Big news hit before this summer when Medtronic proclaimed teaming awake with consumer electronics giant Samsung, to produce some future data-unselfish possibilities for people with diabetes.

For starters, reckon the current generation Samsung Gearing S smartwatch with a bigger, easy-to-see screen showing diabetes information from your Medtronic insulin pump or continuous glucose monitor lizard. Samsung envisions one twenty-four hours integrating with smart TVs, tablets, operating room strange household electronics that could some display our diabetes information and even up tender encouragement, tips, or lifestyle coaching job.

Whoa… Talking microwaves or refrigerators display blood sugar data and offering feedback, anyone?!

OK, possibly that's a moment much. But it is exciting to think about what's ahead and imagine the possibilities.

Now that the dust has settled from the news declared in conjunction with the ADA's Scientific Roger Huntington Sessions in Boston in early June this year, we were able to connect with two of those execs — Dr. David Rhew, Samsung's fairly new Chief Medic, and Kevin Jones, Senior Director of Scheme &adenylic acid; Business Development.

Here is our Q&A with both Rhew and Jones — it's looong, but we opine they offer approximately great insight into Samsung's move into diabetes and healthcare, and what we can look to see in the coming years, including how they're embracing the concept of interoperability and open-source information sharing (!)

DM) First for you, Dr. Rhew: Information technology's interesting that a leading consumer electronics company would even have a Chief Medical Officer… is that going to become the norm?

Rhew) In order to make (their mHealth offerings) meaningful for health care providers, payers, and other paint stakeholders, Samsung realized they would require perspective that marries consumer electronics with the endeavour healthcare sphere. That's an area I was better off to be a part of, and indeed nowadays that's my responsibility – to bridge over the gap between consumer electronics and technology that can be extremely engaging, but at same time tie that into clinical use for better uncomplaining involution and outcomes.

Having greater exposure to this industry, I'd say this is becoming an emerging opportunity for healthcare professionals to get better patient engagement. I've spoken to a number of physicians who are branching out to lead or get over depart of teams that relate to the digital health live. SalesForce.com has a Chief Medic, Target immediately does… although they do a lot in pharmacy, sol maybe that ISN't too surprising. But at that place is definitely a precise ironlike interest from companies to not only apply outstanding technologies for consumer public, just to understand how that posterior be practical to how we impact health professionals, payors and aesculapian device makers. I think we'ray starting to see this As an increasing and important vogue, because it allows us to bridge that gap.

Let's back up for a minute: How did you actually get started in the wellness technology industry?

Rhew) I am a physician and did my training at UCLA and Cedars-Sinai present on the West Coast, and I spent a mint of my metre thinking about how to improve quality of care and medical exam outcomes.

My early focus was on what is known as clinical decision support – applying the precise selective information at the letter-perfect time, through an automated mechanism, to affect clinician conduct to improve outcomes. But one of the things I came to appreciate was the fact that much of what happens afterwards a patient leaves a doctor's office operating room hospital is out of the physician's control. It's really equal to the persevering or consumer to be capable to claim ensure of their disease and do the things that motive to be done to manage their lifestyle.

At last, having the aright tools to help greatly enhances their ability to do that and likewise improve outcomes. At the same time, many of the technologies developed to date aren't good enough; they simply give the clinicians mechanisms to document and gather information, just nothing geared toward the consumer. Over the past various years, I've looked at a variety of areas where I could assist patient-consumers be better engaged.

That led you to Samsung?

Rhew) Yes, I joined Samsung a bit more than two days past when it was a business unit known as Samsung Data Solutions, or SDS. In April, I transitioned over to Samsung Electronics America.

It's an undreamt opportunity working with this company, which has an array of consumer electronics that people touch every single mean solar day as part of their lifestyle. Indeed you're not introducing new technology to these folks; they are already victimization it and are well-situated with the interface.

Thither's an ability to potentially capture information related to one's wellness… through a sort of sensors well-stacked into phones, wearables, and potentially someday even televisions and household appliances. We tin then communicate that data either digitally or direct video to healthcare providers and other people who care about those consumers.

Nowadays mHealth and member health are really starting to set off, so Samsung made a bet — we'ray making a bet — that health care is going to be a big part of what we intend to do in the future.

What does your daily Book of Job routine look ilk?

Rhew) What I love about my job is that it's never just the same thing daylight subsequently day. It really is trying to claim existing opportunities and explicate them to a point where we've got some solutions that are proven and commercializable, to get wider use for masses benefiting from them. That's a enormous part of what I do, working with hospitals, health care facilities, payors, medical device companies – to conduct the Samsung technologies and espouse them with existing solutions OR apps, and deploy them into real-human race settings.

There's the R&D group where I work closely with the detector team on developing new applications. And the side where I expend my time thinking about… how we can build out the succeeding gimmick or habiliment, how that next generation could have relevancy to what we're doing on the enterprise side in healthcare. That's where I sour close with our headquarters in Korea, to punter understand what they're thinking about and to provide input on how this could be germane for our R&D or enterprise slope.

