Research, Halo LLC
Wearable Systems for Health and Lifestyle Monitoring
Start-up Business Summary March 14, 2007
CONFIDENTIAL AND PROPRIETARY
Halo Research, LLC Page 2 of 8
OVERVIEW
Business Concept Halo Research is in early commercialization of wearable systems for health and lifestyle monitoring. The systems are designed to allow informal caregivers (children, family, and friends) to monitor elderly loved ones, while each maintains an independent lifestyle. The systems consist of three major parts: a single wearable chest strap, an in-home wireless gateway, and a web-based health server. The chest strap is lightweight, uses dry, non-adhesive electrodes so that it is comfortable, and wirelessly and automatically transfers data so that no user intervention is required. The chest strap has tiny sensors for monitoring physiological signals such as heart rate, body temperature, and motion. The wireless gateway is installed in the user's home and receives wireless health data from the chest strap then uploads this data to the web-based health server. The components work together to realize the system's true value the ability to extract useful measures of health and lifestyle and to deliver this information remotely to caregivers in the most intuitive way possible.
Health Server*
Wireless Chest Strap
Text Message Updates E-mail
Wireless Gateway
INTERNET
Web Access
Informal Caregivers
Subject
Dedicated Monitoring Service*
* Halo or Partner Operated
Our core technology and innovative algorithms make it possible to extract and monitor heart rate, heart rate variability, sleep and wake patterns, levels of physical activity, number of daily steps, context assessment (whether the user is resting, walking, sitting, or standing), and to detect serious events such as the user falling. By visiting our website, caregivers will be able to visualize this data and detect trends or changes in health, lifestyle, and daily routine. The system will also provide daily emails and mobile text messages providing status updates and can alert caregivers when serious events are detected. Business Model Halo Research is positioned as a technology company. Products, innovative algorithms, and unique software are our core. This technology will be offered through licensing and partner agreements. Partners can incorporate this offering with their own solutions for value added composite products and to leverage existing infrastructure to reach the target market. Potential partners include legacy telemedicine service providers and home security companies.
CONFIDENTIAL AND PROPIETARY
Halo Research, LLC Page 3 of 8
OPPORTUNITY/KEY PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED
Many elderly face a period where they will be living alone and suffering from declining physical and cognitive health. This puts an emotional and physical strain on family members, and often causes the elderly to feel like a burden. A real fear and high probability event is that, even with frequent visits from children and other family members, the elderly may suffer a fall that goes unnoticed for one or more days. In 28% of such events, this will result in a fatality. For most, they must choose between at-home nurses, assisted living communities, or nursing home facilities. These are expensive and offer a decreased quality of life. In contrast, our advantage is emphasized by our value proposition: Halo Research products offer peace of mind through continuous health monitoring, and maintain normal lifestyle by monitoring in the most unobtrusive manner possible.
TARGET MARKET
We have identified a target market consisting of elderly adults, age 65-and-over, and living alone. The size of this market is presently 11 million in the US alone. There are two key factors contributing to the growth of this market. First, America's baby boomers are approaching retirement and by 2011, the 65and-over population will be growing at a rate faster than the population as a whole. Second, worldwide life expectancies are increasing and a 65 year adult living today can expect to live an additional 15-20 years. We also plan to market the systems directly to the children of the elderly. These children are charged with maintaining their parents' well-being, making frequent visits, and assuming many of the medical care costs. They make the long-term care decisions and our remote monitoring system offers an affordable alternative to assisted living while maintaining their parents' quality of life. This group includes educated adults, above-average-earners, age 45-65. Future Applications The initial market and application are selected based on size and to initially avoid FDA approval. Wireless and wearable health monitoring systems have application beyond elderly monitoring and it is our goal to leverage our technology and initial product success to quickly develop new product applications: Adding cell phone (CDMA) to provide continuous out-of-the-house health monitoring. License new sensing technologies to strengthen offering (blood pressure, glucose monitoring). Heart attack detection and virtual out-patient doctor visits. Infant monitoring to detect and prevent sudden infant death syndrome (SIDS). Sports applications to be used as quantitative feedback for optimal athletic training
KEYS TO SUCCESS
1. Initial capitalization obtained. 2. All patent applications filed. 3. Avoiding FDA approval for the first round of products 4. Strategic partnership to leverage an existing call center infrastructure (for market penetration). 5. Recruiting an experienced CEO in month 12-18.
