? Its EyeSight application offers a more flexible approach than other cameras since the camera perceives what its wearer sees. The telemedicine market is gathering momentum as a way to provide specialists to areas of medicine and regions where specialists are in short supply. That’s one reason telestroke has taken off. Time is critical to avoid brain damage and it offers a useful way for hospitals low on neurology staff to get rapid access for consults. The fact that the camera is worn means it takes less time to show what the consulting doctor needs to see.
Pristine is interested in expanding the technology to other uses. With its first partner, Wound Care Advantage, Pristine has signaled its interest in pushing into the telewound market.
Rhode Island Hospital is using the technology to focus on dermatology consults in the ER to evaluate skin wounds, rashes, and lesions.
Winner: Pristine
A Deep-dive Into Specialty Pharma
A specialty drug is a class of prescription medications used to treat complex, chronic or rare medical conditions. Although this classification was originally intended to define the treatment of rare, also termed “orphan” diseases, affecting fewer than 200,000 people in the US, more recently, specialty drugs have emerged as the cornerstone of treatment for chronic and complex diseases such as cancer, autoimmune conditions, diabetes, hepatitis C, and HIV/AIDS.
Why? Its technology offers a way to increase access to care, make telemedicine more efficient, and has the potential to help more people.
