NEW YORK-AT&T Wireless Services Inc. has agreed to become the first carrier for Digital Angel, which expects to offer the first on-body gauge of vital signs transmitted wirelessly in real time to medical professionals.
Since Applied Digital Solutions, Hauppauge, N.Y., announced plans in early November for Digital Angel, its Web site has received more than 5 million visits, said Mercedes Walton, president and chief operating officer.
Commercial availability is expected in early October for Digital Angel devices to monitor children, the elderly and other adults in need of such services.
When it announced the agreement with AT&T Wireless April 2, Applied Digital Solutions also said it had established a Web-based advanced order system capable of handling up to 1,500 simultaneous registration transactions.
“The customer survey information we receive through our reservation program will supplement our ongoing focus group studies, help us define our target demographics and give useful guidance to future retail distributors of Digital Angel products,” Walton said.
“At present, we are in discussions with more than a dozen potential partners.”
Digital Angel is a miniature digital transceiver, whose patent rights Applied Digital Solutions purchased in 1999. The package of product and service combines terrestrial wireless networks, the Global Positioning System and sensors to monitor the body or the environment. Once the sensor collects the vital signs or other readings and receives accurate location information via satellite, it then transmits the data in real time over wireless networks to a ground station integrated into the Internet.
An important part of the package is the power source, which Applied Digital Solutions developed. The self-charging battery converts body heat into electrical energy.
