Consumer

Person's feet standing on a scale
By  Jessica Hagen 04:12 pm May 6, 2024
WeightWatchers announced its partnership with Personify Health to allow employers to offer the company's business solutions to help employees access weight-related healthcare offerings, including behavioral health, medication management and virtual care.  WeightWatchers for Business offers programs focused on changing behavior, including programs tailored for individuals with diabetes or those on...
Person sitting at a table with their torso and arms showing with a watch on their wrist
By  Jessica Hagen 12:05 pm May 6, 2024
The FDA announced the Apple Watch atrial fibrillation (AFib) tool is qualified for use in clinical trials through its Medical Device Development Tools (MDDT) program, thus enabling researchers to use it to detect arrhythmias or abnormal heart beat.  Apple's tool is the first digital health tool to be qualified under the MDDT program, a voluntary program aimed at evaluating devices for use in...
Human genome analysis DNA molecular structure
By  Nathan Eddy 01:46 pm May 3, 2024
AI-enabled protein design company Profluent has leveraged artificial intelligence to design an open-source gene editor called OpenCRISPR-1, demonstrating the technology can be used to create molecules with the power to edit human DNA. Clustered Regularly Interspaced Short Palindromic Repeats (CRISPR) technology, developed more than a decade ago, allows scientists to modify DNA sequences within...
U.S. Food and Drug Administration sign in front of a building
By  Jessica Hagen 12:22 pm May 3, 2024
Philips received a warning letter from the FDA in February, which the Agency posted on Tuesday, stating that an inspection of the tech giant's manufacturing facility in Suzhou, China, that makes CT and ultrasonography systems revealed it was not in compliance with the Quality System Regulation's good manufacturing requirements. The FDA said an inspection of the facility in October showed the...
Dr. Julia Frydman, medical director for palliative care at Thyme Care
By  Jessica Hagen 12:00 pm May 2, 2024
Value-based cancer care platform Thyme Care is launching Enhanced Supportive Care, a virtual palliative care support program to assist its members and caregivers with managing physical and psychological symptoms accompanying cancer diagnosis and treatment.    The program will be led by Dr. Julia Frydman, the company's first medical director for palliative care. Frydman previously worked in the...
Healthcare provider wearing a lab coat and stethoscope while sitting at a desk and talking to someone on a computer
By  Jessica Hagen 04:57 pm May 1, 2024
TeleRare Health announced its launch to offer virtual care appointments for individuals with rare diseases, focusing on diagnosis, disease assessment and ongoing care.  The platform connects patients with expert clinicians and offers molecular diagnostics, as well as care coordination and referral services. It also provides information on approved therapies for rare diseases and patient advocacy...
Person standing on a boardwalk holding up their arm while looking at a device on their wrist
By  Jessica Hagen 01:51 pm April 30, 2024
Boston-based wearable fitness company WHOOP announced it expanded its language offerings and global footprint, now shipping to 56 markets worldwide, including Hong Kong, Bahrain, Korea, Saudi Arabia, Qatar, Israel, Taiwan and Kuwait. WHOOP's wearable health tracker collects physiological data on heart rate, sleep, recovery and strain. Users also have the option to track their menstrual cycle. Its...
An individual holding a mobile phone showing their heart rate
By  Adam Ang 03:18 am April 30, 2024
The South Korean Ministry of Food and Drug Safety (MFDS) has recently approved two digital devices that assist in respiratory rehabilitation and treatment of vision impairment due to cognitive illnesses. EasyBreath by Share & Service is a mobile application that provides an eight-week respiratory rehabilitation programme for persons with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, asthma, and lung...
Juan Lavista Ferres, head of Microsoft's AI for Good Lab
By  Jessica Hagen 07:37 pm April 29, 2024
The head of Microsoft's AI for Good Lab, Juan Lavista Ferres, coauthored a book providing real-world examples of how artificial intelligence can responsibly be used to positively affect humankind. Ferres sat down with MobiHealthNews to discuss his new book, AI for Good: Applications in Sustainability, Humanitarian Action and Health. He talked about ways to mitigate biases within data input in AI...