TORONTO – After four years of relying on Vivametrica Inc. to successfully boost the health and wellness of its clients’ employees, Sprout Wellness Solutions Inc. has taken the next logical step by acquiring the Calgary-based health analytics company.

HONG KONG – Chugai Pharmaceutical Co. Ltd. is hoping to start phase I trials for an as-yet-unnamed digital solution for measuring pain levels in endometriosis patients that it is co-developing with Biofourmis Inc.

Commercial continuous glucose monitors (CGMs) require some access to a patient’s blood, typically through tiny needles embedded in a wearable patch sensor. But Movano Inc. is working to develop a CGM that is based on radio frequency technology to monitor glucose levels via a noninvasive, external wearable, likely in a form factor akin to a watch or a wrist-worn fitness wearable.

The case of Fitbit Inc. v. Valencell Inc. has seen the usual number of twists and turns as it wended its way through Article III courts and an inter partes review (IPR), but a U.S. Supreme Court case that requires that all claims in an IPR be reviewed was decided during the Fitbit IPR.

TORONTO – Edmonton’s University of Alberta is lending its neuromotor research smarts to a wearable, machine learning driven sensors platform developed by Menlo Park, Calif., and Calgary, Alberta-based Protxx Inc. for better managing the future care of patients suffering from neurodegenerative conditions such as multiple sclerosis (MS).

Hydrocephalus involves the buildup of excess fluid in the brain. It affects more than 1 million people in the U.S. – most of them children – and can result in brain damage and related neurological impairments. Shunt implants are the standard treatment to drain that fluid, but more than half of them fail within the first couple of years of placement.

Amsterdam-based Royal Philips NV has launched a five-day, wearable biosensor patch that monitors respiratory and heart rates once every minute, as well as assesses contextual information such as posture, activity level and ambulation. The wearable, disposable patch, dubbed the Philips Biosensor BX100, has received FDA clearance and a CE mark and is intended for use in lower acuity hospital care.

Wearables giant Fitbit Inc. has kicked off its first large-scale, virtual study to evaluate how well its wrist-worn technology can spot episodes of irregular heart rhythm that might indicate atrial fibrillation (AF). The study, part of a broader plan to equip Fitbit devices with new tools to speed the detection of a range of conditions, is open to people in the U.S. ages 22 and older who own a Fitbit that tracks heart rate.

Artificial intelligence-focused Chronolife SAS, of Paris, has secured class IIa medical certification from the EU for its smart T-shirt, which has the new brand name Keesense. The reusable, washable T-shirt is designed for comfortable, round-the-clock use. It works by transmitting data to a paired smartphone app via Bluetooth.

The novel coronavirus pandemic has been managed with widely varying degrees of success around the world. Artificial intelligence (AI), which can help to power all sorts of efforts, has been enlisted thus far in limited ways. But researchers at a virtual conference held on April 1 by the Stanford Institute for Human-Centered Artificial Intelligence explored some of the ongoing and potential applications of AI to systematize efforts to fight COVID-19.