The Movano Evie Ring has been selected to be used in medical trials by MIT.
Despite a lukewarm reception and our own misgivings in our initial Evie Ring review, the smart ring will be used to track the vitals of patients with long COVID and chronic Lyme disease.
“We’re excited to incorporate the Evie Ring into our clinical study to evaluate the progression of long COVID and chronic Lyme disease and paint a fuller picture of why some people bounce back from a mild infection while others go on to endure prolonged suffering,” said Dr Michal Caspi Tal, associate scientific director at the MIT Center for Gynepathology Research and head of the Tal Research Group, said in a statement.
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“The breadth of longitudinal information related to vital signs and wellness provided by the ring will be instrumental in enhancing our understanding of these debilitating conditions.”
In our initial conversations with John Mastrototaro, CEO of Movano, he told Wareable that it was a key ambition of the company for Evie to be used in medical settings.
While it’s still waiting for clearance, the company aims to have all of its sensors and metrics FDA cleared – even ‘basic’ ones such as heart rate and SpO2. It’s rare for device makers to go down this route because most claim that their devices are ‘not for medical use.’
We’ve recently published our early Movano Evie Ring, which has been beset by technical issues and complaints around the basic nature of the features and insights.
But MIT selecting Evie is a vote of confidence in the accuracy of its sensors, which has not been a cause for concern. Our criticisms of the ring stemmed from reliability issues, and the basic nature of its insights.
It also validates Movano’s strategy for Evie to be used outside of the consumer setting. Success in this area will enable the company to keep offering the ring without a subscription, and keep prices down.
Now it just needs to hunker down and ensure that its consumer experience can rival the likes of Oura.