KINSA Smart Thermometer Receives FDA Approval
The newly released Kinsa smart thermometer received FDA approval after its successful crowd funding campaign on Indiegogo. The thermometer can be connected to the user’s smartphone and is listed at a retail price of $15.00, its corresponding app, is free. Kinsa’s application includes free health map tracking, directions to the closest urgent care facility and a one-touch call to a nurse who will answer questions for you.
The makers behind Kinsa have plans to supplement any data the application generates and shares with data found publicly on websites such as CDC.gov and other private sources.
Kinsa is using the concept of a smartphone-enabled thermometer to build a crowd-sourced virtual health map of sickness, tracking various diseases as they spread at the community level.
"The world is seeking better ways to track infectious disease both at the level of the individual and the community. Kinsa’s approach is exciting because it engages consumers — it can provide real value for individuals — and at the same time aggregates information in a way that could help predict and hopefully prevent illnesses like influenza." – Ken Staley, MD, former White House Director for Biodefense and Kinsa advisor
Kinsa unveiled its design in April of 2013, and spent the second half of the year pursuing FDA clearance. Various gadgets which monitor the user’s health and vitals, such as wristband blood pressure monitors already exist on the market. However, the closest to the Kinsa would be the ChinaVision Bluetooth Temperature Monitor, which is a band that can wirelessly connect to your smartphone via Bluetooth to monitor your body temperature. It is listed at a retail price of $18.02 and doesn’t offer any health mapping or nearby facility services however, it is chargeable and allows for alarms to be set if the user’s temperature becomes too high or low.
Source - http://histalkmobile.com/fda-approves-kinsas-smartphone-thermometer/