While the announcement itself largely flew beneath the radar in recent days, the impact of this development could reverberate well into the future.

Last week, the Consumer Electronics Association (CEA) announced its sponsorship of an educational program series called the “Mobile Medical Apps (MMA) Roadshow: Managing App Development under FDA Regulation.”

In this effort, the CEA joins a consortium of six leading universities, more than a dozen industry trade associations and professional societies, and the U.S. Food & Drug Administration (FDA).

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As mHealthWatch reported last month, Juniper Research is forecasting that retail revenue from smart wearable devices  will touch $19 billion within five years – of not sooner.

It’s a huge revenue leap to make by 2018, considering that this sector is expected to rake in $1.4 billion this year.

Capitalizing on this anticipated market growth, Sensogram Technologies shared with mHealthWatch on Monday details of its new health and activity mobile sensors coming to market this year in U.S.-based medical and sport markets. They include:

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PMLiVE recently published a report by research agency Bryter asking Europeans if they really want mobile apps and services to help them better understand themselves and their health.

More than 1,100 Europeans in the United Kingdom, France, Germany, Italy, Spain, and Belgium were polled.  Bryter sought to discover whether mobile is at the center of European life when it comes to medication, health, exercise, and shopping.

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From record venture capital funding, to unprecedented scientific research behind their creation, mHealth applications finally turned the corner in 2013 as they emphatically entered the mainstream for mobile device users around the world.

According to the recently published findings of Manhattan Research‘s Cybercitizen Health U.S. 2013 Study, 95 million Americans now count on their mobile devices to access health information and services. In fact, the number of Americans using mHealth resources is up 27 percent from just one year ago.

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With just two months to go before the event commences, The mHealth Summit has announced U.S. Food and Drug Administration Commissioner Margaret Hamburg will deliver the opening keynote on the fourth day of this year’s event.

Dr. Margaret Hamburg, the 21st Commissioner and only the second woman to head the FDA.

Dr. Hamburg’s keynote comes as the mobile technology community looks to gain insights and a better understanding of the critical pathways and implications of the recently issued FDA Guidance on Mobile Health apps.
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By 2018, the world will see a massive shift toward mHealth innovation and adoption.

That’s according to the latest projections from Juniper, which indicate that within five years, there will be close to 100 million users of app-enabled mHealth and mobile-fitness hardware devices.

In the healthcare sector, Juniper says, app-enabled mHealth will be used to enable services ranging from remote patient monitoring to mobile ultrasound services.

According to the report, this growth will be driven by a motivated target market, an increasing demand for lifestyle consumer applications and a diversifying array of attachments.

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Here are some of the top stories in healthcare, telemedicine, and mobile health that we’ve been monitoring in recent days.

• Remote Patient Monitoring May Revolutionize Tuberculosis Treatment

A new treatment-adherence monitoring system that uses mobile-health technology may forever change how tuberculosis is treated. Tuberculosis patients now have a less-intrusive treatment program that will improve the likelihood that they will take all their critical medications.

• Australia Looks to Leapfrog U.S. on Digital Health Access

Efforts underway Down Under could result in the United States lagging behind Australia on patient access to digital health services and other resources for the disabled.

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