Montréal, November 26th, 2024
The Canadian Space Agency (CSA) has announced that it has awarded a contract to Hexoskin (Carré Technologies Inc.), a company based in Montreal, to develop and adapt the Astroskin Bio-Monitor crew physiological monitoring system for Gateway, a space station that will orbit the Moon.
The first two elements of Gateway – the Power and Propulsion Element (PPE) and the Habitation and Logistics Outpost (HALO) – are set to launch together in 2027.
The Astroskin Bio-Monitor has been in operation on the International Space Station (ISS) since January 2019, when it was commissioned by Canadian astronaut David Saint-Jacques. It is currently used in four clinical trials in space focused on studying the cardiorespiratory system and the accelerated aging effect of microgravity on human physiology.
Astroskin wearable sensors are sent to space on a regular basis, with 20 space payloads delivered to ISS so far, and a first suborbital flight completed in November 2023 with American astronaut Kellie Gerardi on Virgin Galactic’s mission 5.
More than 20 astronauts have used Astroskin wearable sensors for clinical research in microgravity, including astronauts from the USA, Canada, Japan, UAE, and Italy. (Photo credits: CSA, ESA, NASA, JAXA, Axiom/Mark Pathy, UAE Space Agency)
Astroskin wearable health sensors are also used by a large number of medical researchers around the world to study a wide number of health conditions, from hypertension to sleep quality, in clinical trials, and for defense and aerospace applications.
About Hexoskin, Space Medicine, and Clinical Research
Hexoskin has been involved in space medicine since its first contract with CSA in 2011. The investment from CSA in space medicine research has been a major driver of growth in the early development of the company, during the development of the Hexoskin and Astroskin wearable sensor platforms. Hexoskin has supported hundreds of clinical research projects since, leading to over 250 peer-reviewed scientific publications, patents, and novel AI software for clinical applications, with a focus on cardiac and respiratory diseases. Hexoskin participated in the first cohort of the ASU/Mayo Clinic Medtech accelerator in 2019.
More info on the Gateway contract awarded to Hexoskin:
https://www.nasa.gov/mission/gateway/
More info on Astroskin:
https://www.hexoskin.com/astroskin
Hexoskin's CEO Pierre-Alexandre Fournier will be speaking at the HITLAB Digital Health Symposium on Digital Health this September 26th. The event will be streamed online and is free to attend.
Along with speakers from Genentech, Pfizer, Merck, Samsung, and many other innovative companies in health technologies and life sciences, Fournier will discuss the current state of digital biomarkers, wearables, and articificial intelligence in medicine.
For more than 20 years, HITLAB (Healthcare Innovation & Technology Lab) has been at the forefront of digital health research. The Columbia University-based organization partners with innovative healthcare technologies and life sciences companies to improve global health delivery and healthcare worldwide. HITLAB uses rigorous research and evidence-based methods to identify the best digital health solutions for their partners.
Montreal, Canada - August 27, 2024: Hexoskin, a Montreal-based digital health and AI company developing medical-grade wearables and algorithms for health monitoring and diagnostics, is very excited to announce today an additional USD $4.2M capital raise to invest in growth, digital biomarkers research, and new AI-based digital diagnostics solutions. Investors include AQC Capital and Anges Quebec (Canada), BDC Capital (Canada), ballas invest (Europe), Deep Divers Ltd (UK), and 19 other US and Canadian private investors.
Pierre-Alexandre Fournier, Hexoskin’s CEO, commented: “Hexoskin’s team has over 15 years of experience in clinical AI development and high-resolution wearable sensors. Our investors understand how our digital platform is uniquely positioned to develop a range of diagnostic tests and digital solutions that can address the needs of large populations in disease areas with large unmet needs, such as cardiac, respiratory and rare diseases.”
Hexoskin's current wearable sensing products (Hexoskin & Astroskin) serve the clinical research, defense, and aerospace markets. Its customers, including CSA, NASA, DOD, Yale Health, Boston Children's Hospital, and hundreds of research teams across the world, have published over 250 scientific papers with Hexoskin data. Hexoskin smart shirts are also used in pharma clinical trials, and its technology has been part of the International Space Station since 2019 to support clinical trials in space.
"We are excited to team up with Hexoskin and its investors to enable its next phase of development globally" said Laurent van Lerberghe, Co-Founder of ballas invest and former Chief Strategy Officer at Sanofi. "We have been impressed by the wealth of expertise accumulated by Hexoskin with trillions of data points, more than a hundred clinical trials, and over 250 peer-reviewed publications. Through novel higher resolution digital measures and digital biomarkers in clinical and real-world settings, Hexoskin is unlocking the possibilities of early disease detection, high quality monitoring, hence improving treatment decisions and patients’ quality of life".
Hexoskin’s software and wearable sensor products are used by clinical research teams around the world to collect digital endpoints in patient populations for a wide range of health conditions: cardiac (arrhythmias, heart rate variability), respiratory (CODP, asthma), cancer, neuro (dementia, epilepsy), rare diseases and pediatric research (Rett syndrome, ME/CFS, Long Covid).
