A new bracelet that monitors pain in autistic people is to be launched by a medical tech firm.
French firm Mdoloris will launch the ANI Guardian next summer.
The new ANI Guardian pain monitor
The company promises that it offers “reliable, continuous, and non-invasive” data for carers, family and medics.
Bracelet ‘already in hospitals’
The firm says the device is already available in hospitals and will go on sale in a miniaturised format.
The company will target the bracelet at people with autism, dementia and multiple disabilities who struggle to communicate pain.
The device uses nervous system signals to monitor pain.
Fabien Pagniez is Mdoloris’s chief executive.
He said the device “regards all those who have lost the ability to communicate to ensure that they are comfortable and maintain their dignity”.
Apple Watch ‘more appealing’
Jane McCready’s 19-year-old son Johnny has autism and a learning disability.
She suggested family members can sense a change in their loved one “far earlier than any wearable”.
McCready, 58, from London, said it is possible the device could be useful for her son “if he would tolerate wearing it”.
But she said a device such as an Apple Watch with YouTube features would be “more appealing” for him to wear.
Amy Lutz, vice president of US group the National Council on Severe Autism, also expressed doubts about the bracelet.
Lutz, from Pennsylvania, said she could not imagine her 23-year-old autistic son Jonah, “or anyone else with severe autism”, wearing the bracelet all the time.
In an email, Pagniez acknowledged that the bracelet will not work for those who cannot tolerate wearables.
Earlier wearable for autism
The bracelet is not the first wearable designed with autism in mind.
A US team of researchers developed the E4 wristband to predict aggressive outbursts before they occur by measuring sweat.
That device came in for criticism amid concerns over its potential for misuse.
The lives of many autistic people are blighted by restraint, overmedication and seclusion.
There were fears the E4 could lead to “preemptive interventions” based on false positives from the wristband that only escalate aggression.
The ANI Guardian is due to cost around £77 per month.
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- Regression linked to autoimmune issues
- Evidence grows for autism link to gut
Published: 9 July 2022
