By Karen E. Peterson
10Meters.com

Before Sept. 11, Digital Angel was simply an up-and-coming company with an honorable mission: creating cutting-edge location-technology products to help parents and caregivers keep track of both the whereabouts and basic well-being of loved ones.

The St. Paul, Minnesota-based company, wholly owned by Applied Digital Solutions, was already accepting orders for the release of its first-generation Global Positioning System (GPS) devices – a pager and two wristwatch models, one for children, one for adults.

Digital Angel wristwatch

Using satellite GPS and mobile communications in combination with the company's breakthrough biometric technology, Digital Angel's devices were originally designed to help keep tabs on "wanderers," such as children and Alzheimer's patients. The devices monitor body temperature and pulse rate, and they can be equipped with sensors that can determine if the wearer has fallen, both important concerns among those who care for the elderly.

The company also suggested that its products could be used to keep track of pets or livestock and for a host of commercial applications, from tracking endangered species to monitoring nuclear waste.

New Level of Awareness

After September 11, Digital Angel found that what it was aiming to do had another application of more tragic significance.

"We wanted to provide hope to those who need it, something good that could be used for happy endings. We saw our products as tools for bringing peace of mind," said Digital Angel's Chief Technology Officer Keith Bolton. "Within the organization, we believed our [product] had a place in society and a need to be filled.

"Today there is a whole other level of awareness," Bolton said.

Digital Angel pager

The awareness Bolton is speaking of is the unsettling new reality that people can get lost for reasons frightening beyond what was once considered the normal threats to personal safety.

The devices, scheduled to ship in early November, were "discovered" shortly after Sept. 11 by an anxious public. Bolton said the callers wondered if the Digital Angel products could be used for more than wanderers.

Also of interest: the sophisticated technology the devices bring to location services. Digital Angel's products are able to read and return data from the interior of buildings.

According to Digital Angel, their products and accompanying delivery system can hone in on the floor and the location of the device-wearer. Bolton says locations can be pinpointed within a range of "five to 10 feet."

An Electronic Guardian Angel

Digital Angel was founded in 2000 by ADSX Chairman and CEO Richard J. Sullivan, who had lost a brother to walking pneumonia. A patent he acquired in 1999 formed the basis for the vital-sign monitoring capabilities Digital Angel devices provide – an application that could have saved his brother's life, Bolton said.

Next, ADSX bought Destron Fearing Corporation, an animal-identification company. In business since 1945, Destron Fearing owns patents worldwide in microchip technology and helped pioneer the use of radio frequency technology for animal location.

Digital Angel map

The result of the two moves, and the research that followed, produced what Digital Angel claims is a first-ever combination of "advanced sensor technology" that can communicate biological and location data in real time using satellite GPS technology and Internet-integrated ground stations.

The Internet link means caregivers can view the data on any Web-enabled desktop, laptop or wireless device. The password-protected Digital Angel site provides the vital-sign data; location information is cross-referenced, and viewable, via the Digital Angel mapping engine.

Nothing is needed to "attach" the devices to the skin; the sensors react to the infrared radiation naturally emitted from the body. For now, Digital Angel devices can read and return data on body temperature and pulse rate. Next-generation models will provide EEG and EKG, as well as glucose monitoring – "all vital data needed to monitor the condition of at-risk patients," the company notes.

The devices also come with a 911 button that sends a distress alert to the Digital Angel Call Center. And a "fall down" sensor lets caregivers or medical personnel know whether the wearer is moving from a sitting to an upright position or has taken a sudden fall, said Bolton.

'Everything Has Changed'

As interest swelled, Digital Angel found itself in need of more devices than originally scheduled for distribution and has "accelerated the pace" of its manufacturing process, Bolton said.

Pharmaceutical partners and retailers are handling sales, and devices can be purchased on the Web at www.digitalangel.net.

"Everything has changed since Sept. 11," said Bolton. What hasn't changed, he added, is the Digital Angel mission to save lives.