CONFIDENTIAL AND PROPIETARY
Halo Research, LLC Page 4 of 8
MANAGEMENT TEAM
Chris A. Otto - President and CTO [e-mail] Chris A. Otto has over nine years experience in designing real-time embedded systems. He has worked for Lewis Innovative Technologies (LIT), Adtran, and TRW. At Adtran, he served as the responsible engineer for one of the division's most successful product family; he has extensive experience with design for manufacturing and cost reduction engineering. At LIT, he served as the lead engineer for the RRAPDS protocol effort the Army's ultra low power embedded sensing and tactical asset monitors. He has spent the last three years researching wireless sensor networks for ambulatory health monitoring; published a number of related articles in refereed journals and conference proceedings; as well as published a Master's thesis on this subject. His work has been recognized as a leading effort in the field of Wireless Body Area Networks (WBANs) for health monitoring. In 2006, he founded Halo Research, LLC with the mission to further develop and commercialize this technology. He has five pending patents in the fields of telecommunications and wireless networks and holds a B.S. and M.S. in Computer Engineering from UAH. Chirag Patel - VP of Web Services and User Interfaces [e-mail] Chirag Patel is a software engineer specializing in user interface design and web and database development. He has worked with Stack Software, Adtran, and Clear Technologies. While at Clear, he helped design one of the world's first "virtual" keyboard prototypes. Clear licensed the prototype to Virtual Devices, Inc. which was used to secure funding and helped commercialize the technology. At present, he is working with Halo Research to help develop technology for management and presentation of data from wearable health monitoring systems. He holds a B.S. in Computer Engineering from UAH and an M.S. in Computer Engineering from Rutgers University. Dr. Brent M. Wren VP of Marketing Dr. Wren has over 15 years of experience in business consulting, market opportunity assessment, and training experience. He has provided seminars and service quality audits for the International Paper, Intergraph, Woodland Medical Center, Memphis Gas and Light, Huntsville Hospital, and The Huntsville Times. In addition, he has conducted marketing opportunity assessments and relationship marketing research for the U.S. Army, LOGSA, Reagan Missile Defense Test Site, BAE Systems, Pearl Vision Centers, AAMCO Transmissions, Ben and Jerry's Ice Cream, Thrifty Car Rental, Mailboxes, Etc., the Huntsville/Madison Convention and Visitor's Bureau, and the Birmingham Radio Group. Dr. Wren is currently Director of Graduate Programs and an Associate Professor of Marketing in the College of Administrative Science at the University of Alabama in Huntsville. He received his Ph.D. in Business Administration from the University of Memphis, and a MBA and BS in Marketing from UAB. Dr. Wren's research focuses on enhancing the effectiveness of buyer-seller relationships, sales management, service quality, and improving performance metrics. He has published numerous articles in leading academic and practitioner journals including the Journal of Marketing, Journal of Business Research, Journal of Services Marketing, Journal of Managerial Issues, and Industrial Marketing Management, among others.
CONFIDENTIAL AND PROPIETARY
Halo Research, LLC Page 5 of 8
COMPETITIVE ADVANTAGE
Competition Our competition can be described by three general categories: assisted living centers, conventional telemedicine systems, and direct alternative wearable health systems. Assisted living centers and nursing homes are expensive solutions and mean decreased quality of life. Existing telemedicine systems lack continuous monitoring capabilities. Our products are positioned to bridge the gap between complete independence and full-time professional care by providing comprehensive monitoring service, maintaining the user independence, and offering them at a much lower cost. While there are currently no direct alternatives to what we are proposing, there are a number of companies that should be recognized: ADTWellHealth http://www.adtwellhealth.com/ ADT, a market leader in home security monitoring, has recently announced ADT WellHealth system which will combine home security and health monitoring. The product is not yet available and it is unclear the number of vitals and the means monitoring for these. We plan to leverage this point with some of ADT's existing customers and position Halo as a potential partner and quickly enable competition. AppliedDigital http://www.adsx.com/people.html Applied Digital has an extensive offering of application-specific technologies. They are partnered with Verichip to offer implantable microchips and used as `wander protection' in institutional settings where seniors are prone to wander from designated areas. BodyMedia http://bodymedia.com/ BodyMedia has developed an upper arm wearable system for estimating caloric consumption. The system is targeted to adults participating in weight loss and fitness programs. Although their product and application differ from ours, their technology is similar and we are expecting them to enter this market in the near future. CardioNet http://www.cardionet.com/ CardioNet offers a comprehensive heart rate monitor with continuous cardiac monitoring capability. It is designed for clinical applications only and is being used to diagnose intermittent symptoms such as chest pain and palpitations. MedicAlert http://www.medicalert.com MedicAlert offers a number of products including the Health Watch Medical Alert System. The system includes a pendant which is worn around the neck. The pendant has a panic button that can be pressed if the user falls and is unable to reach the telephone. This product is widely popular, yet has a distinct disadvantage that the user must be conscious and capable of pressing the panic button for the product to be effective. Medic4All http://www.medic4all.com Medic4All has a sophisticated telemedicine product offering including an at-home ECG monitor, blood pressure cuff, and weight scales. The data is collected and aggregated onto a wearable watch and then wirelessly transmitted to an at-home gateway. Except for the watch, the devices are not designed to be worn for extended durations and the offering is targeted primarily for clinical applications.
