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Happy Friday. Tech + Health.

Healthy-BabyLast month, Brian Tilzer wrote a piece for TechCrunch entitled Personal Health in the Digital Age. In it, he points out that connected devices and communities, new business models, and investing in digital health can radically change the ways that tech and health overlap in the future.

Today we’re sharing what we’ve learned this week about new, innovative, and preventive health technologies, companies, and trends.

This past week Owlet, a tiny smart sock for babies that monitors vitals, raised $7 million in funding, supporting the advance of both the Internet of Things (IoT) and wearables. Similarly, Sproutling, a band for babies, tracks little ones’ vitals and synchs with parents’ smartphones. A “Fitbit for babies,” it’s already sold out!

Tempdrop, a wearable sensor that records body temperature, benefits not only women trying (or trying not) to conceive, but also individuals with thyroid diseases.

Related: Both YONO Fertility Friend, a wearable basal thermometer, and MOCA heart, a portable heart scanner, have exceeded their funding goals on Kickstarter.

Nest—now owned by Google—launched Nest Protect 2.0, a sophisticated smoke and carbon monoxide detector that alerts you with a friendly human voice (rather than chirps or beeps) to environmental changes in your home, sends alerts to your phone, and knows the difference between smoke and steam.

Last week, Uqora, a Berkeley-based start-up, launched, introducing a drink mix that women can take to prevent urinary tract infections (UTIs) and, consequently, significantly reduce the chances of a visit to the doctor’s office and a round of antibiotics.

Rise—a nutritional personal coaching app—purchased HealthyOut, a mobile-only app that allows users to find healthy options at nearby restaurants, making it easier for people to meet their individual diet goals and still eat out without the hurdle of manually parsing multiple menus.

A Seattle-area company called Limeade offers “an employee engagement platform that inspires people and companies to improve their health, well-being and performance.” By allowing employees to set personal goals, measure progress, and earn points, Limeade foregrounds health, fitness, and work/life balance—wagering that healthy, happy employees will be more productive.

How do you use technology to improve your health?  We’d love to know more; please tell us in the comments below!

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