Wearables in Fitness & Healthcare

Monitoring health and fitness outside the clinical setting is dominated by the use of consumer wearables. Wearable devices, ranging from fitness trackers and smartwatches to innovative smart rings and connected patches are becoming rapidly adopted by consumers who are leading the charge in revolutionising access to health.

What are Wearable Devices?

Wearable devices are electronic gadgets that are worn on the body and quipped with an array of sensors that measure anything from steps, through to heart rate, oxygen, blood pressure and more. Most devices are often paired to smartphones and rely heavily on mobile or wearable apps in order to provide insight into their benefits. Industry giants like Apple, Xiaomi, Samsung, and Huawei dominate the market; Apple alone has an approximate 29% market share through their Apple Watches. Specialized players such as Fitbit, Garmin, Whoop and Oura are also making significant contributions to this market not just by way of devices but through leaps in bridging science and consumer understanding of health & fitness via their products .

From 2015 to 2020, U.S. consumer usage of wearables surged from 18% to 54%, underscoring their growing acceptance. Surveys suggest that over 80% of consumers are now willing to adopt wearable technology.

Overview of Key Devices

Fitness and Health Trackers

These devices, typically worn on the wrist, are equipped with sensors to track physical activity, sleep, and vital signs. They often sync with smartphone apps, offering users insights into their health and fitness progress. Advanced models may include features like heart rate monitoring, body temperature, and blood glucose measurements. With long battery lives and affordable pricing, these trackers are perfect for long-term health monitoring.

Smartwatches

Transforming from a secondary smartphone screen to a standalone medical device, smartwatches now offer features such as ECG, SpO2 measurement, and atrial fibrillation detection. These devices allow for comprehensive data collection and are becoming increasingly important in medical research and personal health management.

Smart Rings

These compact devices offer a discreet alternative to wristbands, providing accurate data collection from their placement on the finger. Smart rings measure vital signs like heart rate and SpO2, and their development is closely watched for future health monitoring innovations.

Connected Patches

Placed directly on the skin, these patches monitor specific health metrics such as ECG, body temperature, and SpO2. One notable example is the FreeStyle Libre by Abbott, which monitors glucose levels continuously, offering a glimpse into the future of non-invasive health monitoring.

The wearable integration challenge for software developers

Despite their benefits, a significant challenge remains: the integration of data from these devices into broader healthcare applications that we're seeing with rise of digital health & fitness markets. Most wearable data are siloed within proprietary systems, making it difficult for users to integrate their personal device data with health applications.

There are many companies that offer to solve these issue and provide data aggregation services. But when developers and product teams choose an integration partner what is important to consider?

• Access to devices: if the solution requires access to most devices, there are a number of wearable data aggregator APIs to chose from. They all often tout themselves as being real-time, however they are all at the whim of the device manufactures when it comes to passing on data as they act as 3rd parties to collecting and passing on that data.
• Another thing to consider is: how much of your market needs access to every wearable? Most consumers in the wearable market choose Apple Watch, Fitbit, Samsung - these companies dominate the playing field with Oura, Whoop and Garmin - all of which are large companies but they represent less than 5% of that market combined. The reality is - most consumer do no use a wearable, and when they do, they choose from the top 3.
• Choose providers that have direct connections, companies such as us, Sahha, only provide direct connections to wearables, and we only choose the wearables that matter the most to consumers - the rest that we do not directly connect with we pull via the like of Apple Health or Android Health Connect.
• Most aggregators don't provide additional value beyond passing on data. Companies such as Sahha offer scores for behavioral, mental and physical health, and other proprietary biomarkers that you cannot get from wearables. What's more these scores and many of the biomarkers Sahha provide run on just smartphone data, wearable data is optional, this means that is significantly more access to your market (given everyone has a smartphone) and even more value available for you to work with.

Looking Forward

As wearable technology becomes more integrated into standard healthcare protocols, it is poised to significantly influence public health. Insurers and health providers are increasingly relying on these devices to promote healthier lifestyles and improve service delivery. With continuous monitoring, health professionals can offer timely interventions based on data-driven insights, potentially uncovering new determinants of health.

Wearable technology is still in its early stages, but it promises exciting advancements. As these devices become more integrated into everyday health management, they are set to transform the landscape of healthcare, making wellness more accessible to everyone.

For more insights into how wearable technology can enhance your health services and patient engagement strategies, consider exploring Sahha's solutions or booking a demonstration of our integration capabilities.