数字医疗火爆到让三星也想分一杯羹

三星电子(Samsung Electronics)首席策略官孙英权(Young Sohn)正率领公司投入数字医疗革命，着手为相关设备与应用程序打造一个平台，让消费者能管理自己的健身、甚至是医疗照护信息；其他很多公司也同样期望推动医疗革命，但很少有像三星这样，是由最高层主管亲自领军。 孙英权透露，将在该公司于今年秋天在美国旧金山举行的开发者大会上，发表名为 Simband 的开放性平台硬件接口规格；该平台专供智能腕带使用，可容纳各种健身与医疗传感器。同时该场开发者大会也将发表专为Simband平台撰写软件程序与云端 服务的软件接口规格。目前Simband的初期版本已经提供给大约十家软件开发商，主要是新创公司；孙东权也打算亲自拜访欧洲的Bosch等传感器大厂， 洽谈合作事宜。 在一场于比利时举行的年度IMEC科技论坛上，孙英权表示：“这整个领域仍然在非常早期的阶段，许多新创公司需要一个平台，因此我们的目标是让50~100家公司能加入这个平台。”三星自己也将在秋天的开发者大会上推出自己的试用版产品，正式商用版则预计在明年上市；此外该公司打算投入5,000万美元资金，扶植为新平台开发传感器或软件的新创公司。 到目前为止，三星已经宣布了两项策略合作案：其一是美国旧金山大学(University of San Francisco)将协助该公司验证传感器，应该是采用该校医学院的设备；其二是欧洲研究机构IMEC成为三星在开发可量测心电图、生物阻抗(bio- impedance)、皮肤温度、加速度等数据之多功能感测设备的第一个合作伙伴。孙东权表示：“我们对可穿戴式平台的看法，是把它想成像是Google Glass。”支持原创，鄙视抄袭，请访问《国际电子商情》网站www.esmchina.com

三星首席策略官孙英权在比利时IMEC科技论坛介绍Simband 平台
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Google也在最近发布了名为 Android Wear 的可穿戴设备平台，对此孙英权表示，三星的Simband不会特别跟Android绑在一起，会采用 Tizen 与其他 Linux 变种，包括与英国软件开发商TicTrac合作开发的一个版本。 在 三星发表Simband之前几天，苹果(Apple)也才发表了针对其iOS 8平台的HealthKit与HomeKit──医疗与家庭自动化应用程序编程接口(API)；苹果新发表的API呼应了Webkit开放源码软件，并利用苹果现有的Made for iPhone 程序，已获得包括博通(Broadcom)、赛普拉斯半导体(Cypress)、美满电子(Marvell)等众多芯片供货商与软件业者支持。 产业顾问机构Envisioneering资深分析师Richard Doherty表示，三星或许在推动医疗革命上的脚步稍稍迟了一点，但其大动作有可能吸引更多追随者：“三星能利用其半导体与制造方面的能力，提供非常有力的生物医疗传感器数组，显著降低进入该市场的门坎。” 而孙英权本人也不是省油的灯，他拥有电子电机工程背景、并在麻省理工 学院(MIT)取得MBA学位，曾在英特尔(Intel)工作十年，随后并曾在安捷伦(Agilent)等公司任职；他曾担任ARM、Cadence、 Cymer等公司董事会成员，以及新创公司Inphi执行长，现在则是在三星扮演救火队长的角色，期望能将这家全球最大的电子厂商之一推向下一个阶段，并 率领公司迎接与苹果等同业进行的下一场行动设备大战。 本文授权编译自EE Times，版权所有，谢绝转载 第2页：从人体外进军人体内，游戏规则完全不同 第3页：将电子产品放到人体？成本可能高达50亿美元

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• 分析师预测可穿戴设备市场三种发展情况
• 制造业增长提速，供应链须配合新一轮发展
• 家用医疗保健市场规模2018年可达126亿美元IaGesmc

