Bloomberg News surveys the action in smartphone-based mobile health, opening with Mobisante‘s handheld ultrasound, touching on MIM Software’s CT/MRI/PET image viewer [both TA 4 Feb], WellDoc‘s Diabetes Manager, AT&T’s moves into selling mobile health in their retail stores, and the French company Withings, best known for its Wi-Fi scale but also now its ‘Smart Blood Pressure’ monitor. As a financial website, it’s seemingly compelled to mention two large caps in the $273 billion medical equipment–GE and Philips–but completely neglect GE’s own entry in handheld ultrasound, the V Scan. Right at the very end there’s a mention of Philips–an interesting one, given their recent moves.
“Investors and potential acquirers already are eyeing the market. In September, Sandy Spring, Maryland-based venture capital firm Hickory Ridge Group started a $50 million fund focused on new health technologies, including mobile products. “We are looking very closely at some of these startups,” says Paul Coss, a director for wireless technologies at Philips Healthcare. “There’s some clever innovation happening there.”
Still the Bloomberg headline is a puzzle unless you read it verrrry carefully: GE-Philips Health Equipment Market Opens as Smartphones Win FDA Nod
Why neglect the GE’s V Scan handheld ultrasound? Both GE and Philips can dictate the market if they chose to.