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By Wayne Caswell
I spoke briefly with CEO Hamish Patel at the opening of the SXSW Interactive yesterday and was impressed enough to write about his device today.
The Wello iPhone case tracks several points of health with a variety of medical-grade sensors that measure things like like temperature, heart rate (pulse), heart rate variability (stress related), blood pressure, blood oxygen level, and even ECG. And at just $199, it’s priced the same as the popular AliveCor, which already has FDA approval and has been on the market for over a year. Wello also seems to have similar function to the Scanadu Scout, which we reported on 15 months ago.
Lung capacity can be measured with an add-on device that acts like a $1,500 respirometer, and Wello will be able to interface out-of-the-box with other wireless health sensors such as Wi-Fi scales or or fitness trackers, allowing for a more complete picture of your health over the last day, week, month, or longer. The ability to monitor, report, and analyze trends is an important capability for devices like Wello.
Azio, Inc., the company behind the Wello iPhone case, plans to ship this fall (pending FDA approval) and is taking pre-orders in the United States, Canada, China, Hong Kong, India, Singapore, the UK, and in other parts of Europe. Applications for such a portable and low-cost device extend from consumer use during video calls with a doctor to professional use by home health providers, by EMTs in an ambulance, or by doctors and nurses in developing nations. It helps show how hospitals are starting to bring healthcare home with a future that’s based on sensors, wireless Internet connections, and consumers using devices themselves as prices come down and functionality and ease of use improves. We’re trending toward the smartphone physical.
