Key Takeaways
- Withings’ new device, BeamO, is a handheld “multi-scope” that combines sensors to provide accurate health measurements without having to wear the device on your body.
- It can measure your temperature, heart health, lung health, and blood oxygen levels and sync the data to the app.
- BeamO is targeted at families and can store medical information for up to eight people. It is currently pending FDA approval and is expected to be available in June 2024.
While we may take wearables and their capabilities for granted, packing enough sensors to track heart health, blood oxygen levels, and temperature into a compact, stylish device that fits on your finger, or even your wrist, is no easy feat.
And the benefits of these breakthroughs are clearly novel enough to be worth fighting over, both in terms of practical use and hardware sales — see the current legal battle between Apple and medical device maker Masimo over how the Apple Watch measures blood oxygen levels.
But even if your watch can know a lot about you, it doesn’t necessarily mean it’s learning those facts in the most accurate way. Experts conclude that, while convenient, there are still too many unknowns to fill in before wearables can verify their measurements. They prioritize convenience over the demands of medical diagnosis. At CES 2024, Withings, a maker of smartwatches, weighing scales, and other health and wellness devices, proposed an intriguing alternative: a “multiscope” called BeamO that puts a suite of sensors into a handheld device you can use on yourself or a family member, rather than wearing on your body, that might thread the needle in terms of convenience and accuracy that wearables have largely eluded.
Withings
What does BeamO do?
The BeamO looks a bit like a flatter, sleeker version of Withings’ previous Thermo model, a non-contact thermometer designed to be used by simply placing it against your forehead and swiping.The BeamO’s significantly expanded functionality is its main difference.
Livia Lovic, product manager at BeamO, told Pocket-lint that the device is designed primarily “to target families” and is a product that is “easy to use on yourself or others.” The dream, Lovic said, was to replace the thermometers that many households already have in their bathroom cupboards – like the one your mother or grandmother might remember sticking under your tongue – with something that can measure even more aspects of your everyday health.
It can measure body temperature as well as heart and lung health with a device slim enough to fit in your pocket and store medical information for eight people.
How does BeamO work?
The BeamO has “four sensors for four different measurements,” Robic explains, “and all of those measurements are synced to an app.” In addition to temperature measurement, the BeamO also has a medical-grade ECG (electrocardiogram), an oximeter to measure blood oxygen levels and check oxygen saturation, and a digital stethoscope to listen to the heart and lungs.
All of these features have previously existed in separate devices, either in wearables sold by Withings like the ScanWatch 2, or as standalone measurement tools like BPM Core. What’s different with BeamO is that it combines them into an all-in-one device, performing each measurement in a unique way to improve accuracy.
Body temperature can be measured by gently tracing an artery on the forehead, heart rate and blood oxygen levels can be measured by placing two fingers on the side of the BeamO for a few seconds, and BeamO’s most unique feature – listening to your heart and lungs – comes with hands-on instructions to guide you through finding the right spot on your torso.
“If you want to listen to your heart or lungs, you tell the device where to place the BeamO on the screen,” Robic says. “The stethoscope technology records mechanical movements as digital sounds via an internal membrane.” In other words, the handheld device acts as a kind of highly sensitive microphone that can pick up a variety of internal body sounds depending on where you point it.
“We want to be independent of the use of Software Doctor and work in parallel.”
Combined, the Withings Health Mate app gives you more insight into your health and lets you share it with your doctor. You can also share a link that lets your doctor see your heart rate and other statistics in real time as you take your measurement, without needing any additional software, says Robic. “We want to be independent of and work in parallel with the software doctors use,” Robic says. So while the BeamO is useful if your doctor decides to share the information, it’s still technically a consumer device.
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What does it take to get FDA approval?
The BeamO will be priced at launch at $249, but unlike some wearable devices, Withings is still trying to get FDA clearance for the BeamO, so it’s unclear whether that will be available in time for the planned June 2024 release.
The process is complicated and not entirely straightforward, Robic says, and there are different requirements for FDA approval in the U.S. and CE marking in Europe. “We submit usability tests and have different product codes for each sensor.” Withings can also use previous testing completed to gain Thermo’s approval as a baseline for the temperature measurements BeamO can perform.
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Developing a product subject to government approval almost always takes longer than branding it purely as a health monitoring device. Withings U-Scan, a smart urine testing device that sits in the bathroom, is not yet available for sale as the approval process is ongoing. When asked if BeamO could sell it with features disabled before FDA approval, Robic replied that it could, but “if we don’t want to sell a white box, we need to get these features approved.” The appeal of BeamO is the “medical-grade” measurements it can perform. So a little patience with bureaucracy is a virtue for Withings.
“If you don’t want to sell a white box, you need to get these features approved.”
While certainly not as eye-catching as smart jewelry or luxury watches, BeamO’s advanced features are appealing, and there’s room for growth. Robic says there’s great potential in combining the measurements you can get from the launch version of BeamO in new ways to learn more about your current health, similar to how devices like Oura Ring have gradually introduced new software features based on data from the same sensors.
Thermometers have become a household staple because of the way they link body temperature to symptoms like a fever and a runny nose, but BeamO’s role as a replacement for a thermometer means it could do much more, both at home and for future remote doctor visits. While it’s not always-on or an accessory, it could potentially be even more useful than the smartwatches we already wear.
The BeamO will be priced at $250 and is currently scheduled to be available in June 2024.
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