Brain-focused health tech company Linus Health announced that it has snapped up Kinesis Health Technologies, an Irish startup focused on physical-function assessment. 

A University College Dublin spin-out, Kinesis focuses on digitally assessing gait, balance, mobility, fall risk and frailty. 

Meanwhile, Boston-based Linus Health focuses on providing digital tools to help clinicians assess cognitive and brain dysfunction. The company's assessment can be used in a number of settings, including research, senior living and clinical care, according to its webpage.

Linus Health said that this acquisition will help it broaden its scope of services to include both physical and cognitive assessments, noting that the two are often linked. 

"The more we can uncover about a person's brain health, the faster we'll be able to help providers intervene when something is awry," David Bates, CEO of Linus Health, said in a statement. "Acquiring Kinesis provides the opportunity to accelerate our progress in the key areas of gait, balance, and mobility – and garner related insights to shape our understanding of a patient's health and associated risks to better inform our clinical guidance and care-plan recommendations. We're looking forward to collaborating with the Kinesis team to enhance our combined impact."

WHY IT MATTERS 

According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, more than 16 million individuals in the U.S. have cognitive impairment. That number is expected to grow as the U.S. population continues to age. 

While Linus Health has focused on brain health for some time, this new acquisition will help it jump into the physical-function space. Physical function can be linked to dementia, according to a study published in Neuroepidemiology. 

THE LARGER TREND

Linus Health, which scored $55 million in Series B funding in July 2021, has been making moves in the partnership space. In 2021, it teamed up with Cognito Therapeutics, a digital-therapeutic company focused on treating neurodegenerative diseases like Alzheimer's. 

Kinesis has been working in the digital-health space since 2014. In 2015, the company revealed its app-connected wearable sensors that could assess fall risk. 

Large tech players are also interested in monitoring cognitive decline. In 2021, Apple and Biogen launched a virtual study on cognitive decline that is currently being conducted on Apple Watch and iPhones.