Technology that is proven in sport can reach well beyond the sector and create a very strong business. That case is proven again today with news that Shimmer, an Irish provider of wearable sensor technology, has secured a $10 million contract with US firm Emerge Diagnostics.
Shimmer will provide the core platform on which Emerge Diagnostics has developed a medical device designed to provide a new, cost effective standard in the diagnosis and treatment of soft tissue injuries.
The main sales area in the US for this deal is in occupational injuries and the distinguishing of an acute from a chronic injury and can assist in identifying when an injury originally occurred.
According to US Bureau of Labour Statistics, Soft Tissue Injuries (STI’s) account for an estimated $200 billion annually in lost work hours with workers compensation making up the largest component of this cost. This new solution provides a cost effective, portable, wireless and accurate system to diagnose the severity of conditions to improve claim management and clinical outcomes.
“Shimmer has been working closely with Emerge Diagnostics for a number of years to develop their Shimmer-based solution for muscle injury profiling,” said CEO Paddy White.
“With pent up demand already in the market, we expect strong growth over the next 3 years, and we are looking forward to the upswing this will have on Shimmer’s output.”
Shimmer is engaged in the fitness and wellbeing sector and has produced work with NUI Galway leading to advances in the monitoring and management of resistance training.
Wearable technology is a sector reported to be growing much faster than the typical ten year computing cycle that has recently been evident in smartphones and tablets.
