Medical Intelligence (Quebec City, Canada) has taken an entrepreneurial approach to the same European market need and sales potential for personal health-alert devices.

Its French affiliate, Medicale Mobile (Paris), can claim to be “the world’s first healthcare telecom operator,” according to Medical Intelligence founder and CEO Louis Massicotte.

Designed to be worn like a wristwatch, the Columba Bracelet becomes a hands-free portable telephone for Alzheimer’s patients in confusion or crisis. The Columba continually sends GPS coordinates to monitor their positions. (Medical Device Daily; March 21, 2007)

A perimeter is set after an initial period of use for the subscriber’s routine movements so that the bracelet automatically alerts the call center when the subscriber moves outside the zone. A voice link is immediately established with the subscriber and caregivers are alerted.

Subscribers sign up with Medical Intelligence and pay a monthly fee to cover the phone contract and the telephone assistance service. In France and Spain, the insurers AXA Assistance (Issy-Les-Moulineaux, France) and Eulen Servicios Sociosanitarios (Bilbao, Spain), respectively, provide the telephone response service.

At the end of 2006 Massicotte told Medical Device Daily he had 1,000 subscribers contracted for the Columba bracelet.

After securing distribution deals in 2006 with Orange in France and Telef nica M viles Espa a , Massicotte announced two contracts to expand the footprint for the Columba bracelet.

At the end of 2006, Tunstall agreed to co-branding and distribution for the UK, Ireland, Australia and New Zealand. Tunstall’s initial roll-out began recently in the UK.

In January, Bosch Security Systems (Stuttgart, Germany) signed an exclusive sales agreement for Germany, Austria, Switzerland, Belgium, the Netherlands, Luxemburg, Denmark, Finland, Norway and Sweden. Germany will be the pilot market for Bosch.

In the letter of intent, Bosch also said it expects to assist in the manufacturing of the bracelet units.

Massicotte said he is currently in talks to release the bracelet in North America. He added that he hopes that success for Telef nica will lead to opportunities in South and Central America.

Also in January Medical Intelligence obtained 15-year protection from the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office for technology underlying its newest product, Vital Positioning System (VPS), a portable cardiac alarm device. The patent-protected capability of VPS is the automatic detection of trends in electrocardiogram monitoring signals from an individual. The belt-like device will be able to signal the onset of a cardiac crisis up to eight minutes ahead of the event, Massicotte said.

He told MDD that Air France has expressed an interest in providing the device to long-distance passengers with a history of thrombosis. The prototype was introduced at a cardiology conference three years ago.

A third version of Medical Intelligence cell phone SIM chip capabilities in combination with GPS in a personal device is called Urgentys, a mobile “panic button.” When activated, the device immediately creates a voice link with a response center and locates the position of the user.

Unlike the first two products, Urgentys may launch in the U.S.

One market is hospitals, which, according to Massicotte can provide the device to patients at discharge. He said readmission to emergency units is reduced 25% when patient s are given a phone connecting them to the care team familiar with their treatment and aftercare.

“Imagine how much better it would be for post-op patients if they simply press a button and can start talking to the people charged with his or her care,” he said.

A second opportunity that could be worth “hundreds of thousands of units” is centered on rescue and crisis teams within the U.S. government.

Medical Intelligence in February reported an agreement with ASM Research (Fairfax, Virginia) for exclusive representation to government agencies.

—John Brosky, Contributing Writer