Given the interest in digital health devices that can take on the challenge of obesity, a smart necklace under development by a group of UCLA engineers offers an interesting approach to helping people manage their eating habits. WearSens developers also see potential for the technology to be applied to other situations from smoking cessation to recent lung transplant patients, according to a Popular Science article .
The device uses something called piezoelectric sensors. They rely on a kind of electrical charge that accumulates in some solid materials that include biologic materials like bone and certain proteins in response to applied mechanical stress, in this case when a person’s jaw is moving to eat food or drink a beverage.
The article quotes UCLA electrical engineer and WearSens co-developer Majid Sarrafzadeh who said the vibration data are transmitted to a smartphone app, which learns to sense solids and liquids and then stores an individual’s swallowing patterns. It is designed to provide feedback so users can see what their food and beverage intake is like on a day to day basis.
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Munck Wilson Mandala Partner Greg Howison shared his perspective on some of the legal ramifications around AI, IP, connected devices and the data they generate, in response to emailed questions.
A prototype of the device is shown in a video.
Although it is still very much in the early stages of its development, preliminary data suggests WearSens could be applied to medication adherence and smoking cessation since it seems to be able to detect when a person swallows a pill or smokes cigarettes, the article said. The team is also working on a project with a UCLA lung transplant surgeon to use the necklace to remotely measure the breathing patterns of those who receive transplants for spot signs of organ rejection earlier.
If the technology can be validated, one longterm challenge will be figuring out how to package the sensors in ways that appeal to its target users. Payers are interested in devices that take different approaches to helping members manage challenging health problems fit easily into people’s lives. It could also help them gather important data for members to provide more customized alerts and interventions.
The image used in Popular Science is a little flashy and I can’t imagine many men feeling confident enough to wear it in that form. Still it’s likely to appeal to plenty of women users and reflects a trend in wearable designs to make them stand out less as wearables and resemble something closer to jewelry.
A Personalized Approach to Medication Nonadherence
At the Abarca Forward conference earlier this year, George Van Antwerp, managing director at Deloitte, discussed how social determinants of health and a personalized member experience can improve medication adherence and health outcomes.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DQwB8CINuN4
