ImpediMed has been recognized with the Innovation Award in the 2025 Medical Device Network Excellence Awards for its SOZO® Digital Health Platform, a technology that is influencing how clinicians detect and manage chronic conditions such as breast cancer-related lymphedema (BCRL).
“Receiving the Innovation Award in Digital Health Monitoring is a testament to our team’s dedication to improving patient outcomes through early detection and proactive intervention,” says Dr. Parmjot Bains, CEO of ImpediMed. “The SOZO Digital Health Platform is more than a technology—it’s a catalyst for changing how clinicians manage chronic conditions and improve cancer survivorship, helping patients live healthier, fuller lives.”
Go deeper with GlobalData
Discover B2B Marketing That Performs
Combine business intelligence and editorial excellence to reach engaged professionals across 36 leading media platforms.
The Medical Device Network Excellence Awards honor the most significant achievements and innovations in the medical devices industry. Powered by GlobalData’s business intelligence, the Awards recognize the people and companies leading positive change and shaping the future of the industry.
ImpediMed won the award in the Digital Health Monitoring category for its pioneering approach to early detection of breast cancer-related lymphedema (BCRL) in patients. By providing objective, data-driven insights on fluid and body composition analytics and integrating seamlessly into clinical workflows, SOZO is contributing to enhancements in clinical practice and healthcare delivery for survivors of breast cancer.
Enhancing early detection and chronic disease monitoring
Historically, lymphedema detection has been hampered by reliance on subjective patient-reported symptoms or manual measurement tools such as tape measures. These traditional methods are prone to clinical variability and often identify lymphedema only after it has progressed to a more chronic, irreversible condition. This delay in diagnosis can have significant physical, emotional, and financial consequences for patients, particularly breast cancer survivors, up to 82% of whom are at risk of developing BCRL as a result of their cancer treatment.
In a survey of breast cancer patients, 91% believe that care teams should offer cancer patients a lymphedema prevention program. As one breast cancer survivor from Northern Virginia explained, “The cancer was hard, but the lymphedema blindsided me. If I’d had a SOZO screening early on, I might never have had to carry that extra burden.”
ImpediMed’s SOZO Digital Health platform addresses these challenges by utilizing proprietary bioimpedance spectroscopy (BIS) technology to non-invasively measure fluid status and tissue composition. The platform delivers whole body insights in under 30 seconds, providing clinicians with a comprehensive snapshot of a patient’s physiological status even before symptoms may appear. This early detection capability enables timely intervention when lymphedema is still in its subclinical stage and potentially reversible, which can dramatically reduce the likelihood of long-term complications and healthcare costs. The team is extending the use of these insights to support clinical management of fluid and body composition, particularly muscle and fat mass monitoring in planned and unplanned weight loss and in heart failure.
A key differentiator of SOZO is its seamless integration of hardware, software, and clinical intelligence. The system is designed to fit into existing clinical workflows without adding complexity or disrupting routine care. For example, clinicians can incorporate SOZO scans into standard vital sign intake workflows. The results are instantly uploaded to a secure cloud platform, making them accessible to all members of the patient’s care team. This ensures that every clinician involved has access to consistent, objective data, facilitating connected, coordinated care.
The proprietary L-Dex® score is central to SOZO’s innovation. As the first FDA-cleared BIS technology for lymphedema assessment, L-Dex provides an objective measurement unique to each patient. Built-in thresholds and longitudinal tracking allow clinicians to monitor trends over time and identify subtle changes that may indicate early-stage lymphedema. For example, at Monmouth Medical Center, routine SOZO screening enabled care teams to identify 15% of tested patients as being at risk for developing chronic lymphedema — patients who otherwise might not have been flagged until their condition had progressed.
By transforming a subjective and error-prone process into one that is objective, rapid, and actionable, SOZO empowers clinicians to deliver higher-quality care while supporting better patient outcomes.
