Microsoft adds a digital health feature to its Android launcher

Microsoft is adding its own digital health feature to its Android launcher app. While Google has added a similar feature to Android Pie, Microsoft’s Launcher will let any Android users access the ability to track how long apps are being used for. You can track screen time, app usage, and even the amount of times you’ve unlocked your phone. Microsoft Launcher is supported on Android 4.2 and above, so it opens the digital health feature up to a lot of Android users.

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NightWare Won’t Sleep Until PTSD Victims Dream Nightmare-Free

NightWare, a Minneapolis-based medical-device startup, is creating an Apple Watch app for those suffering from nightmare disorder, a common side affect for those suffering from post traumatic stress disorder.

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Instagram is now using AI to describe photos for users with visual impairments

Instagram announced today that it’s rolling out new features that will make the app easier to use for people with visual impairments. The changes will allow screen readers to describe photos, either automatically using AI or by reading custom descriptions added by users.

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How to Find Google's New Built-In Breathing Exercise

The TechWatch editors have selected this news item because it is analogous to our LiveWell development project BreatheWell Wear.   We hope you can try out both BreatheWell Wear and Google's web-based breathing exercise.

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Apple drew up a patent for a new kind of blood pressure monitor

Two years ago, a handful of Apple employees dreamed up a device that would take the company beyond the world of healthcare apps, and into healthcare products. That device isn’t the Apple Watch, at least not yet. Instead, it seems to be a device whose function could very well be rolled into future Apple Watch devices down the line. Apple applied for a patent for said device in a listing that became public today, and it looks... underwhelming.

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Sweden’s KRY raises $66 million to bring its digital health service to France and the U.K.

Swedish company KRY today announced that it has raised $66 million to expand its digital health care service across Europe. The round was led by Index Ventures, with participation from Accel, Creandum, Project A, and others. The company offers a digital platform that connects patients with doctors remotely. Using a mobile app, a patient can consult a KRY-employed health care professional and can also submit symptoms and share photos.

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Smart thermometer, app provide real-time influenza tracking

Using a "smart” thermometer connected to a mobile phone app, University of Iowa researchers have successfully demonstrated that they can track influenza activity in real time at both population and individual levels, and in the process accurately predict flu activity as much as three weeks in advance.

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Vision-Focused Accessibility Efforts Made by Apple, Amazon, and Others Highlighted in New Report

A new article published last night by The Wall Street Journal takes a look into how accessibility-focused technology has the "potential to fundamentally change the mobility, employment and lifestyle of the blind and vision-impaired."

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FDA OKs mHealth App That Uses AI to Spot Strokes, Alert Specialists

The FDA has approved an mHealth app that uses artificial intelligence software to analyze CT scans for signs of a stroke, then sends a text message to a neurologist. The clinical decision support tool could help speed up time to treatment for stroke victims.

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iMedicalApps: App Assesses Frailty in Older Patients - But doesn't help interpret results and lacks references

As our population continues to age, providers, patients, and their families will continue to struggle with how best to assess and help frail geriatric patients. The Essential Frailty Toolset (EFT) helps providers tease out the association between frailty and surgical mortality.

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