Health Daily - 09/01/2026

• The digital health for obesity market is forecast to expand from $5.2 billion in 2026 to $21.4 billion by 2036, driven by a 15.2% compound annual growth rate. 
• Growth is strongest in North America and Western Europe, where reimbursement pathways, employer wellness programs, and large private payer systems support large‑scale deployment, while emerging economies adopt more slowly due to price sensitivity and regulatory barriers. 
• In 2026, services represent about 38% of demand and weight‑management tracking about 42%, indicating that human coaching and continuous monitoring generate the bulk of revenue over standalone software or hardware. 
• Leading platforms such as Noom, WW International, MyFitnessPal, Fitbit (Google), Teladoc Health, Lark Health, and HealthifyMe are poised to dominate as digital obesity tools become embedded in formal treatment pathways. 

• Stanford researchers developed SleepFM, an artificial intelligence model that uses detailed sleep study data (polysomnography) from a single night to forecast a person’s risk of developing over 100 different health conditions.
• The model was trained on nearly 600,000 hours of sleep data from 65,000 participants, capturing signals like brain activity, heart rate, breathing, and movement.
• When linked to long-term health records, SleepFM could predict conditions such as cancers, heart disease, dementia and circulatory disorders with high accuracy — in some cases achieving predictive performance above 80 % (C-index > 0.8).
• By treating sleep as a rich source of physiological information and using advanced training techniques, the model goes beyond traditional sleep staging to potentially serve as a novel tool for early disease risk assessment.

• Researchers developed hierarchical porous copper nanosheets that significantly enhance the electrical output of triboelectric nanogenerators (TENGs), achieving about 590 % more power than traditional copper thin-film generators.
• The porous nanogenerator maintains stable performance over 100,000 repeated mechanical cycles and can be fabricated using a simple spray-coating process, making it promising for real-world wearable technology.
• Beyond energy harvesting, the material also offers electromagnetic interference (EMI) shielding and efficient Joule heating, meaning it could power sensors, reduce signal noise, and provide thermal comfort in smart clothing.
• This innovation could lead to self-powered wearable electronics and smart textiles that generate electricity from everyday human motion (like walking or bending) and support continuous health monitoring without bulky batteries.

• A world‑first blood test for early detection of pancreatic cancer is set to launch in Australia. 
• The test aims to identify the disease at a stage when it is currently often diagnosed too late for effective treatment. 
• Developers expect the new screening tool to significantly improve survival rates by enabling earlier intervention. 

• US sleep‑tech company Ozlo has acquired Galway‑based neurotech start‑up Segotia, a creator of audio integration for hearables, with financial terms undisclosed. 
• Founded in 2017, Segotia focuses on embedding EEG brain‑wave recording into hearables and collaborates with neuroscience institutions and neurotech firms. 
• The acquisition will make Segotia’s team Ozlo’s neuroscience R&D hub, enabling its Sleepbuds earbuds to monitor neurological biomarkers for more precise sleep tracking than wrist‑ or ring‑based devices. 
• The move targets the rapidly expanding sleep‑tech market, currently near $30 bn and projected to surpass $100 bn by 2033, driven by growing consumer health awareness and sleep‑disorder prevalence.