Taiwan-founded healthcare wearable device company iWEECARE announced that its flagship product, Temp Pal, has been in use to help combat COVID-19 spread in hospitals and self-quarantine. The cloud-based continuous temperature monitoring system can lower the risk of infections and prevents the overwhelming of health systems by reducing physical contact between caregivers and patients.

The Temp Pal system is currently in use at designated coronavirus hospitals in Taiwan and self-quarantine management in Nanjing City of China to lower healthcare-associated infections and to ease caregivers’ burdens.

Temp Pal has received medical regulatory approval in the EU, Taiwan, and Thailand in 2019.

HOW IT WORKS

Temp Pal, which is the world’s smallest smart thermometer, offers a cloud-based continuous remote system for temperature monitoring and allows users to receive alerts when abnormal body temperature is detected. A stamp-sized soft patch, weighing only 3 grams and lasting 36 hours per battery charge, can transmit temperature data via Bluetooth Low Energy to iWEECARE’s mobile app and its cloud dashboard. It allows one-to-many centralized tracking and assists with timely medical treatment.

The Temp Pal Cloud Cluster System helps control the spread of COVID-19 in two scenarios – in healthcare institutions and those in self-quarantine. In the context of healthcare institutions, Temp Pal allows caregivers and medical professions to reduce direct contact with patients and caring hours. The system can help caregivers monitor real-time temperatures of hundreds of patients at nursing stations. 

It gathers data wirelessly through its specialized BLE/Wi-Fi gateways which collects patients’ temperatures via their Temp Pal smart patches attached onto their bodies. In Taiwan, the 1000-bed Cheng Hsin General Hospital, a government-designated coronavirus hospital, deployed Temp Pal System in its negative pressure isolation rooms. It reveals the cloud monitor system can save medical staffs’ time, reduce record errors, decrease consumption of protective clothing, and their risk of infection. 

For those under self-quarantine, Temp Pal can help public health authorities monitor the temperature of thousands of people under quarantine remotely and give instructions when users are detected with abnormal temperatures. The Temp Pal System has been adopted in some residential districts of Nanjing City of China, which was locked down in early Feb, to help self-quarantine management.

THE LARGER TREND

At the end of January, MobiHealthNews reported that Shanghai Public Health Clinical Center (SPHCC), was using California-based connected health startup VivaLNK’s continuous temperature sensor to monitor COVID-19 patients, which reduces the risks of caregivers being exposed to the virus. SPHCC also recently announced that they are using Bluetooth IoT products and solutions provider Cassia Network’s gateways, together with VivaLNK’s medical wearable sensors to monitor COVID-19 patients.

Last June, iWEECARE raised $1M in Pre-Series A funding, led by Singapore-based Verge HealthTech Fund, alongside Taiwan/US-based Translink Capital and Darwin Venture, MobiHealthNews reported. 

ON THE RECORD

“Temp Pal is the solution to controlling hospital-acquired and inspector infections of COVID-19. Since the coronavirus outbreak, we’ve received demand for over 500,000 units from around the world. Our medically-certified wearable solution is small and does not cause any discomfort for long-term, continuous remote temperature monitoring. It is accurate and safe, and we hope this solution can help combat the current pandemic and save lives.” said Glen Tseng, CEO of iWEECARE.