{pagination} 推动医疗革命没那么简单 为高通(Qualcomm)建立数字健康业务Qualcomm Life的Donald Jones也期望能推动医疗革命，他策划过一项总奖金1,000万美元的竞赛，邀请各方好手将科幻影集《星际迷航》（Star Trek）里的三度仪(tricorder)成为现实；所谓的三度仪是一种可携式的检测与扫描仪器，可用来判别各种生物/无生物的名称与成分，并进行伤员或病人的诊断等等。该设计赛的得主将在2016年出炉。 目前Jones担任美国斯克利普斯应用科学研究所(Scripps Translational Science Institute，STSI)的首席数码官(chief digital officer)，与众多主要是新创公司的厂商合作，已经打造出类似三度仪的设备与应用程序，能诊断包括糖尿病、心脏病或哮喘等疾病，并以较好的方式来提供病患药物；他表示，这个领域已经是风险投资业者眼中成长最快、也是群众募资最热门的项目。 在同一场IMEC科技论坛上，Jones表示：“我们认为手表还是比较方便与医疗设备互动的产品…智能贴片(smart patches)也是一个能达到数十亿出货量的商机…此外人体则将成为因特网的节点。”不过他也指出，并非所有人都想看到医疗革命。 “消费者已经准备好了，实际问题所在是传统医疗领域是否已经准备好──但消费者还是会扮演推手。”Jone举例表示，很多相关设备与应用程序已经吸引了数百万使用者：“当消费者拥有关于医疗照护供应者在质量、便利性与评比方面的透明信息，政府单位将必须有所回应；但当实际执行医疗的机构界线变得模糊，政府可能也会遇到麻烦。” 三星孙英权想推动的医疗革命，也可能会面临很大的挑战。医疗大厂Johnson & Johnson (J&J)首席科学官Paul Stoffels在IMEC研讨会后接受EETimes美国版编辑采访时指出：“当你从人体外的世界想进军人体内的世界，游戏规则会完全不同。”他表示， 你必须与美国联邦食品暨药物管理局(FDA)等政府单位打交道，你需要进行临床实验并证明你的方法是正确的，那可能需要花费5~15年，并长期投资。支持原创，鄙视抄袭，请访问《国际电子商情》网站www.esmchina.com

三星的Simband平台包含尺寸14x34mm 的GHz等级SoC，配备双ARM Cortex A7核心，支持Wi-Fi与蓝牙
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本文授权编译自EE Times，版权所有，谢绝转载 第3页：将电子产品放到人体？成本可能高达50亿美元

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• 分析师预测可穿戴设备市场三种发展情况
• 制造业增长提速，供应链须配合新一轮发展
• 家用医疗保健市场规模2018年可达126亿美元IaGesmc

{pagination} 消费性电子产业与医疗产业必须相互学习，讨论如何将电子产品放到人体；这不是个简单任务，成本可能高达50亿美元，而相关法规以及商业付款机制都得有所改 变。Stoffels依据其经验表示：“在我们的世界，要推出一项新产品往往要投资30亿至50亿美元，但有可能在上市前一个星期宣告失败。”他指 出，J&J每年花费近20亿美元在临床实验上。支持原创，鄙视抄袭，请访问《国际电子商情》网站www.esmchina.com “我曾在数年前申请生物医疗感测系统的专利；”Envisioneering的Doherty表示：“要与FDA以及众多海外国家的政府机构交涉，所需要的技 巧与我所受的科学与工程训练完全无关。”他表示，要搞定所有政府相关机构，会是群众募资网站上的小型新创公司到大厂如三星所共同面临的障碍：“包括 Philips、GE与Siemens等公司都聘请大批对技术专精的专人，只负责与那些政府机构交涉。” STSI的Jones指出，推动医疗革命需要独门武器。如新创公司Scanadu已经开始在募资网站Indegogo预售一款可量测心律、血压、心跳的小型设备，并要求预购者同意成为临床实验者；截至目前为止，该款设备已经募集到1,340万美元，打破该募资网站的最高纪录。 此 外隐私权也会是一大挑战；Envisioneering的Doherty指出：“消费者对厂商的信任一旦破灭，就永远难以恢复。”而由于新一代的医疗设备 与服务是透过无线网络运作，使得情况更为复杂：“所有无线传输的信息实际上都有可能被拦截或是被干扰，此外医疗院所对于无线信号传输也会有比较严格的限 制。” 对此三星的孙英权表示，该公司计划建立一个储存并保护个人医疗信息的数据库，消费者能读取并决定与谁分享其中的讯息。“你能对你自己的生物信息负责；”这个承诺再次强调了他与其他众多数字医疗供货商所描述的医疗革命愿景。 本文授权编译自EE Times，版权所有，谢绝转载 编译：Judith Cheng 参考英文原文：Samsung Joins Medical Revolution，by Rick Merritt