"This additional equity funding allows us to better serve the scientific and medical communities," added Fournier. "Patients, healthcare providers, and researchers are looking for products that are accurate, validated in diverse populations, and easy to use to collect clinical data in real-world settings. Hexoskin’s solutions accomplish these goals, offering high-quality and reliable tools to improve patient outcomes through research and clinical care. Expanding our investor base from Canada to US and Europe is a clear marker of our global potential."
About Hexoskin
Hexoskin (Carré Technologies Inc.) is a pioneer in continuous, passive remote health monitoring driven by AI. Hexoskin's platform and technology are used by hundreds of institutional partners for research purposes, in studies examining breathing disorders, cardiac and pulmonary diseases, rare diseases, stress, sleep, epilepsy, and other conditions. If you're interested in investing in Hexoskin please consult our investor relations section.
An End-to-End Solution for Clinical Research
Launched in 2023, the company’s new clinical development software platform, Hexoskin OneView, allows research teams to follow cohorts of participants as the complete clinical protocols, monitoring compliance and data quality. The platform is used today to collect data for new clinical AI algorithms for diagnostics and quality of life assessments. The data captured include heart rhythms and ECG, breathing patterns, PPG/SpO2, blood pressure, temperature, activity, and patient-reported outcomes with standardized questionnaires or symptoms reporting.
From Space Medicine to Ivy League Research
Hexoskin's current wearable products (Hexoskin and Astroskin) serve the clinical research, defense, and aerospace markets. Its customers, including NASA, DOD, Yale Health, Boston Children's Hospital, Columbia University, and hundreds of researchers and hospitals, have published over 250 scientific papers with Hexoskin data. Hexoskin smart shirts are used in pharmaceutical clinical trials, and its technology has been part of the International Space Station since 2018.
Mayo Clinic Accelerator Program
Hexoskin has been selected by Mayo Clinic in 2019 for their MedTech accelerator program and is currently implementing remote patient monitoring programs in cardiology and pulmonology with health systems in the US and Canada.
Hexoskin’s Unique Database
Over the past 10 years, Hexoskin has built the largest ambulatory cardio-respiratory database in the world. The database includes hundreds of millions of breathing patterns and billions of cardiac rhythm patterns, in addition to sleep data and annotations specific to many other health conditions, developed with hospitals and research partners in the US, Canada and Europe. The company leverages its proprietary database to develop new AI-based digital diagnostic solutions.
Pediatric Research
Hexoskin is one of few companies that have made available wearable sensing solutions for pediatric research. The Hexoskin Junior biometric shirt is used by research groups to study sleep patterns, respiratory health, and rare diseases in children 3 to 17 years old.
In this video interview with HITLAB at Columbia University in New York, Hexoskin's CEO Pierre-Alexandre Fournier discusses how fundamental building medical data infrastructure was to enable automation and AI - tools to make healthcare delivery more efficient and more accessible.
The lack of electronic medical records and data standards has slowed progress in digital health and AI in the 2000s and 2010s. Today the infrastructure is ready to make data collected by patients actionable and valuable.
This new IT environment (EHR/EMRs, broadband, FIRH, HL7, smart phones, and wearables) accelerates automation and AI development, digital biomarker discovery, personalized medicine and new health prevention services.
Hexoskin is building on this infrastructure to offer high-resolution vital signs monitoring with Hexoskin and Astroskin wearables, apps to collect patient reported outcomes and events, could storage, data automation and cohort management.
Please reach out to see how Hexoskin can help.
Dr. Martin Gershon, Managing Partner/CIO of Endeavor Venture Fund and physician entrepreneur, had a 30 minutes conversation today with Hexoskin's CEO Pierre-Alexandre Fournier.
They talked about the journey of Hexoskin and the new landscape for medical wearables, connected sensors, digital biomarkers, the future of diagnostics and clinical research. They also emphasized the importance of collaboration and community to build innovative solutions that benefit patients, caregivers, and providers.
The live webinar recording is available below.
In this episode of the Bleeding Edge of Digital Health, host Mike Moore speaks with entrepreneur, scientist, and co-founder of Hexoskin, Pierre-Alexander Fournier.
Mike and Pierre talk about how his latest tech garment is being utilized in health care today, how it is benefiting not just the patient but the physician as well, and more importantly, the future products and garments in Hexoskin’s pipeline that will pave the way for further innovation and change the way we take care of our health, and the health of the ones we care about. Be sure to listen to the entire session.
Notable Quotes
“So, we're working on different garments. We do have another product that has more sensors called the Astroskin that is being used in research, and that's the product that is being used in the space station right now for different research projects in microgravity. The Astroskin is the model Chris Hemsworth is wearing in Limitless.”
“Research groups we're working with have built the largest database of vital signs for many specific health conditions. So, there are a lot of things that will come out of it. And as I said earlier, we're not just building a product for single use. Eventually, we're going to add blocks to that platform so that it can be used for several types of disease, and it's going to become a great bundle for people with comorbidities.”
Podcast links:
The Canadian Space Agency (CSA) has awarded contracts to five teams to build prototypes of the Connected Care Medical Module (C²M²), a container-based concept for mobile medical clinics that can be rapidly deployed in remote, northern, or indigenous communities across Canada, in regions affected by natural disasters, and in future lunar and deep space missions.
