DCU-based Shimmer signs research deal with Harvard’s Wyss Institute

13 Jun 2016

The deal between Shimmer and Harvard's Wyss Institute will accelerate the development of wearable tech in medical treatment

DCU-based wearable tech player Shimmer Sensing has forged a partnership with the Wyss Institute at Harvard University to support ongoing research focused on remote patient monitoring using wearable sensing technology.

“Partnering with Shimmer Sensing will allow us to further develop our remote patient-monitoring platform called MercuryLive,” said Prof Paolo Bonato, an associate faculty member of the Wyss Institute.

‘The Wyss Institute is renowned for taking academic innovation to the next level’
– PATRICK WHITE, SHIMMER

MercuryLive is a platform designed to support clinicians’ remote monitoring of patients – who, for example, could have Parkinson’s disease or be stroke survivors, traumatic brain injury survivors, or children with cerebral palsy – via live-streaming of wearable sensor data and an interactive video feed. Bonato’s team at the Wyss Institute is developing the latest version of the MercuryLive platform, which enables the integration of a variety of wireless devices.

Accelerated development

Shimmer’s financial support of the research and its technical expertise in wireless medical sensors will accelerate the development of MercuryLive towards applications in remote patient monitoring.

Among other clinical applications, the platform being developed will allow clinicians to remotely monitor patients with knee osteoarthritis using a knee sleeve with embedded wireless sensors and observe older adults in their home using wearable sensors and a mobile robot designed to navigate the environment and reach the subject in case of an emergency.

Established in 2008, with headquarters in Dublin and offices in Boston and Kuala Lumpur, Shimmer’s technology is trusted and utilised by the world’s brightest start-ups, Fortune 500 companies, and leading universities in more than 65 countries worldwide.

Deployments include an FDA-approved biophysical application in the US, a telerehabilitation solution in Spain, and player tracking and performance management solutions in the UK and Ireland.

“The Wyss Institute is renowned for taking academic innovation to the next level, and partnering with physicians and the industry to bring new technologies to the bedside,” said Patrick White, CEO of Shimmer Sensing.

“We are very enthusiastic about the opportunity to support Prof Bonato’s research team and their work toward the development of the next generation of remote clinical monitoring systems,” White added.

Harvard image via Shutterstock

John Kennedy is a journalist who served as editor of Silicon Republic for 17 years

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