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• 分析师预测可穿戴设备市场三种发展情况
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{pagination} Samsung Joins Medical Revolution Rick Merritt BRUSSELS – Young Sohn has joined the digital medical revolution. He is building a platform for devices and apps that let consumers manage their fitness and ultimately, he hopes, their healthcare. Many others are trying to create this revolution, but few are as high profile as the chief strategy officer of Samsung Electronics. They too want to create bracelets and watches and smartphones and apps that disrupt today's medical establishment. At a developer conference in San Francisco this fall Sohn will publish hardware interfaces for Simband, an open specification for a bracelet that can accommodate a wide array of fitness and medical sensors. At the event he also will release software interfaces for writing programs and cloud services for the platform. An alpha version of the Simband is already in the hands of about ten developers, mainly startup companies. Sohn is also courting giants such as sensor maker Bosch whom he planned to visit on a swing through Europe. "This whole area is in a very early stage and many startups need a platform, so our goal is to have 50-100 companies that plug into these interfaces," said Sohn in an interview at the annual Imec Tech Forum here. Samsung will ship its own beta products at the fall event and anticipates commercial versions next year. It also aims to spend $50 million of its venture funds on startups who develop sensors or software for its platform. So far it has announced two partnerships. The University of San Francisco will help validate its sensors, presumably at its medical school facilities. The Imec research institute is the first announced partner with a sensor, a multifunction device that measures electrocardiograms, bio-impedance, skin temperature, acceleration, and more. "Think of it as Google Glass, our view of a wearable platform," said Sohn. Young Sohn talks about his Simband initiative at the Imec Tech Forum in Brussels. Of course, Google already has its own recently announced platform called Android Wear. Sohn says Simband is not specifically tied to Android but will use Tizen and other mobile Linux variants including one developed by a software partner in England called TicTrac. Samsung formally launched its initiative just days before Apple launched HealthKit and HomeKit, medical and home automation APIs in its iOS version 8. The APIs echo the name of the open-source WebKit software and leverage Apple's existing Made for iPhone program, supported by chip and software companies including Broadcom, Cypress, Marvell, and many others. Samsung may be a bit late to the revolution but it brings big guns and will attract followers, said veteran technology analyst Richard Doherty, principal of Envisioneering (Seaford, N.Y.). "Samsung has clearly lowered the bar to entry by using its semiconductor and manufacturing clout to deliver a very powerful biomedical sensor array," Doherty said. Sohn has his personal chops, too. The EE earned an MBA at MIT, then spent ten years at Intel before rising to lead a string of companies including Agilent. He served on the boards of ARM, Cadence, and Cymer and was brought in as CEO to take startup Inphi Corp. public. Now he is taking his corporate firefighter role to the next level at the world's largest electronics company, helping lead an important next stage of its mobile battle with Apple and others. Next page: To the tricorder and beyond To the tricorder and beyond Donald Jones also wants to drive this revolution. While helping Qualcomm establish its digital health group, he created a $10 million competition to see who could create a real tricorder, the fictional gadget used to diagnose and treat everything from illnesses to gunshots in the TV series Star Trek. Winners will be picked in 2016. Now as the chief digital officer of the Scripps Translational Science Institute, Jones works with dozens of mainly startup companies already making tricorder-like gadgets or apps for treating diseases such as diabetes or heart disease or asthma or for simply delivering medications in a better way. The sector has become the fastest growing area for venture capitalists and a magnet for crowdsourcing, Jones said. "We think watches will be a convenient way to interact with medical devices... smart patches are a billion-plus unit opportunity... [and] bodies will be nodes on the Internet," Jones said in a presentation at the Imec event. Not everyone wants a revolution in medicine. "Consumers are ready, the real question is whether traditional medicine is ready -- but consumers will push it over the top," Jones said, giving examples of gadgets and apps already attracting millions of users. Viva la revolution: A sampler of digital medical trials at Scripps. "When the consumer has transparent information about quality, convenience and ratings for health care providers, governments will have to start responding," he said. But "borders around practicing medicine will blur, and governments will have trouble with it," he predicted. Next page: Regulatory and security challenges Regulatory and security challenges The medical revolutionaries like Young Sohn face big challenges. "When you go from working outside to inside the body, it’s a totally different game," said Paul Stoffels, chief scientific officer at healthcare giant Johnson & Johnson, responding to a question from EE Times after a talk at the Imec event. You start needing to work with the U.S. FDA and other regulatory agencies. You need to do clinical trials and prove you are right. It takes 5-15 years with long term investments. The [consumer and medical] industries will have to learn from each other about how to bring electronics to the body. It's not an easy thing. It can cost $5 billion. The regulatory and payment environment has to change. Stoffels knows from experience. "In our world, we invest three to five billion dollars on a new product that can fail a week before a planned launch," he said, noting J&J spends nearly $2 billion annually on clinical trials. "I patented several biomedical sensor systems years ago," said analyst Doherty. "Dealing with the FDA and many overseas regulators is very different than anything my science and engineering training prepared me for," he said. Handling regulators is likely to be a hurdle for every medical wannabe from the smallest Kickstarter startup to consumer giants such as Samsung. "Philips, GE and Siemens employ large contingents of tech-savvy people just to interface with those agencies," said Doherty. Jones notes the medical revolutionaries have some unique weapons. Startup Scanadu pre-sold its device on Indegogo and with each sale customers had to agree to be part of a clinical trial. The $1.34 million it raised broke the record for the crowdsourcing site. Samsung's Simband includes a 14x34mm GHz-class SoC with two ARM Cortex A7 cores, Wi-Fi and Bluetooth. Privacy is the other big challenge. "Trust is there until broken, and once broken is never the same again," said analyst Doherty. The problem is compounded by the fact the new gadgets and services run on wireless networks. "Anything wireless is also open for signal interception or interference," said Doherty. "Also, clinics and hospitals have strict RF signaling rules," he added. For his part, Sohn compares Samsung's planned services to a bank that stores and secures personal medical data that consumer can access and share whenever they like with whomever they want. "You can be responsible for your bioinformatics," says Sohn, repeating one of the big promises he and many other digital medical entrepreneurs say will come with the revolution.