The Israeli business daily Globes (Israel) reported that Sony Corporation (New York, NY, USA) is actively seeking to invest hundreds of millions of dollars in Israeli medical technologies. The consumer electronics company wants to create patient-friendly medical devices and diagnostic kits that will be used in point-of-care settings.

Sony is preparing for a major expansion into the world of medical devices, with a particular interest in medical laboratory testing and diagnostic test kits. Experts regard Sony’s new strategy as a sign that prospects in diagnostic testing remain strong.

This is a major strategy change for Sony. Company officials state that Sony will rely less on consumer electronics as it shifts its focus to healthcare sectors, in an effort to revive earnings

Sony is interested in the attractive business prospects for moving into healthcare. “As populations age, demand for medical devices rises, and we intend to participate in this,” declared Hiroshi Yoshioka, vice president, Sony, Inc., in the Globes article. The Globes story serves to demonstrate how the boundaries between consumer electronics and medical devices are blurring.

Recently, Sony applied for a patent that would use a wristband to monitor the heart rate, vital signs, and blood glucose levels of the wearer. This information would be transmitted to a compatible HDTV where the user could see this data. This would be transmitted to medical personnel if necessary.

The techno Website Engadget posted a news story about how Sony is combining medical device functions with consumer electronics. Pathologists and clinical laboratory managers will find the functions of Sony's patent to be very relevant to their work.

Sony is the latest corporate giant to recognize that it can benefit from the confluence of the fields of biotechnology, medical devices, high tech electronics, information technology, and telecommunications. These various technologies are being combined to create “smart” medical devices, according to BioDFW (Dallas, TX, USA, a life sciences regional alliance.

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Globes
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