What’s Inside Your Wearable Device?

What’s Inside Your Wearable Device?

What’s Inside your wearable health device?  Wearable tech no longer just counts your steps–it can save your life. The wearables industry is growing at a dizzying rate, and innovation is generating an incredible number of patents. To take just one example, a medical alert watch is a small, smart health device that’s full of IP. We look at what’s inside.

Patented electronics, communications, and medical technologies that contribute to a smart watch include:

  • Microcontrollers
  • Semiconductors
  • Waterproof design
  • Motion detectors
  • Activity sensors
  • Step counters
  • Medical Reminders
  • 24/7 emergency help button
  • Phone connectivity
  • In-home hub processing medical data

Wearable have been determined to be critical to the future of healthcare:

  • Healthcare providers spend 85% on chronic condition management
  • 79% of doctors believe mobile devices can help coordinate better care
  • 66% of physicians would prescribe an app to help patients manage chronic diseases
  • The risk of hospitalization for chronic conditions is reduced by 47%

Wearables are powering a new wave of IP:

  • 41,301 electronics patents have been issued since 2010
  • 140,926 patents have been issues for printed, flexible, and organic electronics since 2010
  • The most common applications for wearables patents support consumer communications, health monitoring, and athletics.

The wearables revolution is just beginning, with a projected 24.5% annual market growth rate contributing to a predicted $70 billion industry by 2025.