DUBLIN - December 11, 2015 - Medtronic plc (NYSE:MDT), the global leader in medical technology, and Samsung Electronics America, a global leader in consumer electronics and digital health, today announced a broad-based strategic alliance to accelerate the development of digital health solutions for the millions of people suffering from chronic pain, movement disorders, incontinence, and other conditions who could benefit from neuromodulation therapy. People with these conditions, as well as their healthcare providers, need convenient access to mobile technology to better manage their health. Medtronic is developing a range of future solutions that will enhance and help deliver personalized patient care and improve healthcare outcomes.
The alliance, to be announced today at the North American Neuromodulation Society (NANS) Scientific Session in Las Vegas, will leverage Samsung’s deep understanding of consumer technology and mobility to develop advanced tools, based on the Android operating system, aimed at improving how patients and physicians interact with and receive data from Medtronic’s clinically-proven neuromodulation systems. By integrating neuromodulation therapies with Samsung technology, Medtronic seeks to deliver real-time health data to physicians and patients so they can more effectively manage the therapy, track symptoms and wirelessly monitor data received from Medtronic devices.
“Medtronic is committed to solving healthcare challenges, and through this alliance we intend to create efficiencies by developing digital solutions that connect patients and healthcare providers in real time,” said Tom Tefft, senior vice president and president of Neuromodulation, which is part of the Restorative Therapies Group at Medtronic. “Medtronic has a track record of developing meaningful patient innovations, and this collaboration is the first step to providing more personalized patient care and arming patients and physicians with the best consumer-relevant technologies.”
In the future, this alliance between Medtronic and Samsung is intended to focus on enabling patients implanted with neuromodulation therapies to use consumer electronics, such as smartphones, wearables or tablets, to securely and wirelessly transmit real-time data from their device to their physicians. Connecting patients and physicians in this manner could provide many potential benefits, including allowing physicians to more quickly make informed, data-driven treatment decisions.
“Samsung is applying its deep understanding of how people use technology to bring new innovations to healthcare,” said Dave Rhew, Chief Medical Officer and Head of Healthcare and Fitness for Samsung Electronics America. “These future solutions will help better manage the health of patients by providing them with advanced, easy-to-use tools that securely deliver real-time data to their physicians.”
In June 2015, Medtronic and Samsung announced a similar collaboration to enable solutions to improve diabetes management for the millions of people at risk and currently living with the disease. The first project focuses on delivering more discreet and convenient access to personal diabetes data by developing mobile applications optimized for Samsung mobile devices that will enable the viewing of insulin pump and continuous glucose monitoring (CGM) sensor information.
About Medtronic Neuromodulation Solutions
Medtronic developed and leads the field of neuromodulation, the targeted and regulated delivery of electrical pulses and pharmaceuticals to specific sites in the nervous system. The company’s Neuromodulation business includes medical systems for the management of chronic pain, movement disorders, severe spasticity and urologic and gastrointestinal disorders.
About Medtronic
Medtronic plc (www.medtronic.com), headquartered in Dublin, Ireland, is the global leader in medical technology - alleviating pain, restoring health, and extending life for millions of people around the world.
About Samsung Business
As a global leader in enterprise mobility and information technology, Samsung Business provides a diverse portfolio of enterprise technologies from smartphones to wearables, tablets, digital displays, hospitality TVs and printers. We are committed to putting the business customer at the core of everything we do by delivering comprehensive products, solutions and services across diverse industries including retail, healthcare, hospitality, education and government. Please visit samsung.com/business, visit our blog insights.samsung.com or follow Samsung Business via Twitter: @SamsungBizUSA to learn more.
About Samsung Electronics Co., Ltd.
Samsung Electronics Co., Ltd. inspires the world and shapes the future with transformative ideas and technologies that redefine the worlds of TVs, smartphones, wearable devices, tablets, cameras, digital appliances, printers, medical equipment, network systems, and semiconductor and LED solutions. We are also leading in the Internet of Things space with the open platform SmartThings, our broad range of smart devices, and through proactive cross-industry collaboration. We employ 319,000 people across 84 countries with annual sales of US $196 billion. To discover more, and for the latest news, feature articles and press material, please visit the Samsung Newsroom at news.samsung.com.
