Shenzhen key hub for high-tech health monitors

	Shenzhen Ruier Kang's model BP100A blood pressure monitor has a measuring range of 40 to 280mmHg.

The city’s latest releases adopt Bluetooth, Wi-Fi and other advanced technologies.

Backed by several locational advantages, Shenzhen has grown as one of the major sources of health monitors and other medical devices in China. At present, this city in Guangdong province hosts about 400 manufacturers, which generate approximately 10 percent of the country’s output.

Seventy percent of the local industry’s products are exported, mostly to the US, Japan, Germany and the UK. In the nine-month period ending September 2011, shipments of medical instruments and appliances exceeded $655 million, contributing 23 percent to China’s aggregate sales. This revenue was 24 percent higher than the same period in 2010.

Electronic models constitute the majority of health monitors from Shenzhen. The selection includes sphygmomanometers, blood glucose meters, heart rate monitors, weighing scales and body fat analyzers.

Development of the line is supported by an electronics sector comprising roughly 4,600 enterprises offering components and assembled devices. ICs, sensors and LCDs are among the manufacturing inputs often sourced locally.

Another edge that suppliers of health monitoring systems enjoy is access to proficient manpower. Shenzhen’s workforce includes several graphic and industrial designers who have contributed to the area’s designation as a City of Design by UNESCO.

Strong government support is strengthening the aforementioned advantages that the industry in Shenzhen has. The administration of the Nanshan Industrial Zone, for instance, holds competitions for designers of medical and health products. Notable works are showcased to relevant enterprises, offering them the opportunity to adopt such technologies in their products.

Programs encouraging certification, patent application and trademark registration of high-tech systems are also in place. Training is likewise promoted.

Suppliers of health monitors in Shenzhen are building on their advantages by investing heavily in product development. R&D expenditure at many companies ranges from 10 to 20 percent of sales. The number of employees assigned to related tasks accounts for more than one-third of all professional and technical personnel.

Efforts are focused on models that adopt advanced technologies such as Bluetooth and Wi-Fi. Such designs enable the transfer of data from a monitor to a mobile device, allowing a person’s medical information to be accessed anytime and anywhere.

Shenzhen Seanywell Co. Ltd has come up with Wi-Fi weighing scales that can measure not only body weight but also fat rate, water and calorie content, and bone and muscle mass. These statistics can be transferred to an iPhone or an Android handset.

The manufacturer counts among its selection a model with toughened glass housing. The device can weigh up to 180kg and has memory for the measurements of 10 users. It runs on three AAA batteries.

Another scale can store the statistics of 12 people. Operating on four AAA batteries, it shows measurements on a backlit 97x62mm LCD screen.

Shenzhen New Element Medical Tech Development Co. Ltd offers remote and mobile systems that utilize Bluetooth to transfer information from a data collector to a mobile phone. Wi-Fi technology is then employed to transmit the material from the phone to a control platform, which may be located in a medical facility such as a clinic or hospital.

One such product is the XYS.PFES-1TNB model, which collects and analyzes body glucose data. It is designed to monitor and provide feedback to hyperglycemia, hypoglycemia and diabetes patients.

The supplier’s XYS.WRM-2E/1E model, meanwhile, is a remote and mobile ECG monitoring system for people with chronic heart disease or those that have just gone through an operation.

A number of suppliers are releasing devices that track and analyze stored information automatically, and then give an early warning of an unhealthy trend. Shenzhen Ruier Kang Technology Co. Ltd, for instance, offers several sphygmomanometers that alert users of high blood pressure.

One of these, the BP100A model, has a measuring range or 40 to 280mmHg and a precision tolerance of ±3mmHg. Fitted with an LCD, it runs on AA batteries.