Quell® Apple Watch® App – The Next Wearable Pain Relief Innovation
The promise of wearable technology is to enhance wellness and manage disease by empowering people to monitor and improve their own health. What started as step counters worn on the wrist 15 years ago, has evolved into sophisticated smartwatches and wearable medical devices that help people stay healthy and address complex conditions such as diabetes, heart disease and chronic pain. Quell is the innovation leader in wearable chronic pain relief. The device was launched in 2015 and followed in 2018 by Quell 2.0, the most advanced transcutaneous electrical nerve stimulation (TENS) technology available.
The natural evolution of wearable technology is to move beyond each device operating in isolation, to a situation where devices worn on or even implanted in an individual communicate and interact to maximize health outcomes. This concept is called the Body Area Network, and is defined as a system of devices in close proximity to a person’s body that cooperate for the benefit of the user.
What is the Quell Watch App?
Although Quell is highly automated, it is greatly enhanced by its companion Quell Relief mobile app for iPhones and Android smartphones. The mobile app guides the user through the initial set up and helps them personalize the device to their pain relief needs and lifestyle. It also gives the user real-time control over therapy and provides a convenient way to check device status.
However, a smartphone is not always readily accessible. Like Quell, a smartwatch is always on the body. Both devices are within the Body Area Network. This enables a high level of integration between a smartwatch and Quell, which extends pain relief functionality in novel ways. It is for this reason that NeuroMetrix developed the Quell Apple Watch app, the first and only TENS smartwatch app. The Quell Watch app was designed from the ground up to leverage the unique features of the Apple Watch, which is the most widely adopted smartwatch. Moreover, Apple has a stated commitment to developing the Apple Watch as a health management tool.
Quell Watch App Features
The Quell Watch app is standalone, which means that it is entirely independent of the iPhone. It gives a Quell user the ability to control their device and monitor pain relief from the wrist; a level of convenience never before achieved with a TENS device. The easiest way to access the Quell Watch app is by configuring the Apple Watch to display the Quell complication. If you are not familiar with a watch complication, it refers to a portion of a watch face that does something other than tell time. The user simply taps the Quell complication to open the app. They can then easily start or stop therapy, increase or decrease intensity, view the therapy schedule, and get Quell status information. The battery level can be checked by just glancing at the complication.
A particularly valuable feature of the Quell Watch app is notifications. The app is in regular, behind the scenes, communication with Quell. This enables alerts such as when the Quell battery is low or if therapy unexpectedly halted. These notifications help ensure that the user does not miss out on pain relief. The notifications are configurable so the Quell Watch app experience can be personalized.
The initial release of the Quell Watch app provides a unique and differentiated experience for Quell users managing their chronic pain. It is an exciting and important beginning, but it is just the start of smartwatch innovation from NeuroMetrix. Stay tuned to see what comes next.