Mayo Clinic and Gentag are teaming-up to develop the next generation of wearable biosensors designed to fight obesity and diabetes.

“We are hoping that this technology will be game-changer. These patch biosensors may help us reduce global obesity and diabetes,” says James Levine, M.D., Ph.D., a Mayo Clinic endocrinologist and obesity researcher. “They are accurate, inexpensive, and can be integrated into the care people receive.”

The deal covers more than 50 issued patents and technologies which will be offered for licensing.Gentag’s wearable patch sensors are the size of a small bandage, and are designed to be painless, wireless and disposable. In the bandage is a sensor that communicates via a closed-loop diabetes management system allowing researchers to monitor movement and develop treatments for obesity and related conditions.

A joint intellectual property (IP) agreement with Mayo Clinic made the research and development of this tool possible. Gentag signed a patent pooling agreement with Mayo Clinic for the management of IP related to wearable patch sensor and wireless communication technologies. Under the agreement, certain patent rights and technologies of both Mayo Clinic and Gentag will be combined and commercialized. The deal covers more than 50 issued patents and technologies which will be offered for licensing.

Additionally, Mayo’s Micro-Miniature Transceiver chip will be combined with Gentag’s radar-responsive tag technology and integrated under license to create a new type of communication chip that will combine NFC, Body Area Networks (BAN), as well as long-range wireless communication and geolocation.