Artemia Blog

Whether you actually attended the 2013 International Consumer Electronics Shows (CES) or simply heard about it, many new devices and trends were to be found. This year, mobile and cloud-based healthcare technologies were some of the most popular industry segments represented. From the nation's largest health insurance companies exhibiting to start-ups bringing their latest gadgets out of stealth mode, health technologies were unquestionably among the hottest and trendiest tech showcased at the event.

A quick trip around the convention center would have encountered some of these great medical innovations (to name but a few): a fork that records your every bite, smartphone apps that track your entire family's health, watches that show the time and your heart rate, headphones that tune in to your workout, remote access to physicians through private telemedicine booths, and the ability to store all your personal medical records in the cloud for easy access and analysis by your doctor.

While exhibiting and discovering what this year’s CES had to offer, people from the healthcare industry also had the opportunity to discuss innovations in mobile health, medical devices and the cloud at the Digital Health Summit. “With a record number of medical devices and apps being showcased at CES, it’s clear that the Digital Health Summit is harnessing the momentum of this exciting movement,” said David Van Sickle, CEO of Asthmapolis (makers of a smartphone app for tracking asthma symptoms).

2013 has started on the right foot for the healthcare IT industry. Personal medical devices are no longer just recording steps taken or calories burned. These products are getting smarter, smaller, and are greatly increasing our abilities to monitor our health, prevent disease and increase our overall personal wellness.

In the news:

What the 2013 Consumer Electronics Show Means for Health Care IT

Hot Health Tech of CES 2013

CES 2013 Highlights for Mobile Health and Digital Health Summit

In recent years, we have seen many cleantech projects becoming popular as a result of increased awareness of the world’s sustainability issues. Thanks to inspired, passionate entrepreneurs, these issues become business opportunities that address problems across the planet. Here are a few examples of new developments so far this year. 

The Zerotracer is an electric motorcycle that traveled around the world in 80 days for $400. Powered by lithium-polymer batteries and a Brusa electric motor, this vehicle or something like it could be the next big thing in personal transportation. The Zerotracer addresses many concerns about electric vehicles by using batteries that pack a lot of power for their weight (they have a high energy density) and can also be fully recharged in just two hours.

Sticking with electricity, the California Solar Initiative has just reached the 1 gigawatt milestone. The program – developed by the state of California and involving rebates for buyers to boost solar adoption for residential and professional usage – is part of a larger objective: 3 gigawatts of solar power-generating capability by the end of 2016. Few countries and even fewer states have reached this milestone so far. This project seems to have a bright future ahead of it.

Finally, another example of how the sun can be used to address vital human needs: a company named Masdar is developing desalination plants to be powered by renewable sources. Due to growing populations across the world, the lack of potable water is a major problem that must be addressed. In particularly hot and dry areas, such as the Middle East, access to drinkable water can be difficult whereas sunlight is abundant. As such, the region has become a hot spot (no pun intended) for clean energy development, capitalizing on all those sunny days with large solar installations that Masdar hopes can be used to power desalination plants. With the Middle East already producing 50 percent of the world's desalinated water, the company is well on the way to developing effective, efficient and sustainable ways to deliver potable water to millions more people.

In the news:

• Electric Motorcycle Travels Around The World In 80 Days For $400!
• California solar energy systems top 1 gigawatt
• Masdar Developing Desalination Plants Powered by Renewable Sources

As a primarily B2B-focused company, we have been attending trade shows for both ourselves and our clients for many years. Trade shows are a unique, multi-dimensional environment that bring targeted buyers and sellers together in the one place at the same time and require elements of marketing, advertising, creative and sales.

The reasons to attend or exhibit are many. They are great places to build branding and name recognition, to see and be seen. They are ideal for getting an overview of the marketplace, evaluating the competition, learning the latest industry trends and even to take orders and close sales. All in all, attending trade shows is a great way to generate new business opportunities, create new relationships and strengthen existing ones.

While trade shows are a powerful business generation tool, there are also many ways your next tradeshow could end up being a nightmare. Murphy’s Law tends to strike early and often, as anything that can go wrong probably will at some point, and the number of incidences can increase exponentially if you are not properly prepared.

Many unfortunate things can happen: your booth can be located on the other side of the building from the show entrance, your exhibit materials might not fit the space, your giveaways and brochures could not been delivered, your booth may be incomplete because a piece was lost along the way, the crowd can pass right by without stopping, or you may not have the right equipment to show your brand new video presentation.

Working with experienced teams and maintaining close contact with event organizers can prevent mistakes and help you make the most of your next tradeshow attendance. If you’d like to read some more tips on how to have a successful trade show, click the button below.

See that little red (or blue or green) light on the corner of your computer monitor or cell phone? That’s a light-emitting diode, or LED. They are found in almost every electronic appliance manufactured today, from watches and televisions to stoves and refrigerators.

They last forever and are remarkably energy efficient, but have run into problems when trying to expand into general lighting applications currently dominated by incandescent, halogen, and compact fluorescent light bulbs. Until now, LEDs have had problems generating enough light to illuminate a room while keeping heat output to acceptable levels. The key word there is ‘had.’

New lights from Cree and Soraa are showing a lot of promise in the ability to last for years and save on electricity bills. Researchers at Georgia Tech recently discovered a way to increase LED energy efficiency by 425 percent. Though at this time LEDs are significantly pricier than more established lighting, retail costs should be coming down soon as manufacturing techniques improve and better light dispersal methods are developed.

In the United States – the second largest consumer of electricity in the world – lighting accounts for a full 15.5 percent of all electricity usage. That’s 570 billion kilowatt-hours. Power-saving LED light sources are poised to keep millions of dollars in our collective wallets in near future. And with advances like OLEDs (organic LEDs) on the horizon, light-emitting diodes will continue to light up our lives for decades to come.

In the news:

• Cree: LEDs aren't just more efficient, they're better

• Startup Soraa unveils game changing next-gen LED light

• Boosting LED Efficiency

Thanks to new technologies and apps on mobile devices, you might think twice before heading to your doctor for a checkup. With a growing number of medical monitoring devices being developed for use at home, the healthcare technology world is in a fever of excitement over what people in the industry are describing as “the biggest innovation in home medicine since the thermometer.” Companies are now and in the near future bringing new devices to market that allow patients to collect a wide range of information on their physical condition.

People will soon be able to buy:

• -A sensor that when held to the temple for ten seconds collects data on pulse rate, electrical heart activity, temperature, heart rate variability and blood oxygenation.


• -Disposable cartridges that analyze saliva or urine to detect pregnancy complications, gestational diabetes, kidney failure, urinary tract infections, strep throat and different strains of influenza.


• -Temporary tattoos with embedded sensors that can check the skin for pH changes and salt levels to test for metabolic diseases or fitness levels in athletes.

Mobile apps track much of the data collected by these devices and may even offer a personal health feed to monitor vital signs and identify patterns over time. In the rapidly changing world of medical technology, these tools can lead to better, smarter care for more people, saving time and money.

In the news:

• Scanadu unveils “biggest innovation in home medicine since the thermometer”


• A Smart Tattoo For Medical Sensing And Athletic Performance


• Mio Alpha First Impressions: Strapless Heart Rate Monitoring Comes of Age