The New BeamO Is a Stethoscope and Thermometer, and It Looks Like a Game Stick
This four-in-one thermometer from Withings may elevate your telemedicine visit. It also looks fun to use.
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Last year, it was a futuristic toilet sensor that reads your pee. This year at CES, Withings announced its next home health innovation: the BeamO, which is a four-in-one thermometer, electrocardiogram, oximeter and stethoscope. Depending on where on your body you "beam it," the device can give you clues about your health.
Withings is marketing the BeamO, which it describes in a press release as "portable and smaller than a smartphone," as a device to improve telemedicine visits, where some patient information is naturally lost when you can't get it in-office. It combines the simplicity of taking your temperature at home with some of the wellness metrics newer-grade wearables and smartwatches carry, like blood oxygen and heart rate readings, as well as chest sounds when used as a "digital stethoscope."
Following expected clearance from the US Food and Drug Administration this June, you can get one for $250.
How the BeamO works
The BeamO collects information based on where you point the device: toward your head (checking temperature) or your chest (collecting sounds through a Piezoelectric disc, which can be heard through headphones via a USB-C to jack adapter). It also collects information about blood oxygenation and heart rate through a "simple light grip," Withings said, with readings displayed in real time on the device.
Information from the BeamO is stored on the Withings app, so users will be able to see their health information over time along with actionable advice. Audio streaming enables providers during telehealth visits to guide patients and focus the BeamO on "specific areas of interest," Withings said. While the information that will be provided by the BeamO isn't necessarily new to the wellness world, it may open up health tracking to more people who don't want a wearable but do want more frequent wellness screenings.
Read on for the best new technology to come out of CES 2024, the robots we found along the way and why everything is utilizing AI.