Philips expands partnership with Masimo to advance patient monitoring capabilities

NETHERLANDS — Royal Philips and Masimo have expanded their collaboration to advance patient monitoring capabilities in home telehealth applications with the W1 advanced health-tracking watch from Masimo.

Masimo’s W1 watch will be integrated with Philips’ enterprise patient monitoring ecosystem as part of the expanded partnership to advance telehealth and telemonitoring.

According to Philips, the combined innovation will make use of the two companies’ monitoring, connectivity, and automation expertise.

The Masimo W1 is billed as the first watch to provide continuous, precise pulse oximetry measurements as well as other useful health data.

It can transmit patient data to the Philips patient monitoring ecosystem via Masimo’s secure health data cloud for remote clinician surveillance.

Masimo W1 for use in medical applications is CE marked and is pending clearance from the U.S. Food and Drug Administration.

According to the company, key health indicators can be continuously and remotely monitored by healthcare providers while patients move around their homes and go about their daily activities.

Doctors will be able to discharge patients sooner because Masimo W1 will monitor their vital signs and Philips dashboards will track their physiological status.

This will allow providers to detect potential patient deterioration earlier and intervene more effectively.

GlobalData projects that the wearable technology market will increase from its value of US$59 billion in 2020 to US$156 billion by 2024 with a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 24.6%.

Demand for these devices is expected to be driven by factors such as a preference for wearable electronic devices for payment and the incorporation of artificial intelligence in wearable medical devices.

Given the market potential, the latest collaboration between Masimo and Royal Philips is likely to fuel demand for Masimo W1 watches, driving the company’s topline in the future.

Apple watches continue to dominate the smartwatch market, with a 29% market share in Q2 2022 with their latest product, the Apple Watch Series 8 according to GlobalData.

Chronic diseases necessitate ongoing monitoring and treatment to slow their progression and telehealth, specifically remote patient monitoring (RPM)/tele-homecare, has the potential to improve patient self-management.

Philips added that this combination of monitoring and connectivity technologies will create chances to assist early discharge initiatives, hospital-at-home programs, and management of chronic illnesses.

In another notable development, Masimo won a favorable ruling from a U.S. Administrative Law Judge in Washington, D.C. earlier this month in a suit against Apple Inc. AAPL.

Masimo filed a complaint in 2021 alleging that Apple Inc. infringed on a number of its patents, including one for a pulse oximeter.

According to the recent ruling, Apple Inc. infringed on a pulse oximeter patent by importing and selling certain Apple Watches with light-based pulse oximetry functionality and components in the United States.

For the first time, AAPL included a pulse oximeter sensor in the Apple Watch Series 6 that was released in 2020. Apple Inc. is still using the technology in its upgraded watch models.