Less than two years after acquiring Sound United for $1.025 billion, Masimo Corp. plans to hive off the consumer audio subsidiary along with consumer health products such as its Stork baby monitor and Freedom smart watch and band. The “rushed” announcement made Friday “came after being informed that Politan intended to nominate directors this week,” said activist investor Politan Capital Management. Politan, which owns 8.9% of the company, secured two board seats in a highly contentious proxy battle last year and nominated two more on Monday morning.

Ultrahuman Healthcare Private Ltd. recently raised $35 million in a series B investment round to accelerate the company’s growth. Ultrahuman has developed several products, most notably a smart ring, which measures a range of physiological signals to impact health and wellbeing.

Sky Labs reported it has more comparative study data to back its ring-type medical device for blood pressure (BP) called CART BP, which CEO Jack Lee noted has the potential to “replace existing blood pressure monitors.” Sky

Masimo Corp. received a pinch of good news with the U.S. FDA’s clearance of its medical-grade fingertip pulse oximeter, Mightysat Medical, for over-the-counter (OTC) sale. The device uses the same technology as Masimo’s Set pulse oximetry used in hospitals and clinics.

Eisai Co. Ltd. and Oita University in Oita Prefecture, Japan, developed a first-of-its-kind machine learning model to predict amyloid beta accumulation in the brain using a wristband sensor. The model, which collects biological and lifestyle data from daily life, is expected to enable screening for brain amyloid beta accumulation to identify those at risk for Alzheimer's disease, particularly because amyloid beta begins to accumulate in the brain about 20 years before the onset of the disease.

The holidays are looking brighter for Masimo Corp. with two bits of good cheer this week for the company. Apple Inc. confirmed to BioWorld that it will preemptively pull two smartwatches from its website and retailers in response to a Masimo infringement case that persuaded the International Trade Commission to block their import.

Wubin Bai, assistant professor of applied physical sciences, and members of his lab at UNC-Chapel Hill have developed a wearable, wireless sensing patch for deep tissue monitoring of multiple biometric indicators, including tissue oximetry, pulse oximetry, photoplethysmography, heart pulsation, and respiration.

Arizona State University (ASU) reported the receipt of a patent for a device with colorimetric sensors for measuring excreted ketones in a body fluid. Additional sensors may be incorporated to measure flow rate of the body fluid, barometric pressure, humidity, and chemicals such as oxygen and carbon dioxide present in the fluid, and a system to measure metabolic rate and respiratory quotient via oxygen consumption rate and carbon dioxide production rate.

Researchers from the University of Shanghai for Science and Technology have developed an electrotechnical patch, printed on a wearable substrate, capable of detecting dopamine and glucose levels in real-time. They published their work in Analytica.