Shaka Bahadu and Phillip Bogdanovich, founders of Cipher Skin spoke to Med-Tech Innovation News about its BioSleeve technology, its current offering and future plans.
Tell us more about Cipher Skin, how did it all begin?
Cipher Skin began as an idea in 2012 when the third co-founder, Craig Weller and I were working in Baghdad together. I was trying to recover from significant injuries sustained during combat and Craig is a world class trainer. Over six months I lost weight, was able to sleep again, was running and able to walk without a limp. Most importantly I was out of pain. Ultimately this led to the question “How do we put this experience in the pocket of every person on the planet?” We solved the problem with our first patent in 2017, stood up a business and began building a proof of concept. Fast forward three years and eight patents later - Craig has moved on to write a best-selling book on training and continue to coach elite athletes while Shaka and I are scaling Cipher Skin; ushering in a new era of training, rehab and telemedicine.
Who would you target with your technology?
Cipher Skin’s long-term mission is to measure, visualise and understand the behaviour of any object in the physical world. Our goal is to ultimately build the largest data pool collected from objects in motion.
Our primary focus is to collect and store key data on the human body in motion – providing unique insights and analytics to unlock the potential of human recovery and performance.
With the BioSleeve hardware and the Digital Mirror software application, we are able to visualise an extremely accurate, real-time 3D picture of the human body movement. The data that’s being collected includes complex range of motion as well as key biometrics such as heart rate and dynamic O2 saturation.
Cipher Skin isn’t marketing its products directly to consumers. We’re geared towards healthcare providers (wellness and mobility providers, medical equipment providers, and hospital groups). Entire remote consultations, physical therapy and home exercise can effectively all take place through Cipher Skin’s devices.
• Telehealth - Rehab and Recovery
Physical Therapy and Occupational Therapy clinics
By automating data collection and providing highly accurate insights, our goal is to make the interaction between healthcare provider and the patient easier and more meaningful. Working seamlessly with the BioSleeve, the Digital Mirror is effectively used as a telehealth platform. We’re actively working with practitioners in the rehab and recovery space who use it to remotely monitor their patients’ progress and conduct remote, real-time rehab sessions while having access to the data they need.
• Performance and Training
Trainers and high-performance athletes
With the BioSleeve, athletes can track unique motion data, along with key biometrics, while performing in any environment, under any conditions – no need for a laboratory, cameras or other cumbersome equipment. With real-time access to the athletes’ data, trainers can monitor workouts remotely and build optimised training and recovery programmes.
As part of a long-term partnership, Cipher Skin is actively working with the U.S. Department of Defense on Cipher-enabled, hyper-connected attire for the military personnel.
• Hospitals Groups and Systems – Remote patient monitoring
By measuring mobility and tracking vitals (e.g. pulmonary and respiratory vital signs), Cipher Skin’s technology can be used to remotely monitor patients with chronic diseases or going through post-surgery recovery. The BioSleeve is also an indispensable tool for elder care (e.g. retirement homes, assisted living, etc.).
• Durable Medical Equipment Providers
Our technology was built for implementation across a variety of platforms. We work with medical manufacturers (i.e. knee/arm braces and tools) to help them take their devices to a new level of functionality through our retrofit kit and the integration of our technology into their equipment. The data and metrics that we collect from the Cipher technology significantly improves the performance of their devices and platforms.
• Long-term developments – industrial monitoring
Our technology can be used as a real-time, continuous monitoring solution for infrastructures such as pipelines, bridges or ships (breach/leak prevention and detection).
What do you make of similar offerings in this particular space?
Most of the motion tracking devices for people are camera-based. Developments in motion tracking over the last few years have been quite impressive, and some of these offerings are good. But a good image on a relatively static person is one thing, and a portable, rugged, wearable device that does the same task during complex motion is another.
Are you aiming to establish a presence in the UK & Irish markets?
Absolutely. We plan on establishing a presence in the UK and Irish markets in the next 12-24 months for our first product applications, the BioSleeve and Digital Mirror. We are looking for product and distribution partners there, starting Q1 of 2021.
Tell us a bit more about the technology that goes into making your product?
Cipher Skin uses a patented combination of repeating geometric patterns called tessellations and conductive materials to build flexible, modular computer systems that are conforming, thin and rapidly implementable. Cipher Skin has patented the core methodology for computerising clothing for the purposes of measuring motion plus other “stuff” at the same time. We are excited by the potential applications because “stuff” can be virtually anything - from heart rate and oxygen saturation to stress, impact force, swelling and torque. We can also provide direct user feedback like haptic feedback, and complex computations in the cloud in real time. The Cipher Skin BioSleeve comes with an ergonomic design to optimise user comfort, and a proprietary waterproofing solution that makes it washable and re-usable.
What materials are used in the development of the physical device used?
Our materials change as the use case changes. We are sensor, radio, and material agnostic. Currently, the materials we use are:
- Fabric: Polyester + Spandex.
- Knitted Elastic Tape: Naylon + Elastomer + Metal Yarn.
- Fastened using Velcro Straps.
- Electronics: Fr4, Polyimide.
- Enclosures: Biocompatible Silicone.
You’ve listed athletics and patient monitoring as areas you can operate in – do you see other medtech-related areas to diversify into?
Hospital gowns. Our final bio-performance product application ~36 months from late stage prototype - commercial ready product is a long sleeve shirt that measures range of motion of the waist, trunk, chest, and arms. In addition, the sensor array will measure a 12 lead ECG, respirations, HRV, temperature, spinal column positioning, chest wall expansion and contraction.
Anything else you’d like to add?
Cipher Skin is built on the idea that the right team, with the right knowledge, in the right space can come together and rapidly solve hard problems in a truly meaningful way. We have been very careful in assembling the best teams of engineers and leaders in this space, and built the culture to keep them here. Cipher Skin is on a mission to leave a Google-sized impression on the world.
