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Long before the COVID-19 pandemic struck, health care was the market of the future.
While communication, travel, analytics and banking have typically stolen the spotlight from recent technological innovations, the ability to carry a super-computer in your pocket has important applications in the health care world.
At the forefront of digital healthcare is what’s known as the ‘quantified self’; self-knowledge through self-tracking. The emergence of wearable tech and smartphones has given people the ability to track any and every aspect of their body.
The key to this is body measurement. And, unlocking body measurement with something as ubiquitous as a mobile phone opens up many new opportunities.
From heart rate to respiration to sleep quality to the number of times you sneeze throughout the day, what was once only measurable in a doctor’s office with loud beeping machines is now available at the tap of a finger. And, where there’s a self to be measured, there’s money to be made.
Just last week, healthcare giants Teladoc and Livongo struck the biggest digital health deal of all time to usher in what Forbes has called “a new era in digital health”. By coughing up $18.5 billion to absorb Livongo, Teladoc has created a combined entity worth $38 billion focussed purely on virtual healthcare and digital chronic illness management.
Meanwhile, ASX-listed MyFiziq (MYQ) has found a way to secure its own foothold in this disruptive market. It has built a unique technology that lets anyone with a mobile phone simply and accurately measure their own body, and track key changes over time.
MYQ’s self-tracking tech
Rather than put its fingers in too many pies, the WA-based company has opted to focus on non-contact body measurements and do it well.
MyFiziq’s technology uses pictures from your smartphone to create a personal face and body 3D avatar, tracking your circumference measurements, weight to height ratios, and total body fat with up to 97 per cent accuracy.
Moreover, the scan, which takes just seconds, can read vital signs below the skin.
Featuring advanced facial recognition technology from neuroscience company Neurologics, MyFiziq allows you to use your smartphone to unlock biometric markers associated with the risk of a multitude of health conditions.
The facial scan can determine a user’s blood pressure, heart rate and respiratory rate. These vitals can then predict the risk of stroke and heart attack. This technology will be crucial in overcoming some of the challenges preventing the early detection of chronic diseases, such as outdated practices, long wait times for specialists and hefty costs.
Against the backdrop of COVID-19, non-contact body measurements provide a level of safety.
The ‘Intel Inside’ of non-contact body measurement
Importantly, MyFiziq’s technology is designed to be embedded in partner apps, becoming the ‘Intel Inside” of the health care tech world. Essentially, this means the company is free to collaborate with businesses to adopt its tech across the board, from fitness to home leisure.
Of course, the healthcare sector likely presents the biggest opportunity for growth.
According to the Australian Bureau of Statistics’ National Health Survey, 67 per cent of Australian adults were overweight or obese in 2017 and 2018. This represents around 8.4 million people — but the phenomenon is not unique to Australia.
In terms of obesity, MYQ’s software removes the margin of human error that typically comes with traditional tape measurement and fat-fold pinch tests. The tech is so specific that it tracks shape changes throughout life, which can be indicators of chronic health conditions.
MyFiziq has already partnered with Complete Health, integrated its body scanning technology into medical-grade device Evolt360 and, just this week, signed a binding term sheet with behavioural change and technology company Biomorphik.
MYQ in good company
Other industries trying to take advantage of the cultural and tech phenomenon of the quantified self include the likes of insurance companies, gyms, and even activewear makers.
In July 2020, ASX-listed insurance company QBE Australia (QBE) struck a deal with dorsaVi (DVL) over the small-cap’s wearable technology. Under the deal, dosraVi’s body sensor tech will be used to help QBE’s broker network and mutual customers manage risks to workers.
“Wearable technology allows for the monitoring of activity in the real world — where it really matters. Sensors can track, analyse and report on movement throughout the day in real-time. This technology will allow customers to better predict, manage and reduce the likelihood and consequence of musculoskeletal injuries in the workplace,” QBE General Manager Rob Kosova said.
Of course, with better risk management comes fewer payouts from insurance companies like QBE.
Even Lululemon, which sells athleisure and activewear, has hedged its bets on the future of remote exercise by snapping up home fitness startup Mirror for $500 million. Mirror sells wall-mounted machines for streaming workout classes.
While not strictly part of the healthcare world, self-tracking is a key aspect of at-home exercise — meaning it’s yet another industry into which MyFiziq can easily fit in.
What’s more, Apple’s CEO, Tim Cook, said the future of the tech heavyweight is in healthcare.
In January 2019, he told Mad Money’s Jim Cramer:
“If you zoomed out into the future, and you look back, and you ask the question, ‘What was Apple’s greatest contribution to mankind?’ it will be about health.”
Tim Cook, January 2019
Fortune predicts Apple’s health-care market opportunity could be worth a whopping $313 billion in revenue by 2027. MyFiziq’s unique space in the self-measurement software world means it’s poised to take its own slice of this market.
With Apple pivoting to healthcare, insurers chasing body measurements to reduce premiums, and leisure companies promoting at-home exercise, the market opportunity for self-tracking software is huge.
MyFiziq is at the forefront of quantified health. Where there is scope for this tech to disrupt a sector, there the company will be.