Can you tell us about Samsung's focus on diabetes specifically?

Rhew) Diabetes is a very prodigious initiative for us at Samsung. It's a condition that is very lifestyle-nonvoluntary. When you toy with the things we could do to improve technologies that people engage with on a daily basis, that's an area we think we can put up some direct influence.

We've been talking to and running with people who spend a lot of time thinking about diabetes – everyone from practitioners to companies, app developers, software system providers, and hardware manufacturers. We in real time deliver a very tight alinement with Medtronic's diabetes division. We are likewise working with other companies, and you'll get wind soon press announcements about more that will collapse greater insight into what we'ray doing with separate companies that create software applications, that can offer an ideal app or interface for patients with diabetes.

Similarly, we have pilots that are about to be launched and you'll be sense of hearing more news show some those presently. At a high floor, in that respect are many different things in multiple areas.

That's a little mysterious… Mr. John Luther Jone, what exactly has Samsung been doing on the diabetes front soh far?

Jones) It's the blending of consumer electronics and medical engineering, for the benefit of the diligent. With Medtronic, we're allowing insulin heart and CGM data to atomic number 4 displayed on consumer electronics. So instead of having to pull out a pump or device while sitting at a restaurant, users can simply glance at their ascertain or phone to more discreetly varan blood sugar.

Particularly for adolescents, they desire to non expression like they have a medical topic peculiarly in head-on of their friends, soh they tend to eat first, and then later might check their monitoring device or pump. We can help with little things like that. These are small steps, but they make risen a vast difference in the quality of life.

On the far side that… the big poke is to work with industry players like Medtronic to make their devices more consumer-friendly and be able to render that entropy in an easy and unobtrusive way.

And with your FDA-cleared S Health Fitness Trailing app, at that place's the possibility of eventually syncing with glucose meters and other diabetes devices, too?

Mother Jones) Yes, we have the S Health app that currently runs on Samsung Android devices and also on wearables such as the Gear S smartwatch, which is based on an give-source version of Linux titled Tizen that's optimized for smaller footprint and memory devices.

You can visualize S Health in the context of the hundreds of apps and devices unstylish there from third parties, which can be complex and challenging for patients and providers to manage. What S Health does is allow a simple aggregation point to take altogether that data in, and distill into a very painless-to-use, easy-to-interpret, unjust format.

We've done a good deal of exciting things with S Health in the coaching job domain, including the Four-in-hand By Cigna that is essentially a lifestyle coach that we created in partnership with (wellness insurer) Cigna to use data from S Health and make over recommendations to patients connected modus vivendi, fitness and wellness. It encourages them to take steps to improve their wellness.

That moldiness represent an interesting new challenge for Samsung, now working with the FDA on medical exam device regularisation…?

Rhew) We sure as shooting have ongoing discussions with the Food and Drug Administration, and our partners who do engage with the Food and Drug Administration regularly. We see this A a spectrum of opportunities for us. On one end, with our consumer applications and S Health today, we definitely wishing to interpret where the lines are for FDA certification and create devices that are consumer-friendly and put on't of necessity require the full level of FDA regulatory oversight.

At the synoptical time, equally we start moving toward devices that mix information from those Food and Drug Administration-orderly devices, we also have to recognize that in that respect might be certain rules and boundaries we involve to respect. Displaying health data on a habiliment Crataegus oxycantha non want that level of Food and Drug Administration regulation, but something that allows for medical examination management – maybe speaking to an insulin heart – may potentially come in that area of FDA oversight. So, we're trying to understand how the Food and Drug Administration views this, what requires that certification, and build apps that will be best for line of work based on those parameters. We bed it's an evolving area sol we're in continuing discussions with folk at FDA to remain top side of it and also give them insights into what we're rational about.

Robert Tyre Jone) Information technology's also important to mention that outside of America, where Samsung is also mostly glorious for consumer electronics, we have the Samsung Medical Shopping center in Korea that's unmatchable of the largest hospitals in Asia and sees upwards of 8,000 patients per daytime and has 1,000 physicians!

Thusly that culture and heritage is a persona of what we act, and we learn and share a muckle of entropy with them. Information technology's interesting and shows the full circle of relationships with companies like Medtronic, as we'rhenium same of the biggest customers of Medtronic in Korea for their Graeco-Roman deity devices and tech victimised in our infirmary in that location. Now they're using our electronics and wearables to improve their own medical technology and offerings. IT shows that Samsung is deeper into the healthcare space than many in Northern America may be aware. And IT's also a very different restrictive environment, so it gives good perspective.

How did your partnership with Medtronic Diabetes come together?

Jones) We had a number of different touchpoints, as we're both multi-billion dollar companies and as mentioned, we'ray a big customer of theirs over the sea in Asia. Our conversations came together with meetings with high-level executives in Minneapolis (where Medtronic is located). One discussion led to other, and we started working with different business groups inside Medtronic.

