FEATURE ELECTRONICS
Wearable SEMICONDUCTORS
device. Bearing in mind the importance of the analogue front end, semiconductor companies have begun to devise special front ends to meet industry needs. The next generation of programmable SOCs is also expected to integrate Bluetooth LE to complete the wireless communication layer. As medical devices begin to cater to a
Satish P, from Wipro Limited, looks at the development of lightweight and inexpensive wearable medical devices
W
ith cost of medical care on the rise there is a need for solutions that
allow patients to return home faster from hospital. But patients also need the assurance that they are being remotely monitored through the period of step down treatment. Lightweight and inexpensive wearable medical devices that monitor remote patient conditions and transmit data securely to qualified teams and automated health systems are the solution. The medical device industry is looking
to address these challenge by creating simple wearable medical devices. Mobile development combined with advances in semiconductor technology are making these devices portable, accurate, reliable and in several instances, cheaper. Doctors recognise that patients benefit
from continuous monitoring of critical signs, even after leaving the hospital which is why remote monitoring is a fitting solution. Wearable medical devices allow medical
providers to offer preventive monitoring to the aged, for chronic disease management and general wellness. Demand for these devices is growing. The market for the devices is projected to reach $20 billion by 2018. A major chunk of the revenues will go
to manufacturers of semiconductor components and embedded systems like memory, displays, processors, sensors and connectivity solutions that go into these devices. In order for widespread adoption,
wearable devices that work outside the confines of the hospital without expert medical assistance must fulfill a number of characteristics including: usability; power consumption; design and cost.
20 SUMMER 2014 | IRISH MANUFACTURING The typical set of parameters that the
device must monitor include heart activity, fetal heart rate, skin resistance, skin temperature, refractive index of blood etc. Based on what the device is required to measure and monitor, its components would include: Bio sensors: Application specific bio sensors that emit signals indicating measured parameters. Analogue-to-digital converters:
Application specific analogue front end to digitize the sensor signals. The device may also be equipped with signal conditioning circuitry. General purpose micro controller: To process signals for the device to function. Wireless interface: In most instances,
the device will connect to a mobile gateway over a Body Area Network (BAN) or the newer Bluetooth LE (low energy) suitable for continuous transfer of medical data. Memory: In modern wearable devices,
the data is sent in real-time to a mobile gateway (smart phone or a tablet) and then to the patient’s remote health care provider. These devices can also store data in off line mode, synchronising the data when the device goes online. Power management: The device design
must ensure that energy consumption is minimised for longer uninterrupted device deployment and stand by time. SOCs (System on Chip) engineered for
wearable devices have begun to emerge. These SOCs are often application specific and integrate all the components and systems of the device such as processors and memory. The analogue front end which incorporates application dependent signal conditioning functionality is the key to the wearable
In order for widespread adoption, wearable devices must be able to fulfill a number of criteria characteristics
number requirements, their data collection and processing power also needs to go up proportionately. However, implementation of such functionality using discrete components can result in an increase in the Bill of Materials (BOM), device size and power. This can end up killing the device during actual deployment as they will inevitably face resistance from users. Can components be eliminated or
minimised to bring down the cost and size of the device? Custom SOC solutions integrate an embedded CPU with a low energy wireless interface and application specific analogue front ends. The solution involves significant upfront (NRE - Non- Recurring Expenditure i.e. One time development cost) investments as a part of the development process. Of course, solutions created using off-the-shelf components will involve a lower NRE but are clunky when compared to custom SOC solutions (which are typically small and lightweight). However, if the volumes for wearable devices increase, the custom SOC solutions become a preferred path to adopt. In addition custom SOC solutions offer
the advantage of being tamper-proof or copy poof. The critical algorithms that a medical device provider comes up with can thus be protected. It is also a very popular route to creating a solution because of the security it offers as talking to implantable devices is risk prone and requires the highest attention to data security. The impact of an unobtrusive, easily
usable, accurate, reliable and wearable medical device that can store/transmit high resolution data for long uninterrupted periods (approximately 30 days) over a mobile gateway to remote medical monitoring and analytical systems can be immense. If the device is capable of some local processing using applications on the mobile device, its value is further improved. And finally, if the application on the mobile device has intuitive audio/video capabilities that enhance intervention from the remote care giver, the solution is guaranteed to succeed.
Wipro Limited
www.wipro.com Enter 205
/ IRISHMANUFACTURING
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