Supporting evidence-based practice and industry adoption
The impact of SOZO extends beyond technological innovation; it has played a pivotal role in shaping evidence-based clinical practice. Leading organizations such as the National Comprehensive Cancer Network (NCCN), which sets widely adopted oncology guidelines in the United States; the National Accreditation Program for Breast Centers (NAPBC), which sets accreditation standards for breast cancer centers; and the Multinational Association of Supportive Care in Cancer (MASCC), an international body representing supportive cancer care experts from 16 countries — all now recommend BIS monitoring as part of comprehensive survivorship care.
These endorsements reflect a growing consensus around the importance of individualized care plans, regular monitoring for cancer treatment-related side effects like lymphedema, multidisciplinary coordination among care teams, psychosocial support, and lifestyle guidance. The inclusion of BIS monitoring in these guidelines marks a significant shift in clinical standards, formally recognizing objective digital health tools as essential components of modern cancer survivorship programs.
Clinical research has further validated SOZO’s effectiveness. PREVENT, the largest randomized controlled trial conducted for lymphedema assessment demonstrated that using BIS technology and early intervention led to a 92% reduction in progression to chronic lymphedema compared to traditional tape-measure methods. Secondary analyses from this trial revealed that patients remain at risk for developing lymphedema well after their initial cancer treatment or surgery, underscoring the need to be monitored for a minimum of three years using objective tools such as SOZO.
Another study published in Frontiers in Oncology reinforced these findings by showing that the risk of lymphedema does not disappear after active cancer treatment—underscoring the value of SOZO’s streamlined workflow integration and digital data sharing capabilities.
The growing body of evidence supporting BIS monitoring has also influenced reimbursement policies. ImpediMed’s platform is broadly accepted and recognized with U.S. health insurers now providing coverage for over 286 million covered lives for early detection and management of lymphedema. This broad coverage reflects both clinical acceptance and recognition of potential cost savings associated with preventing chronic complications.
Operational adoption further demonstrates SOZO’s impact: more than one million patient tests have been completed across major institutions and cancer programs. Year-over-year increases in testing volumes indicate not only initial acceptance but also sustained integration into routine practice, a testament to both usability and clinical value.
Expanding applications in digital health monitoring
While SOZO’s most transformative application has been in breast cancer-related lymphedema detection and management, its underlying technology positions it as a versatile platform for broader digital health monitoring needs. The platform’s ability to provide real-time digital insights into changes in fluid status or body composition makes it relevant for other chronic conditions where early intervention can prevent escalation or hospitalization.
Clinical research is already underway exploring SOZO’s use cases beyond oncology. For example, in heart failure management where fluid overload is a critical concern, and in medical weight management where precise physiological monitoring can inform treatment decisions. By delivering instant, objective data directly into clinicians’ hands and making this information available across multidisciplinary teams, SOZO supports proactive care models that can adapt quickly to changes in patient status.
The platform’s cloud-connected architecture enables remote updates providing immediate access to patient trends and analytics that inform clinical decision support systems and strengthen preventive care strategies.
SOZO’s evolution reflects ImpediMed’s commitment to developing a scalable digital health infrastructure that supports coordinated care across specialties. Its integration into routine workflows ensures that advanced monitoring does not add administrative burden but instead enhances efficiency and collaboration among providers.
By transforming traditional, subjective assessments into objective, reliable streams of actionable data and by expanding its applications across multiple areas of medicine, SOZO exemplifies how digital health platforms can drive innovation in both patient care delivery and healthcare system efficiency.
Company Profile
ImpediMed is a leading global med-tech company that developed the only FDA-cleared BIS technology capable of noninvasively measuring fluid status and tissue composition. With just a 30-second scan, the SOZO® Digital Health Platform provides real-time, actionable whole-body insights, enabling clinicians to detect lymphedema early, helping to guide cancer survivorship. This approach shifts care from reactive to proactive and personalized insights, leading to better outcomes.
Links