Of course, diabetes is the one that has the most synergy and potential gain for patients, specially those World Health Organization have pumps and CGMs today. So in conversations with them, we saw an quick opportunity in the area of rendering data happening wearables and consumer devices. Especially Eastern Samoa we come into new devices and wearable form factors that can make it easier for the patient, it's going to be identical exciting.

Rhew) They are very successful at creating medical devices and applications, and at Samsung our strength is in the consumer undergo and use of technology that hoi polloi use of goods and services everyday, starting with the phone and moving into wearables, TVs, and tablets. The folks at Medtronic recognize that in order for their devices to be more widely exploited and successful in footing of battle, you've got to get that vehicle for the end-drug user consumer, to want and be fit to access this data everyday continuously. That's where the synergy and visual sensation for how these two companies truly came together.

When will we bug out seeing some of this fres data-sharing applied science available to users?

Jones) Relative to our announcement with Medtronic, they have Minimed Connect coming down later this class on iOS and followed away the Android implementation that we're working on together. Former Medtronic releases would likely fall under 2016 (that's not something we can publicly disclose at this clip).

We'Re in truth doing a lot in the intelligence side of it… on the data approaching from the devices you said it we pot stool IT more simple, easy-to-wont and actionable.

Rhew) There are besides a variety of other partnerships and pilot studies that you'll start sighted nigher to the end of the year, in the one-third and fourth quarters.

In that respect are so many relevant devices, from Bluetooth-enabled glucometers to CGM and not-invasive technologies under development… so we work with companies comparable Glooko, Welldoc, etc., to bring that data together into common platforms. We're looking at all those, and we'd have sex to be able to pass wate in for that every innovation out in that respect is are readily accessible for consumers who have diabetes. We are keeping our thumb along the pulse rate, simply much of IT's not fully baked and realized yet.

We saw the cool Samsung smartwatch with Medtronic data on it during our D-Information Change event at the ADA conference in June…

Jones) That's our Samsung Gear S watch, our flagship wearable that's been on the commercialise for about a year and it's rather different from other wearables and smartwatches because it has WLAN and Bluetooth, 3G/4G connectivity, and AT&T sells information technology, for instance. Athletes and people on the go love it. That's our convention Gear S wearable, and it just so happens that IT's the one Medtronic had shown at Adenosine deaminase in Boston with a rendering of the CGM display thereon.

Will this use Mechanical man operating room iOS platforms, or something different?

Jones) We have utilized Humanoid in just about of our past generation devices. But the current generation of wearables is optimized for barrage fire longevity and that's what we have moved toward in design.

Wearables are a smaller piece of real landed estate to shape with, and you rich person smaller size and memory and much bring dow power-use, and a very high requirement for longer bombardment life.

So as mentioned, we used the unprotected source translation of Linux called Tizen, which is optimized for small footprint devices comparable wearables. The exciting thing about Tizen is that, although Samsung's unrivaled of the major users of it, it is an open-source project managed by the Linux Foundation and is one of their engineering projects with Intel and others involved and contribute to it. Much alike the ontogenesis of early open-source projects, it's based on meritocracy and people contribute, download the source code to optimize and modify it. We use of goods and services information technology along our smart TVs, and some of our lower handset devices that don't require all the bells and whistles of what Humanoid provides. It allows us flexibility in what we can pull into devices and fetch into platforms. It's a unit approach, and for wearables you don't need a robust processor, and so you just take the modules of the operating system you want and take pieces of that – like 3D graphics that might be important on a laptop, merely not a small device on your radiocarpal joint.

That's great! We love how bound up you look to be to interoperability and ASCII text file data sharing…

Rhew) We definitely believe that IT's important for different devices to live interoperable, and the data-sharing is utterly critical. We are actively looking into these areas. We've launched research platforms that are experimenting on this – SAMMY information source, for example.

Our S-Health app is other example, equally information technology's a commercial platform where we're working with all the different varieties of partners we have mentioned, to bring them into a common chopine for share-out. There are multiple layers of complexity, so we'atomic number 75 trying to get our minds around this and create something that fanny be easy to use, plug and recreate.

Sounds like you'd have good conversations with the non-profit Tidepool, that's developing an unconstricted source platform for diabetes device data…

Rhew) We are very excited about the opportunity, only at the same meter while we believe diabetes is inordinately important for us to focus on, we also look at other disease conditions alike cardiovascular, activity health, and fitness…

So we want to make up something that's not too disease-specific from the outset, but allows us to expand into multiple different areas. As long as the platform is capable of screening multiple disease states and device types, that's the type of stuff we're looking at at. And we're excited about leverage the functionality in our Samsung devices to make a point that (our solutions) behind capture completely the information seamlessly and bring it into a chopine that's useful and actionable for patients.

Thanks, some! We are certainly looking forward to sightedness Samsung's visions completed in the region of diabetes twist information-sharing and wearable tech.