CONFIDENTIAL AND PROPIETARY
Halo Research, LLC Page 6 of 8
VitalSense http://www.minimitter.com/Products/VitalSense/ VitalSense is a system including a handheld monitor capable of monitoring multiple wireless sensors including temperature, heart rate, and respiration sensors. Core body temperature is sensed by an ingestible capsule. The monitor requires a serial link to transfer data to a PC but wireless transmission capability is expected soon. The system is being used for a number of clinical research applications. QuietCare http://www.quietcare.com QuietCare does not utilize any wearable technology; however, they have an offering involving networked motion sensors inside the home. Their proprietary software interprets activity within the home and then uses this to infer and extract certain features such as user adherence to daily routine, when medication is taken, and if a user falls (based on extended durations in the bathroom for example). It is also designed for informal caregivers to monitor utilizing a remote web interface. Advantages to Our Solution 1. First of its kind. Our solution is unobtrusive, wireless, and lightweight. Yet it is extremely powerful in that it can automatically detect serious events and send these remotely over the internet so that informal caregivers can monitor the health and status of individuals. Unlike some systems on the market, no panic button needs pressing. 2. Completely non-invasive and no surgical procedures are required to implant the devices. 3. Seamless and ubiquitous operation. Absolutely no intervention is required to upload data or operate the system. This means the seniors wearing the system can enjoy their normal independent lifestyles. 4. Patentable algorithms for key feature extraction, detecting user falls, and recognizing lifestyle habits (resting, walking, sitting, or standing). 5. The algorithms run on-sensor to minimize wireless transmission and promote system scalability and battery life. This means the wireless medium is used more efficiently and supports denser sensor deployments (i.e. nursing homes, assisted living, or hospital settings). 6. The quality of our user experience. The web interface is rich, interactive, and extremely intuitive, and easy to operate.
CONFIDENTIAL AND PROPIETARY
Halo Research, LLC Page 7 of 8
INTELLECTUAL PROPERTY
Halo Research has filed a provisional patent application in the field of wireless sensor networks for health monitoring. The patent application covers three invention disclosures: Techniques for sensor node discovery, configuration, and calibration. These techniques minimize the results of human error when placing multiple sensors on the body. Based on motion, temperature, or electrode readings, the system can automatically determine which sensor is being placed and auto-configure the system to address human error in placement. The techniques also provide self-calibration techniques using relative (as opposed to absolute) orientation to address misplacement of sensors such as being tilted or being placed upside-down. Efficient event management in (low cost) memory constrained sensor networks. Innovative techniques to allow multiple sensing nodes to co-exist and reliably collect and report data in ever changing dynamic networks (such as that experienced by a human moving around in the house). The technique allows the nodes to automatically detect the presence of the gateway and transition from storage-mode to real-time streaming mode in a way that preserves the exact occurrence and sequence of events. This allows users to carry on normal lives and enjoy complete freedom without fear some data will be lost. Methods for maximizing battery life while maximizing contextual health monitoring data. We have demonstrated approximately 1.5 month operation on two (2) AA batteries or one week operation on a charge from a single iPod mini battery.
Current Prototype The original prototype was developed by Chris Otto, Halo founder, in collaboration with the University of Alabama in Huntsville, ...