As the number of wearables and health tracking devices continues to grow, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration plans to hire three senior health scientists to review "medical-grade" wearables, those that go one step further than fitness-tracking devices.
Bakul Patel, FDA's associate director for digital health, told Reuters the agency is looking to fill these positions.
The new roles may help soften views that the FDA is more of a regulatory barrier to healthcare innovation and instead underscores the agency as an ally in developing devices that can improve people's health.
Examples of such medical-grade wearables include wristbands that can predict and alert epilepsy patients of an oncoming seizure, or devices that track sleep, motion and heart rate.
"Consumers, doctors, payers all want to know if a product provides a clinical benefit," said Julie Papanek with venture capital firm Canaan Partners in the report. "Working with the FDA is the one way to get the ability to market that benefit."
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