Podcast: David Liebl of Intricon on Wearable Sensors

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Conversation Overview

• David Liebl is Intricon's Chief Technology officer and has worked in the medical device industry for over 30 years. 
• Intricon is a contract development and manufacturing organization (CDMO), working with large OEMs. They specialize in high-density microelectronic biosensors and other electromagnetic sensing technologies used for surgical navigation. 
• Intricon also does some of their own devices in the hearing health space, and as such, has extensive experience in design and regulatory compliance. 
• Their goal is to bring their customers as much value as possible by fully understanding and engaging with them no matter what phase of the development process they are in. 
• The need for better preventative healthcare is driving much of what is being seen today in wearable technology.  
• The advent of wearable technology has opened the door for real-time data and gathering of data over time, which assists with screening for chronic diseases. 
• Intricon, for example, is developing a device that detects volatile organic compounds in breath, which can help determine lung disease. 
• Intricon believes that point of care during primary care physicals is going to change over the next 5 to 10 years because of the ability to anticipate disease with wearables and advanced screening tools. 
• Earlier discovery of disease means it’s easier to treat and there is less of a cost to the system. 
• Wearables are made up of five primary technologies or containers: (1) the sensing element, (2) the processing element which processes what is being sensed, (3) the communication element to communicate and share the information with someone or with another device, (4) the chassis, which holds everything together, and (5) the data itself.
• Many different types of sensor technologies, such as optical, ultrasonic, and microfluidic sensors, are also being used in wearables. 
• Intricon is paying close attention to these various technologies that make up the components of wearable devices, including advances in microprocessing, communication tech, printed flexible electronics, and chassis technologies, such as more skin-friendly adhesives. 
• Power management for wearable tech is another area that Intricon is watching closely, such as innovations in energy harvesting and battery-free operation. 
• More battery startups are emerging, such as an enzyme-based battery, a paper battery that uses enzymes to create power. 
• Companies are also considering energy harvesting for implantable devices, such as using energy from heartbeats.
• Power management plays an important role in wearable tech because after these devices are sent out into the field, the battery charge is going to dissipate depending on how long the product sits on the shelf before it’s purchased. 
• So battery tech and rechargeability will likely escalate in the coming years, so these devices have greater capacity and can last longer. 
• As a CDMO, Intricon aims to support product teams wanting to bring wearable medical devices to market. 
• Their goal is to meet customers wherever they are in the development process. 
• As Intricon has done a number of their own products and regulatory approvals, they understand what it takes to bring a device to life in terms of stages of development and regulatory compliance. 
• They can help start and even run a whole development project on behalf of the customer. If the customer is more sophisticated, they can engage in the process and provide reports and data to best meet the customer’s needs. 
• Having that foundational knowledge and experience is what sets Intricon apart from other CDMOs. 
• When it comes to prioritizing investments to get through the pathway of commercializing a wearable, Intricon suggests asking these questions before starting:
  • What am I displacing? 
    • A lot of healthcare systems are set in their procedures, so you have to understand how you are going to displace those procedures and get them to adopt this new technology.
  • Is it reimbursed?
    • If there isn’t a CPT code or some means of reimbursement, you won’t have a product that makes sense — unless it’s cheap enough that consumers are willing to spend their own money on it. 
  • Does my device cost less than the current practice?
    • New technologies are typically only adopted if they help save at least 10% or more. 
• As a final takeaway, David suggests keeping screening in mind. Screening tools are becoming far more accepted in the consumer space. Think about the device as getting the consumer to go to their doctor. If their wearable device indicates something is amiss, they can use that data to go to their doctor to ask for a screening test that will be more accepted by the healthcare system.