The Health Monitoring Boom Only Gets Weirder From Here

Withings also used CES to launch Cardio Checkup, an in-app service that’s available now and is compatible with every Withings device that has ECG capabilities, like the ScanWatch. In addition to alerting you to possible cases of atrial fibrillation, it will, true to its name, check up on you quarterly and give you access to specialists through the app.

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And that’s not all—I’ve got several more days of meetings to go. It’s a strange time to see CES peppered with so much home medtech. The coronavirus pandemic spurred a surge in digital health innovations, but 2024 has been a reckoning—CNBC analyzed 39 digital health public companies and noted that two-thirds of them were down for the year, or even out of business.

The pullback could be related to the fact that consumers have decided, quite reasonably, that we might not want to know this much. It’s just a lot easier to monitor your cortisol levels than it is to do anything about the conditions that produced them, like quit your job, or stop wildfires from happening.

When I spoke to Abbott representatives, I learned that I was not the only one who was squeamish about inserting filaments under my skin. (I am still waiting for my Apple Watch to track my blood sugar.)

Still, I finally pulled myself together and inserted the Lingo at Pepcom. Under the watchful guidance of Abbott representatives, I pulled up my shirt sleeve, put the sensor into the dispenser and tapped it onto my skin. It went on with a click. The sensation was similar to someone flicking my arm forcefully with their finger—a slight sting, but not like a thousand needles of fire were going under my skin.

I connected the sensor to the Lingo app and wore it overnight. When I woke up this morning, I discovered—after one night—that I went hypoglycemic in my sleep. I’ve been bottoming out from walking too much and not eating enough at CES! So much for not providing actionable advice. I’ll eat my words (and a snack before I go to bed).