We’re all familiar with fitness trackers and their ability to track general health metrics, like your heart rate. But what about a smaller and more powerful wearable? Movano’s new smart ring can help people monitor their chronic illnesses, which is a big step forward … if it can secure FDA approval.
The health tech company’s tiny wearable is massively powerful. The Movano Ring can measure a variety of health metrics in addition to more major chronic illnesses, such as calories burned, blood oxygen levels, heart rate/heart rate variability, temperature, daily steps, respiration, and sleep. From there, you’ll be able to see all of your information in the (as of yet unreleased) companion app.
However, instead of just throwing mountains of raw data at you, Movano makes the data easy to digest and actually lists out how the metrics relate to one another. This, in turn, makes it easier for you to understand larger chronic illnesses (and keep them in check), once you have a better understanding of how they work together and impact each other—for instance, how your daily walks around the block impact your heart rate variability over time.
While many wearables—think those from companies like Fitbit or Whoop—have updated their software in various attempts to help users connect the limited metrics they track to real-world scenarios, Movano wants to do even more. It’s aiming to make its deep insights more actionable in its app, which is where users can peruse graphs compiled from their tracked data and other information at a glance.
The ring itself also looks to be slim and stylish, with a few colors (black, silver, gold, and copper) to choose from. There are also multiple designs to choose from, catering to women and other genders beyond the traditionally masculine-dominated designs. In fact, given what the Movano Ring is capable of, it’s genuinely impressive how small and sleek it is.
But before the ring can really make any splashes as a chronic illness-monitoring wearable, it still needs to get FDA approval. The company, led by CEO and director John Mastrototaro, Ph.D., is being totally frank about its medical applications and ambitions. Mastrototaro notes that the first iteration won’t have that clearance, the goal is to ensure future generations get Class II designation and add more extensive health-monitoring features, like cuffless blood pressure readings and non-invasive glucose monitoring.
In order to get there, though, Movano still needs to conclude its clinical trials and accuracy studies for heart rate, respiratory rate, and Sp02 monitoring. Regulations are precisely what stops most medical wearables dead in their tracks (or at least holds them in limbo for years). However, Mastrototaro told The Verge that “We’re taking the regulatory side of things very seriously,” and noted that he has a long history of developing medical devices elsewhere, as does his staff, which he hopes will give them an edge.
If things go smoothly, though, we can expect to see the Movano Ring sometime in the latter half of 2022, likely as a beta version. There still aren’t any details regarding pricing, though the CEO is aiming for it to be among the most affordable out there. Stay tuned, as we will update this article as more details become available.
via The Verge
