BARDA division helps fund Biobeat wearable health monitor in strategy to move diagnostics into individual hands

Pointing to the wealth of data potential locked in the wrist watch-style health monitors developed by Israeli company Biobeat Technologies Ltd., the U.S. Biomedical Advanced Research and Development Authority’s (BARDA) Division of Research, Innovation, and Ventures (DRIVe) is fronting nearly $600,000 to see development to fruition in a public-private partnership.

BARDA, part of the Office of the Assistant Secretary for Preparedness and Response at the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, wants to see prevention, detection and response to health security modernized in every area. A big part of this lies in developing capabilities for pre-symptomatic identification of illness and exposures.

And given that Biobeat pitches its new technology as capable of monitoring vital signs and identifying illness before wearers display – or even feel – symptoms, it’s a natural fit for the organization.

In a recent interview with Homeland Preparedness News, BARDA Director Rick Bright noted there are many potential uses for the device to combat emerging infectious diseases and facilitate public health response.

“Our investment in Biobeat is part of an overall strategy to move identification of illness and diagnostics out of healthcare settings, into the home and onto the person,” Bright said. “Wearable devices like Biobeat could represent affordable vital sign monitoring that can replace many of the more expensive types of equipment found routinely in hospital systems. This is very important when taken in the context of emergency response and humanitarian relief efforts because in those situations access to the existing infrastructure may not readily be available. In low-resource countries, hospital technology may not be available at all.”

Biobeat’s wrist watch has already been cleared by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) for monitoring blood pressure, heart rate, oxygen saturation, respiratory rate, stroke volume, cardiac output, sweat, skin temperature and other factors, under the low-cost technique known as reflective photoplethysmography. The information gathered and recommendations determined can then be transmitted to apps or databases via the cloud.

With funding from DRIVe, which was established in June 2018, Biobeat will further develop the technology to track bodily changes that signal the user has potentially been exposed to an influenza virus or other respiratory pathogens. The U.S. government is also interested in addressing other public health security threats, such as in the event of chemical, biological, radiological or nuclear incident or disaster.

“Ultimately we hope there are discussions on making de-identified information available through the cloud to public health officials in real time to increase the fidelity of predictions and support their decision making,” Bright said.

Biobeat is one of the first three companies BARDA is partnering with to develop health sensor technologies – a collection that also includes EnLiSense and Spire. Biobeat itself is a technology company focused on continuous, wireless, non-invasive, yet accurate medical-grade monitoring devices that measure and record relevant data.

“One of BARDA’s goals in moving the technology being developed by Biobeat and our other partners into clinical studies is to explore how to leverage this wealth of data to advance data analytics and disease prediction capabilities,” Bright said. “By building better technology and tools people can more readily track and monitor new health threats that enter communities.”

Advanced technologies under development could help address a range of global public health crises, such as the spread of the Ebola virus in Africa.

“For example, patients exposed to viruses like Ebola but not yet symptomatic must undergo a 21-day observation period in which monitoring for vital signs such as temperature and heart rate can be predictors of disease,” Bright said. “The technologies we’re developing under ENACT may be helpful in quickly identifying those changes.”

The Biobeat project is part of ENACT, or the Early Notification to Act Control and Treat portfolio, a collection of products developed to empower patients with early health warnings in a minimally invasive manner. It’s part of DRIVe’s main mission, according to Bright: focus on systemic problems, of which detection is certainly one.

Biobeat expects the project to cost $954,800, with DRIVe contributing $599,000 and Biobeat providing the remaining funds for development.

After testing, DRIVe and Biobeat are expected to request further clearance from the FDA, which would in turn allow easier access and adoption of the technology by the public, as well as public health and medical organizations.