A fitness ‘Ring’ to CGM sensors: How Ultrahuman wants to change user approach to health

The ring is currently available for pre-order on the company’s website at a price of Rs 22,499 and will start shipping in December this year. It has a battery life of four to six days.

“The Ring measures your sleep, recovery and your movement. It helps you understand your metabolism. If you don’t take care of your metabolism, you could also lead to chronic diseases, typically diabetes, prediabetes, hypertension, chronic obesity, polycystic ovary syndrome, and even cardiovascular disorders,” said Mohit Kumar, founder and CEO of Ultrahuman. indianexpress.com about a call.

Tracking Parameters

According to Kumar, the Ring can collect a number of health markers. It comes with three PPG (photoplethysmography) sensors that pass a stream of light through the skin to measure response and collect data. “We have an infrared sensor, a green light sensor and a red light sensor. These are all different spectrums and comprise different aspects of your body. We are able to understand oxygen saturation, heart rate and heart rate variability very easily,” she noted.

The Ring will come in four color options and is currently available for pre-order on the company’s website.

The company also claims that it can track daily movements and steps and that the error rate is less than three or four percent. The ring also comes with a temperature sensor. But unlike the Apple Take a look at where the temperature sensor is used to help women understand their menstrual cycle, Ultrahuman says it’s using it to understand “recovery.” Kumar calls it the “most reliable biomarker,” though he added that they’re not using it to help track menstruation cycles right now, as it requires more testing.

Kumar said that several factors can affect the recovery and cause a rise in temperature. “For example, if you have a heavy training day or when you are sick due to an infection, the temperature also rises. So if you’re overloaded from a workout and your temperature rises, it prompts you to find the recovery base that’s right for you,” he noted.

The platform also looks at factors beyond temperature, such as heart rate variability, to give the user their metabolic score, all of which the device can track.

need for the ring

But why did Ultrahuman feel the need to present this ring? After all, the company is best known for its Ultrahuman M1 program that uses Abbott’s continuous blood glucose monitoring (CGM) sensors and helps users track their daily blood sugar levels. All CGM sensor data is displayed in their app, and the company uses its own software and algorithm to assign a daily metabolic score to the user. The Abbott sensor is a medical-grade device used by diabetologists for advanced disease management.

For its Ultrahuman M1 program, the company uses Abbot’s continuous blood glucose monitoring (CGM) sensors.

According to Kumar, although the Ultrahuman Ring does not measure glucose, future customers are expected to use the Ring in conjunction with the CGM sensor. The Ring is still in what Kumar calls a “super early launch phase,” with the company focusing on the first 5,000 orders for the device.

Even their CGM program was in beta until last month in beta. Users were typically on a waiting list before being approved for the program. The company claims to have had close to 150,000 on the waiting list, but began sending invitations to users starting this month.

When asked about CGM and whether this could be seen as scaremongering given that not everyone will be equipped to handle this data, Kumar said he sees it differently. He said that “your metabolic score on our platform will not drop as much because of one or two spikes.” “But if you have 10 spikes a day, there is a problem you have to solve. It is not alarmism. And to be honest, 20,000 people are not attracted to scaremongering,” he stressed.

Relying on the preventative mindset

The way Kumar sees it coronavirus The pandemic has introduced a new trend of users “trying to take control of their own health” before an illness occurs. The preventative mindset has risen and that’s where Ultrahuman hopes their shows can contribute. He added that the intention is to make people understand glucose values ​​with context and help them wake up and take responsibility.

Mohit Kumar, CEO and co-founder of Ultrahuman.

The Ultrahuman platform is not intended for someone who is actually diabetic or on any type of medication intended to control diabetes. “If you’re diabetic, we tell people not to use it,” Kumar said.

Ultimately, the company says its crux is to ensure the right nudges for the user, all of which focus on lifestyle changes. These pushes could include asking users to increase their protein intake or to take a walk after meals. In his opinion, the platform program with the help of CGM can also lead to accidental discoveries, since it measures a person’s lifestyle, which is different from clinically accepted data.

But what do users do with the data that the Ultrahuman app ends up collecting with the help of the CGM sensors? Do you take this to your doctor? Kumar said this is something that has started to happen, and in some cases even doctors have asked for access. “A lot of doctors have come forward and said we want access to their own patient data. I think we’re seeing a progressive trend of doctors trying to do a lot more preventative medicine,” he added.

According to Kumar, ultimately the idea with Ultrahuman is to help users better understand their own biomarkers and take charge of their health. “I think from a data perspective, people will feel stressed, for sure. But then it takes some kind of good stress for you to wake up and take responsibility,” he said.