Several strategic partnerships were forged during the development and commercialization of the technology:
Bycen
(Kobe, Japan)
Bycen was established as a spin-off company from Kobe University in 2004. Its aim is the 'translation of human and animal behaviors' into useful information. Applying specific behavioural analysis methods, including the ‘action quantification method’ required for brain research, Bycen succeeded in quantifying and visualizing the walking movement of humans and animals. This result is applied in its products, LegLOG, LegLOGdual and MetaboRANGER. For further information visit: http://www.bycen.co.jp .
University of Alberta
(Edmonton, Alberta)
The University of Alberta holds a leadership role in the WWPM-Edmonton project. The U of A’s WWPM group conducts project administration, secures funding, works with project partners on issues regarding intellectual property, collaborative hardware and software development and evaluation, commercialization planning, and partnership building.
Seiko Instruments Inc.
(Tokyo, Japan)
The Seiko Group consists of three core companies: Seiko Corporation, Seiko Instruments Inc., and Seiko Epson Corporation. Each of them plays its own distinctive role within Seiko. Seiko Instruments Inc. (SII) was established in 1937 and is now one of the world's leading watch manufacturers. It is the leading company in Japan for micro-systems and nanotechnology development (i.e., watches, pulsed graphs, wearable computers, etc.).
SII's role in this project is developing wireless, wearable physiological monitors. These devices gather physiological data locally and then transmit wirelessly to other sites for storage and analysis; all without interfering with people's daily activities.
MI-Laboratories Co. Ltd.
(Tokyo, Japan)
MI-Laboratories Co. Ltd. is a spin-off company of Sony Corporation and is financed entirely by the Ibuka family (Masaru Ibuka is a co-founder of Sony Corporation.) This Company focuses on research and development of healthcare products with an emphasis on physiological sensors in particular.
MI-Laboratories is developing additional physiological monitors that will be used at the demonstration sites developed for this project.
Capital Health
(Edmonton, Alberta)
Capital Health (CH) is Canada's largest integrated academic health care system, and one of the country's leading academic health science centres. CH is the health authority for Edmonton and the surrounding municipalities. It is also the referral centre for all of northern and central Alberta, as well as the Northwest Territories.
Capital Health is participating in clinical evaluations of the WWPM system. This includes establishing test sites, determining trial populations, and conducting the clinical evaluation in collaboration with the U of A’s WWPM group and private sector partners.
Redengine Inc.
(Edmonton, Alberta)
Redengine Inc. is a software and services firm focused on health informatics applications. It has built an international clinical research network in 8 countries and designed support systems to collect, aggregate, anonymize and analyze clinical data. Redengine is an active research partner with TRLabs, NEWT, and the Alberta Ingenuity Center for Machine Learning.
Redengine is redeveloping the clinical software based on the outcomes of the CH Clinical Trial and assisting with commercialization planning.
Other Research Partners
Good Samaritan Telecare Program
(Edmonton, Alberta)
Telecare emergency response system is a personalized telephone support service, operating 24 hours-a-day, 7 days-a-week. For emergencies, a small, portable and waterproof help button is worn as a necklace or wristband. When help is needed a simple push of the button notifies trained staff members, who then initiate immediate voice contact. TeleCare® provides assurance that someone is available to help. The service may also be utilized for medication, meal or appointment reminders, or simply for social interaction. TeleCare® provides services in Alberta, British Columbia and Saskatchewan.
The Good Samaritan Society’s Telecare Program will take part in future clinical evaluations of the WWPM system.
DevStudios
(Edmonton, Alberta)
DevStudios provides Information Technology consulting services to business and government, and specializes in custom software applications for organizations both large and small. Additionally, DevStudios is aware of the need to develop the people (as well as the solutions) for the next generation of business in an Internet-enabled world. Their schools have ranked among the best in North America and have provided their graduates with global opportunities.
DevStudios currently hosts the WWPM website, and has provided graphic design services and consultation to the project.
Eleven Engineering Inc.
(Edmonton, Alberta)
Eleven Engineering is a developer and vendor of high-performance, short-haul wireless platforms and integrated circuits. Eleven Engineering’s Spike wireless system has the potential to be incorporated into wireless, wearable physiological monitors.
Alberta Research Council
(Edmonton, Alberta)
The Alberta Research Council (ARC) is Canada's first provincial research organization, which was established in 1921. Its vision is to be Canada's leading knowledge organization in assessing, sourcing, developing and commercializing technology. ARC's role in this project will be to supply the livestock demonstration site.
TR Labs
(Edmonton, Alberta)
TR Labs is Canada's largest not-for-profit information and communications technology research consortium and is internationally recognized as a leading model for industry-university-government collaboration. The role of TR Labs will be to test alternative data transport systems and identify the best fit for this particular application.
TeleVital Inc.
(San Jose, California)
TeleVital provides an Internet-based infrastructure for enhancing the services provided by medical specialists, healthcare providers and medical device manufacturers. Its proprietary web-based software engine supports real-time streaming of physiological data waveform data (EKG, EEG, EMG, blood pressure, etc.) with simultaneous storage to an electronic medical record. In addition, VitalWeb provides customized wireless, web-related development and consultation services for e-Health companies. TeleVital will provide sensor integration to their web-based solution.
ViewTrak Technologies Inc.
(Edmonton, Alberta)
ViewTrak supplies a web-based tracking system that enables cattle breeders, producers, processors and distributors to track individual animals from the farmyard gate to the consumer's plate.