Qualcomm targets m-health with Life unit
Creates platforms for connecting medical devices and supporting health agencies; also sets up $100m investment fund for start-ups
Published: 6 December, 2011
READ MORE: US | Qualcomm | M2M | Medical/Health | Semiconductor
Qualcomm is a major developer of mobile health solutions, but it has still had a mixed history in commercial terms. It set up a unit called Lifecomm in 2007 but closed it two years later, though it was resurrected as a joint venture with Hughes Medical in 2010. Now the San Diego chip giant has created a new subsidiary, this time called Qualcomm Life, with similar objectives - to accelerate the embedding of wireless connectivity in medical devices, and to create a complete platform to support all those gadgets and their data.
The new Life unit will operate the business formerly known as Qualcomm Wireless Health, and will also include a new $100m Qualcomm Life Fund to back start-ups in the field, to be managed by Qualcomm Ventures. The division has launched its first offerings, the 2Net Platform and Hub, both targeted at the main commercial opportunity for vendors of the 'internet of things' - not the sensors themselves but the framework to allow them all to communicate.
The 2Net products interconnect wireless medical devices via cloud-based systems, enabling the end users and their carers or doctors to access the information collected by the gadgets. All this data is collected, stored, converted and displayed within the platform and hub, which will in time also support third party applications. Data is obtained from the device through several gateways, such as the 2net Hub, a mobile product such as a cellphone, or APIs that connect to the customer service platform. The data is then encrypted and stored in the 2net Platform over a cellular connection, and displayed using the manufacturer's user interface of choice. As with the older Lifecomm initiative, the cellular connectivity is embedded and handled by Qualcomm, riding on the network of a partner carrier.
Qualcomm is increasingly active in machine-to-machine communications and has previously unveiled a platform and app store for smart grid devices - it has a joint venture with Verizon in that space.
Qualcomm said more than 40 customers and partners were integrating with, or considering, the 2net ecosystem, which would lead to an interoperable web of medical devices and mobile apps, plus health services companies.
"Qualcomm Life was founded, in part, to assist medical device manufacturers who approached Qualcomm for help when their own wireless connectivity attempts became untenable due to technology selection errors, unscalable deployment models and prohibitively high operational support costs," said Rick Valencia, general manager of Qualcomm Life, in a statement. "Our services, including integration on the 2net Platform, remove the burden for medical device manufacturers of a large technical development effort, providing integration with mobile carriers and solving the operational complexities of supporting wireless medical device data in the field."
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