Though only about an inch in diameter, BioIntelliSense’s BioButton wearable device for remote monitoring boasts an impressive reach—and one that’s still growing, thanks to the company’s recent acquisition of additional patient-tracking software.
The single-use, rechargeable BioButton can be worn for 90 days, during which it measures vital signs around the clock. It tracks nearly two dozen factors including skin temperature, heart and respiratory rate, sleep performance, gait analysis and symptoms like vomiting, sneezing and coughing that may indicate an infection—all culminating in up to 1,440 readings per day.
The device is meant to be used both at home and in hospitals. The latter setting is the focus of BioIntelliSense’s acquisition of AlertWatch, which the devicemaker announced this week and which will allow the wearable’s data to enhance the monitoring and subsequent treatment of patients in healthcare settings.
AlertWatch’s software gathers information from a hospital’s electronic health record (EHR) system, lab test results and real-time readings of any medical devices that are being used to monitor or treat an inpatient at the time.
Not only does the platform aim to make patient monitoring easier by combining all of that information in one place, it also automatically analyzes the collected data to perform calculations and analyses for clinicians and send out alerts when needed. To date, AlertWatch has roped in four clearances from the FDA, spanning platforms specific to ORs, ICUs and labor and delivery units.
Through the acquisition deal, the vast amount of continuous vital sign data collected by BioIntelliSense’s BioButtons can be added to the AlertWatch platform—and therefore its patient analyses—giving doctors a more comprehensive view of patients’ health and potentially helping improve in-hospital treatment, shorten inpatient stays and reduce overall healthcare costs.
Financial details of the acquisition were not disclosed.
With AlertWatch now housed under the BioIntelliSense umbrella, the software will also be added to Medtronic’s HealthCast portfolio. Similar to the AlertWatch platform, HealthCast aims to integrate medical device data into EHRs, combining a wealth of patient monitoring information all in one place and providing automated alerts to help triage high-risk patients.
AlertWatch will be available to U.S. hospitals through the HealthCast platform thanks to a recent team-up between BioIntelliSense and Medtronic. The partnership, announced at the end of August, gave Medtronic exclusive rights to distribute the BioButton in the U.S. for use in hospitals and the first 30 days of post-acute care.