Hexoskin (Carré Technologies Inc.) is proud to be part of the HARMONY team, led by CGI, one of the largest IT firms in the world, along with OKAKI Health Intelligence, PrecisionOS Technology, 12Volt: Games Studio, and Dr. Carolyn McGregor of the University of Ontario Institute of Technology.
Hexoskin will contribute Astroskin devices and AI-based medical software to the project. A first demonstration is planned for June 2023.
Health Beyond's vision is to enable agile, rapid prototyping and iterative operation of C²M²s on Earth, with the ultimate objective of operation in space. A C²M² is a scalable integrated system of state-of-the-art medical technologies and methodologies contained in a deployable unit. A shipping container will first be used for research and development purposes and for easy deployment across Canada via the existing intermodal freight transportation network. When preparing for space application and deployment in remote communities with collaborators, the medical module can be scaled down and adapted as needed.
One of the novel features of the C²M² is its core computer-based system that facilitates the incorporation, interconnection (i.e., flow of information), and usage of the latest medical technologies. This plug and play architecture will enable multiple configurations based on the end users' needs. These technologies increase the user's capacity to independently detect, diagnose, treat, and/or monitor health conditions on site. This improves the timeliness, quality, and continuity of care; refines clinical decision-making; and reduces the occurrence of risky and expensive medical transportation of patients from remote regions to urban hospital facilities.
(photo: Canadian Space Agency)
Biomedical researcher Héloïse Auger will talk about Hexoskin's work in space medicine, Astroskin wearable sensors, and artificial intelligence for automated diagnostics at the Healthcare without Boundaries Colloquium this week on June 1-2. Registration is available on Eventbrite: Healthcare without Boundaries Colloquium
Hexoskin has been collaborating with the Canadian Space Agency since 2011 on the development of medical technologies that can be used for human spaceflight. Devices that can record health data passively, like the Astroskin, create an opportunity to develop autonomous medical systems using clinical rules and artificial intelligence to support long-term space missions beyond low Earth orbit.
The Alliance for Artificial Intelligence in Healthcare (AAIH) just published a white paper titled "A Primer on AI in Healthcare".
The Primer on AI in Healthcare attempts to cover many uses for AI in healthcare in a way that is accessible, but also as precise and concrete as possible. We hope this document will serve as a reference for future discussions and publications for all stakeholders in healthcare and AI, including patients and providers.
A Primer on Artificial Intelligence in Healthcare - A technical introduction
The 45-page document describes AI approaches and applications in healthcare and biopharma research, and helps introduce standard definitions for the industry.
The Hexoskin Team is proud to have taken part in this reflection that will drive the future of AI development for Connected Health in healthcare.
"It was important for me to contribute to this essential white paper. There was a need to clarify terms and concepts in AI with an emphasis on applications in healthcare, biomedical discovery, clinical development, and home care". Pierre-Alexandre-Fournier - CEO at Hexoskin.
About Hexoskin
Founded in 2006 in Montreal, Hexoskin (Carré Technologies Inc.) is involved in the development of non-invasive sensors, software & applications, data science & AI services. Hexoskin’s mission is to record and organize personal health information and make it accessible and useful.
On September 12th this week, Hexoskin's Co-founder & CTO Jean-François Roy will discuss sensors, data, and AI in medicine at the Intelligent Health AI conference in Basel, Switzerland.
Hexoskin has been chosen among only 5 companies in the world to present at the Showcase event at the conference sponsored by Novartis. Hexoskin's Chief Technology Officer Jean-François Roy will present new opportunities for healthcare and pharmaceutical organizations to uncover new insights from the data they have collected from clinical trials.
Artificial Intelligence and Machine Learning have the potential to transform drug development and reduce the time to market of much-needed therapies in various therapeutic areas, including rare diseases, and find new cures for millions of patients.
The Hexoskin end-to-end data platform is secure and platform agnostic. Hexoskin's clients have access to cost-effective tools to manage clinical studies, collect rich health data, and build unique databases and datasets for machine learning & AI projects.
Hexoskin has a dedicated group of AI & biomedical researchers with years of experience in preparing and analyzing health data, and in the development of machine learning algorithms with health data. Its research team collects new vital signs data and use external datasets to answer novel research questions.
About Hexoskin:
Founded in 2006 in Montreal, Hexoskin is the leader in non-invasive sensors, smart clothing, software, data science & AI services. Hexoskin launched in 2013 the first washable smart shirts that capture cardiac, respiratory, and activity body metrics. The Hexoskin platform is an end-to-end software system to monitor and analyse users' general health, vital signs, sleep, and activity, using built-in sensors embedded in smart garments made in Canada.
The Hexoskin smart clothing and Hexoskin Connected Health Platform has been used to collect data for over 70 scientific publications in the fields of cardiology, respiratory, behavioural & physiological psychology, sleep patterns, circadian rhythms, effects of aging on physical performance, and AI-Machine Learning. The company provides custom solutions, R&D project management, and services to international clients including pharmaceuticals, research centers, government agencies, and healthcare providers.