Following an announcement last week EPGL Medical Sciences (EPGL; Irvine, CA) will be among the first medical device makers to implement Google Glass and Google's API Mirror platform into its devices. President and CEO Michael Hayes says it is all part of the company's strategy to create better, smarter medical devices that are built from platforms that are patient and provider friendly. "We're really excited about the applications of Google Glass. It's a great platform that's incredibly rich with applications,” Hayes says. “And it's coming at a time that just happens to coincide with the release of our products.
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| The MPDD is the first among several devices EPGL will be releasing. |
"In the next two years or so technology like this will be commonplace so it makes sense to embrace this technology fully and use it to make EPGL medical devices even smarter,” Hayes says. “Doctors are people too, and they deserve to have devices that are stylish, useful, and compact.”
EPGL is currently developing several new devices under direction of company VP of BioMems Development, Dr. David T. Markus, who has previously worked with DARPA, NASA's Jet Propulsion Lab, and been involved in the development of several surgical devices. First among these devices will the be Muscle Pain Detection Device (MPDD), an electrical device that can determine the exact location of muscle pain in a region of the body, allowing for doctors to distinguish between primary and referred muscle pain. The device has already been cleared by FDA via 510(k). The primary initial use for Google Glass in EPGL's devices will be for a heads-up display that will deliver information from the device to a doctor in real time, but later devices will utilize the glasses as a control interface as well."The advancement of these exceptional new technologies are ideal for medical applications as doctors need a hands-free reference to feedback data while performing procedures." Markus says.
Hayes is also quick to emphasize that implementing Google Glass is not the endgame of EPGL's strategy. Ultimately, all of this will fall under the umbrella of what EPGL is calling its “secret weapon.” The company is remaining tight-lipped on the specifics, but Hayes said that it will be a BioMems platform through which many devices can be created – similar to how the Apple or Android API allows apps to be built from their platform. “EPGL is a Google or Apple type of company,” Hayes says. “What we're creating is a platform of technology through which medical devices can be licensed, a platform that can spawn several devices. We're trying to implement some of the lessons from software companies like Google.”
EPGL is expected to begin rolling out its products and “secret weapon” over the next several months. No comment was available to the specifics of any other devices the company is developing, but if EPGL stays true to its word, its BioMems plaform and implementation of technologies like Google Glass could make it a very exciting company to watch in 2013.
- Chris Wiltz is the Associate Editor of MD+DI
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