After Selling Their First Spin-out to Medtronic, this Team is Aiming for an Even Bigger Splash in the Wearables Space

When most people think of the wearables space, devices like the Fitbit or the Apple Watch come to mind. But over the past few years, there’s been a lot of development with respect to wearable devices that were designed for the traditional healthcare market.

Medtronic launched the SEEQ device. Although implantable, St. Jude commercialized the CardioMEMS device. And startups like AliveCor and AUM Cardiovascular have developed some innovative monitoring devices as well.

But there’s some major differences between consumer wearables (like the Fitbit) and wearable devices that are designed for remote monitoring within the traditional healthcare setting. In order to get a better picture of this market, I recently interviewed Darrel Drinan, one of the prominent thought leaders within the wearables (remote monitoring) arena.

In this interview with Darrel, we cover his broad experience developing novel monitoring devices and what he’s learned along the way through deals with DARPA, Medtronic, and his new startup, BioRibbon Health.

Interview Highlights with Darrel Drinan

• How Corventis was born based on initial funding by DARPA for the design of wearable patches for military applications.

• Darrel’s opinions on whether the popularity in the wearables space is justified. And the differences between the consumer wearables market vs. the healthcare wearables market.

• How Darrel and his team are approaching an under-served part of the wearables market through technology they’re developing at BioRibbon Health.

• What happens when R&D teams “drink their own KOOL-AID”.

• Darrel’s “rule of 3” for designing consumer-based healthcare products.

• The lessons Darrel learned at Corventis and how he’s applying them to his new startup, BioRibbon Health.

• Darrel’s favorite business book, the business leader that most inspires him, and the advice he’d give to his 30-yr. old self.