Digital Health Companies Exhibit at CES: Will You?

It has been a week since the 2013 Consumer Electronics Show (CES) wrapped up in Las Vegas, and the Consumer Electronics Association (CEA), which puts on the annual technology trade show, has already released the dates (January 7–10, 2014) for next year’s event. Is your medical device company planning to attend? 

This year’s show featured 221 exhibitors in the digital health and fitness category, an increase of nearly 30 percent over 2012, according to the CEA. Exhibitors in the Digital Health Summit at the 2013 CES ranged from giants like Qualcomm, whose chairman and CEO Paul Jacobs delivered the preshow keynote, and Sony Electronics, which has made a recent push to enter the medical device space, to smaller players such as NeuroSky, a maker of mobile brainwave-reading devices.

“Digital health companies exhibit at CES to showcase new products before the more than 5000 media at the show and more than 150,000 industry professionals from around the world who attend CES to make deals, network, and see the future,” says Tara Dunion, senior director of communications for CEA and the International CES.

Among this year’s digital health exhibitors was Masimo Corp. (Irvine, CA), which attended the show for the first time to launch its iSpO2, a pulse oximeter that can be used with the iPhone, iPad, and iPod touch. The product, which is available on Amazon.com, is the company’s first consumer device.

“Our core business is in selling medical equipment to medical offices, hospitals, and doctors,” says Dana Banks, director of corporate communications, PR, and media relations for Masimo. “To then launch a consumer product, we really needed the right show, the right place, and the right buzz. We captured all of that at CES.”

Banks says the company wanted to generate media buzz around the iSpO2 and chose CES for its debut because it’s the most well attended consumer electronics event. 

“It went very well,” Banks says. “We saw a lot of excitement for the product—a lot of interest from consumer standpoint and also from the buyer standpoint, in terms of tech buyers for stores.”

Though the iSpO2 is aimed at the consumer market—athletes, fitness and sports buffs, pilots, quantified selfers, and consumer technology enthusiasts—Masimo plans to launch a medical-grade version for clinicians once it's cleared by FDA. The company’s exhibit at CES also helped build buzz for that product. Mehmet Oz, a cardiopathic surgeon known for his best-selling books and daytime television show, took notice of the product at the event.

“We talked to him about this product, and he said, ‘I can’t wait to get my hands on it and start using it,’” Banks says.

—Jamie Hartford is the managing editor of MD+DI. 

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