Scouting Report-BioIntelliSense: Adhesive Sensors for Remote Patient Monitoring
The Driver:
Recently BioIntelliSense entered into a strategic collaboration with Renown Health, a not-for-profit integrated healthcare network of hospitals and care facilities to provide remote patient monitoring (RPM) for both in-hospital and at-home patient care. Based in Golden, Colorado with research offices in Redwood City, CA BioIntelliSense has raised a total of $83M over three funding rounds which included investors such as 7wire Technology Partners, Royal Philips, Fresenius Medical Care North America. TripleTree Holdings, UCHealth, and the CU Healthcare Innovation Fund.
BioIntelliSense has developed 2 wearable devices called the BioButton and the BioSticker. While both are FDA-cleared wearable medical devices, the BioSticker enables at-home continuous monitoring of vital signs and symptoms that can be directly associated with COVID for 30 days on a single device, without recharging while the BioButton, which debuted in summer 2020, lasts for up to 90 days and was launched during the COVID pandemic to help support reopening efforts of schools and offices.
Key Takeaways:
BioIntelliSense’s devices are measuring 20 different physiologic and biometric parameters and then transmitting that data to the cloud and then to a doctor or hospital or nurse, according to the company.
The company’s BioButton and BioSticker are designed to be discreetly worn on the upper left chest for effortless remote data capture and a simplistic “stick it on and forget it” patient experience
Capable of early detection of health conditions and continuous post-surgery monitoring of vitals to support the recovery process in the comfort of your home
Both devices can detect skin temperature, heart and respiratory rate at rest, gait analysis, coughing frequency, sleep, body position, steps, and activity levels.
The Story:
BioIntelliSense was founded in 2018 by Dr. James Mault (current CEO), a former cardiac surgeon at UCHealth in Colorado, and Co-founded by David Wang, founder of Striiv Corp, who has many years of experience in product execution and innovation. Through Mault’s background in health IT and the medical device industry, BioIntelliSense was able to launch just before the Pandemic and since then, has gained a lot of traction due to the increased demand for telehealth and telemedicine.
For example, UCHealth was an early supporter of the startup, striking a partnership with BioIntelliSense months before the start of the pandemic to monitor patients at home before and after a procedure. The hospital system is currently using BioIntelliSense’s devices to monitor patients for deterioration so as to intervene early. Other partnerships include one with Renown Health to enhance in-hospital and at-home care.
Differentiators:
BioIntelliSense is leveraging a patient-centric approach that captures multiple dimensions of patients’ health over time. Unlike the frequent visits with a primary care physician or hospital, the devices can passively track vitals 24/7 while simultaneously uploading that real-time data to the network for analysis. For patients recovering from health conditions such as COVID, the care team would be able to view daily and weekly trends while suggesting interventions according to their care plan if conditions were to worsen.
According to the company, BioSticker and BioButton work via adhesive sensors that are used to monitor patients’ heart rate, respiratory rate, and skin temperature among other features prescribed by a clinician. As noted in an article in ColoradoBiz, the devices are “measuring 20 different physiologic and biometric parameters and then transmitting that data to the cloud and then to a doctor or hospital or nurse or someone trying to take care of you.” According to CEO Mault, given the growing healthcare workforce crisis, routine patient monitoring has become more expensive and less frequent, especially during the ongoing public health emergency. With the BioButton and BioSticker, vital signs monitoring can be provided for each patient far more frequently and at a fraction of the cost.
Devices like BioIntelliSense which appear to offer convenience and cost-effectiveness are likely to be beneficial for both the healthcare system and its patients, especially given the current shortage of healthcare workers. Medicare and other insurers reimburse healthcare providers for the cost of BioIntelliSense’s technology. Through the platform’s advanced analytics clinicians may now have access to high-resolution patient trending and reporting to enable medical-grade care from in the hospital to the home, and all points in-between.
The Big Picture:
BioIntelliSense seems to be bridging the gap between quality care and prevention strategies that may be most beneficial to underserved communities. Their platform is integrating personalized technology where proactive, preventive care work to head off disease and illnesses so as to take a preemptive approach before symptoms actually manifest. If tools like this were integrated into hospitals and clinics, it could potentially change how patient care is delivered facilitating a reduction in hospitalizations, emergency department visits, and shorter hospital stays, which would create cost efficiencies for health systems. Through the platform's data sets and analytics, and with a team of engineers and data scientists who have expertise in wearable sensor development, the company has the potential to help transform care delivery and remote monitoring while expanding to regions with little or no access to healthcare facilities.
