A&D Company, Ltd. announces business partnership with Tanita Company, Ltd. in the field of health measurement equipment.
On February 19th, it was announced at a joint press conference that A&D Company Ltd. and Tanita Co. Ltd., have formed a business A&D Company, Ltd. (Head Office: Toshima-ku, Tokyo; Representative Director and President: Yasunobu Morishima) has announced that it has formed a business with Tanita Company, Ltd. (Head Office: Itabashi-ku, Tokyo; Representative Director and President: Senri Tanida) in the field of health measurement equipment.
Objectives and Overview of this Business Partnership
By leveraging A&D’s main strengths in blood pressure monitors and other medical technologies and products, along with Tanita’s strengths in non-disease and preventative health technologies and products, we plan to create new, high-value-added products and services, and expand the healthcare businesses of both companies.
Specifically, A&D will provide its commercial blood pressure monitors to Tanita, and Tanita will supply its commercial body composition monitors with automatic height measurement to A&D as an OEM (original equipment manufacturer).
In the OEM provision process, the “Tanita Algorithm*”, Tanita’s core technology for measuring body composition will be provided to A&D, enabling interconnection between the devices of both companies.
As a result, this will accelerate the speed of development for new products, and both companies will be able to increase their product lines in areas where they are strong.
This partnership is not only the first of its kind in the healthcare industry, but we hope that it’s also the first step towards standardization of body composition measurement technology, which will benefit many users.
*Tanita Algorithm
Many of the household body composition monitors in current widespread use utilize the bioimpedance analysis (BIA) measurement technique. The BIA method runs a weak current through the body, and from the electrical resistance value it obtains, along with other factors such as body weight, height, gender, and age, it performs statistical regression analysis to estimate body composition, such as body fat percentage and muscle quantity. The formula used in this statistical regression analysis is the algorithm. This is the core technology that determines the accuracy of body composition monitors, and is independently developed by each manufacturer.
The Tanita Algorithm was developed by collecting more than 15,000 examples of biometric data in Japan and overseas since 1992, when Tanita released the world’s body fat monitor that could perform measurement by only being stood upon. This algorithm achieves a high correlation with the gold standard for body composition measurement. It is also used in medical fields, and has been adopted for use in more than 200 academic conference presentations.
Background of Body Composition Measurement Standardization
The healthcare industry is undergoing structural reforms, with a variety of industries entering the market with the aim of expanding the market in the future. This partnership aims to anticipate these structural reforms, increase competitiveness in the market, and provide highly convenient health measurement equipment to users.
First, A&D plans to introduce its first use of the “Tanita Algorithm” in the “UC-421BLE”, a home-use body composition monitor that includes a communication function, which is planned for launch in the summer.
Until this point, body composition monitors have all been equipped with proprietary algorithms for each manufacturer, so measurement values differed from manufacturer to manufacturer. This kind of manufacturer-driven approach not only reduces the convenience for users, but can also be an obstacle in the promotion of “Data Health”, the centralized management of medical and health data.
Going forward, A&D and Tanita plan to solve these challenges by selling body composition monitors that incorporate a shared algorithm, and by establishing technical standards for body composition measurement that originate in Japan, which we expect to enhance competitiveness in overseas markets as well.
Health Measurement Equipment to be Sold by A&D due to this Business Partnership
- Body composition monitor with automatic height measurement AD-6551 (equipped with the Tanita Algorithm)
- High-speed measurement of about 10 seconds
- Can be linked with other systems (includes 2 output ports; USB and RS232C)
- Extensive body of evidence
- Home-use body composition monitor with communication function UC-421BLE
- Measures body weight in 50 g increments
- Automatically recognizes the user and starts measurement
- Transfers measurement data to a smartphone or PC using Bluetooth communication
- Displays results using different colored LEDs for up to 5 registered users.
Joint Press Conference Regarding this Business Partnership
Date and time: Wednesday, February 19, 2020, 3:30 PM (JST)
Venue: Conference Square M+ “Grand” (Chiyoda-ku, Tokyo)
