NeuWave Technology launched ObeEnd, an innovative personal health device that monitors fitness and stimulates the nervous system, with the goal to reduce body weight via appetite control. The company is based in Washington State, and aims to develop safe, effective, and user-friendly healthcare devices to help improve people’s lives.
Background on wearable technology
Wearable technology was first introduced as the watch in the 1600s, in an attempt make the clock a much smaller and portable device for users to tell time.[1] This revolutionary invention, much like the subsequent ones over the centuries that eventually led to the smart watches we see today, constantly improved the user experience and the technology itself. NeuWave Technology pushes the envelope by offering a device with the objective to not only monitor personal health, but to also help improve it.
NeuWave Technology’s Innovations:
1. More Than a Typical Wristband
The most popular wearable technologies are those worn on the wrist. The wristband, since the inception in wristwatches in the 1800s, only had the purpose to mount the device to the user.
NeuWave Technology integrates functional modules, like sensors, cables, and electrodes on the wristband used by ObeEnd. This distributes the operational hardware from the main unit onto the entire device, giving the main unit much more flexibility in design. Expanding the functional modules from the main unit to the wristband also gives the device a wider range of capabilities, while improving the data collection, nerve stimulation, and battery consumption efficiency.
2. Wearable Treatment
Most modern wearable technologies focus on data collection. NeuWave Technology takes this one step further by integrating targeted neuromodulation into ObeEnd. The objective is to allow the device to target specific medical conditions, namely obesity. Precise electric stimulation of PC6 has been clinically demonstrated to reduce both gastric acid secretion and stomach peristalsis, which are factors that contribute to weight loss.[2] Thus, ObeEnd uses targeted neuromodulation with the objective to reduce these activities, and by extension, obesity.
ObeEnd is designed as a wearable treatment device that allows users to enjoy the normal day-to-day services of a fitness wristwatch, as well as the safe and effective therapies of a healthcare technology. The combination of the two properties makes ObeEnd a user-friendly and cost-effective choice for consumers. NeuWave Technology plans to launch ObeEnd in Fall of 2020.
The Team of NeuWave Technology
The founding team of NeuWave Technology consists of healthcare experts from Harvard University and University of California, Berkeley. The team has previously produced the innovative wearable anti-nausea device, which won the 2017 iF Design Award, received top rankings on Amazon based on user reviews, and gained international recognition for its reputable design and usability. NeuWave looks forward to continue providing innovative healthcare solutions to worldwide users with ObeEnd.
NeuWave Technology was invested by WAT Medical and has completed early stage development of ObeEnd.
References
[1] Guler, Sibel Deren (2016). Crafting wearables: blending technology with fashion. New York: Apress [2] Effects of Electro acupuncture on Gastric Myoelectrical Activity in Healthy Humans Neurogastroenterol Motil. 2004 Jun;16(3):293-8.