- Apple appears to have quietly acquired a children’s asthma-monitoring startup called Tueo Health last year
- Tueo Health’s technology is reported being integrated into the Apple Health app
Apple has reportedly acquired a children’s asthma-monitoring startup called Tueo Health, according to CNBC. Tueo was in the process of developing a mobile app that would sync with breathing sensors and alert parents if it sensed a problem. Tueo would also utilizedata from the sensors to provide parents with information about the sleeping habits of their asthmatic children.
Bronwyn Harris, the CEO and co-founder of Tueo, experienced first-hand problems as both a pediatrician and the mother of an asthmatic child — which inspired the launch of the company.
“To determine what could be used as markers of asthma control, we dove into existing clinical literature and began to uncover studies that demonstrated correlation of asthma control with heart rate variability and nocturnal symptoms. At that time, no one was using this information as a part of asthma management,” said Harris in an interview with the Stanford Byers Center For Biodesign. “We did the initial translational studies at Stanford showing that outputs from a sleep sensor could be used to assess asthma control and changes in asthma symptoms. This key insight and the foundational research we were able to perform enabled the creation of our passive monitoring and asthma management solution.”
Tueo’s former COO Anura Patil is also listed as an employee for Apple Health as of November 2018. And Harris’ LinkedIn profile is now listed as an MD at Apple as of 2018. This seems to prove that Apple acquired Tueo late last year. Prior to the acquisition, Theo Health raised a $1.1 million seed round of funding in 2017.
However, the news of the acquisition surfaces as Apple’s Worldwide Developers Conference (WWDC) is approaching next month. At the event, Apple could potentially announce upcoming asthma-monitoring technology for its Health app. Apple CEO Tim Cook believes that the company’s “greatest contribution to mankind” will be healthcare.
