Withings, a provider of connected health technology, has acquired French medical device company Impeto Medical for an undisclosed sum.
Established in 2005, Impeto Medical is engaged in the research and development (R&D), manufacturing and distribution of advanced medical devices for physicians.
The company mainly focuses on offering medical devices for the detection and monitoring of peripheral neuropathies.
Impeto offers Sudoscan technology, which is approved by the US Food and Drug Administration, to detect and track peripheral neuropathies.
Sudoscan is a test that can be used to precisely assess sweat function. It focuses on the small nerve fibers within the peripheral nervous system innervating the sweat glands.
The test can measure the potential of the sweat glands to release chloride ions in response to an electrical stimulus on the palms of the hands and soles of the feet.
The test results of Sudoscan serve as indicators for patients at risk of autonomic dysfunction through the measurement of electrochemical skin conductance (ESC) and the amount of observed asymmetry between the right and left side.
Its efficacy was assessed in the measurement of small fibre neuropathies in various diseases states, including diabetes, Parkinson’s, chemotherapy-induced polyneuropathy, family amyloid polyneuropathy, and Fabry disease compared to gold-standard reference tests such as skin biopsy or quantitative sudomotor axon reflex test (QSART).
Withings CEO Mathieu Letombe said: “We are delighted to announce the acquisition of Impeto Medical as we welcome its experience and technologies into the Withings portfolio. The company and its team have been important partners to us in the past.
“Now, as part of Withings, we have an exciting opportunity to continue to deploy together their expertise and Sudoscan technology in the development of a variety of devices that have the potential for people to monitor and manage various disease states from the comfort of their home.”
Withings Body Scan will be the company’s first product to incorporate Sudoscan technology. Upon FDA clearance, Body Scan will deliver at home analysis of biomarkers associated with common health conditions.
Body Scan has the potential to monitor segmental body composition, heart rate, and vascular age, thereby helping to advance the smart scale category.
