Datwyler Exploring Wearables and Digital Health Space: Interview with Norbert Haberland

Datwyler exploring digital health

Datwyler, a Swiss supplier for customer-specific sealing solutions, offers state-of-the-art solutions for parenteral packaging, including prefilled syringes and pen systems. Datwyler will speak and exhibit at WT | Wearable Technologies EUROPE in Munich on Feb 3-6.

Datwyler’s soft dry electrodes are the company’s proposition for long-term EEG monitoring with a focus on patient comfort. The electrodes are based on a flexible conductive polymer and customizable design, ensuring comfort during monitoring.

Norbert Haberland, Vice President New Processes and Products at Datwyler, gave an interview to On Drug Delivery. He was discussing wearable healthcare solutions, especially in digital health.

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“Digital health has been gaining lots of traction in recent years. It is currently one of the big trend topics in the industry, offering many opportunities to pharmaceutical and medical companies, as well as their suppliers. At Datwyler, we have been exploring the field of digital health since 2014. It has become an important new business field for us. We see lots of potential for innovative healthcare solutions, especially regarding wearables, such as injection or monitoring systems. Therefore, we are continuously working on innovations in this area.  But even more important to us is that patients can profit from this development. Improving patients’ lives is one of our top priorities,” Haberland told On Drug Delivery.

Datwyler is working closely with the Interuniversity Microelectronics Center (IMEC) in Belgium and the Holst Center in the Netherlands to research intelligent electrodes for brain monitoring platforms. Patients with neurodegenerative diseases often experience symptoms of abnormal eye movements. In co-operation with Datwyler, IMEC developed a wearable device concept which integrates wireless eye-tracking technology into a standard pair of eyeglasses. The smart glasses using electro-oculograms, measure the electric potential across particular points on the skin around the eyes during eye movement. The glasses use five dry-contact electrodes developed by Datwyler.

Datwyler exploring digital health
Image: Datwyler

“Datwyler is predominantly perceived as a significant player in the area of drug packaging and the development and manufacturing of medical device components for the administration of drugs.  However, we have also been exploring the area of wearable devices and digital health. For us, wearables are paving the way for new avenues of drug delivery. With partners and customers, we started to work on innovative wearable solutions. Among the results are our new soft dry electrodes. The soft dry electrodes are our proposition for comfortable long-term EEG monitoring.  As the name “wearable” suggests, the electrodes are made to be worn on the body for a long period of time, which can stretch over several days or even weeks, Haberland said.”

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When Haberland was asked if partnerships are a key driver for developing new products, he said:

“Absolutely. Partnerships are incredibly important to us. Above all, these partner companies encourage synergies which enable the development of high-tech medical solutions. A recent example is our partnership with Coldplasmatech (Griefswald, Germany), a start-up focusing on plasma research and   technology. Together we developed an intelligent wound patch, which uses the regenerative characteristics of cold plasma. The patch is suitable for the therapeutic treatment of chronic wounds which are infected with multi-resistant germs. Cold plasma can eliminate germs and gently improve wound healing through disinfection and cell activation. The patch can be directly applied to an open wound – only a few sessions are needed for recovery and each takes no longer than two minutes. The whole patch is thrice covered with liquid silicone in a complex injection moulding process to ensure maximum safety.”

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Sam Draper
Sam Draper () is Online Editor at WT | Wearable Technologies specialized in the field of sports and fitness but also passionated about any new lifestyle gadget on the market. Sam can be contacted at press(at)wearable-technologies.com.