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16 The PCB Magazine • January 2016 These well entrenched technologies are al- ready being overtaken by more novel technolo- gies such as the glucose monitoring contact lens with wireless communication capability that was developed by the Google X team (Figure 6) which will be produced by Novatris' Alcon Di- vision according to an interview with Novartis CEO Joseph Jimenez. In addition, there are a myriad of new de- vices for remote monitoring, encompassing everything from traditional heart rate moni- tors, produced by Polar or even your Apple or Samsung watch and even new entrants like San Jose startup NanoVivo who is producing a prototype system that they claim can moni- tor chronic diseases, hydration, blood count testing, food/nutrition, digital cosmetics, diet monitoring, athletic performance, pregnancy monitoring and even food safety through a wrist watch type device that can connect to the cloud via Wi-Fi (Figure 7). The next group are the implantable and semi implantable products. Some of the more straight-forward systems like the Prodigy tm de- vice from St. Jude Medical provides electrical stimulation to pain areas in the lumbar and spinal region in patients (Figure 8). KCA elec- tronics in Anaheim has long been a supplier to the St. Jude market, and they maintain special procedures for the products governed by the FDA. Classic systems like pacemakers are taking quantum leaps as well. Medtronic has moved the needle from its early devices that looked like something out of a Frankenstein short (Fig- ure 9), to the significantly more modern and elegant systems like the Medtronic Micra tm and St. Jude Nanostim tm (Figure 10). Another area seeing rapid advancement is that of hearing aids. Companies like Cochlear and Starkey have unique technologies that re- quire microcircuits seen in very few other prod- ucts (Figure 11). Another application we don't often think of in the medical implant space is Figure 6: google smart contact lens. Figure 8: st. Jude medical electro-stimulation pain managment device. Figure 7: nanovivo prototype. ROBOTS, WEARABLES AND IMPLANTED DEVICES IN THE AGE OF BIONIC HEALTH Feature