BMTH News: WearOptimo’s life-saving Microwearable sensor technology heads into production
12 March 2021
BMTH Rounds 1 & 2 recipient, WearOptimo has announced today that it has secured a new $30 million deal to manufacture its MicrowearableTM sensor health technology at an advanced technology facility in Brisbane - for worldwide distribution.
WearOptimo’s wearable devices can give patients and their doctors early warning of life-threatening events such as heart attacks, heat stroke and other conditions. They represent a significant advance in personalised medicine and precision healthcare, identified as a global megatrend in MTPConnect’s 2020 Sector Competitiveness Plan.
Since 2018, MTPConnect has supported the development of WearOptimo’s microwearable device into an enterprise through our BioMedTech Horizons program, an initiative of the Medical Research Future Fund. They were funded in Round 1 of the BMTH program to develop the Microwearable technology and in Round 2 to develop a cardiac microwearable.
And now, a partnership between the Queensland Government, The Australian National University (ANU), WearOptimo, and the Australian National Fabrication Facility (ANFF) will invest $30 million in a globally-competitive high-tech manufacturing facility for production of Microwearable sensors to reach into key healthcare markets.
WearOptimo founder and CEO, Professor Mark Kendall said today the new devices are designed to vastly improve the lives of seriously ill patients.
“Our Microwearable sensors are at the cutting-edge of personalised treatment and healthcare. The Microwearables we're working are designed to empower individuals and their healthcare providers – to put them in charge of tailored, rapid treatment and recovery.
"For example, we are developing Microwearable sensors to detect and alert to dehydration while people are on the job, or to dehydration in the elderly. Another type of our Microwearable sensor is being developed to help with the early detection of heart attacks and cardiovascular disease, which is responsible for 20 million deaths per year.
"We're working on tackling some of the biggest killers on the planet, so it is a real thrill to receive this support for our important work,” he said.
You can listen to Professor Mark Kendall and the company’s Chief Technology Officer, Professor Stephen Wilson, talk more about WearOptimo’s innovation on the MTPConnect podcast here recorded late in 2020.
Our BioMedTech Horizons program aims to support innovative collaborative health technologies, drive discoveries towards proof-of-concept and commercialisation that address key health challenges as well as maximise entrepreneurship and idea potential. The program is currently funding 41 homegrown, innovative medical technology projects.