Flexible, wearable, tricorder-like EKG sensor

Engineers at the University of California San Diego have developed the first flexible wearable device capable of monitoring both biochemical and electric signals in the human body. The Chem-Phys patch records electrocardiogram (EKG) heart signals and tracks levels of lactate, a biochemical that is a marker of physical effort, in real time. The device can be worn on the chest and communicates wirelessly with a smartphone, smart watch or laptop. It could have a wide range of applications, from athletes monitoring their workouts to physicians monitoring patients with heart disease.



Nanoengineers and electrical engineers at the UC San Diego Center for Wearable Sensors worked together to build the device, which includes a flexible suite of sensors and a small electronic board. The device also can transmit the data from biochemical and electrical signals via Bluetooth.

Nanoengineering professor Joseph Wang and electrical engineering professor Patrick Mercier at the UC San Diego Jacobs School of Engineering led the project, with Wang's team working on the patch's sensors and chemistry, while Mercier's team worked on the electronics and data transmission. They describe the Chem-Phys patch in the May 23 issue of Nature Communications.

"One of the overarching goals of our research is to build a wearable tricorder-like device that can measure simultaneously a whole suite of chemical, physical and electrophysiological signals continuously throughout the day," Mercier said. "This research represents an important first step to show this may be possible."

Most commercial wearables only measure one signal, such as steps or heart rate, Mercier said. Almost none of them measure chemical signals, such as lactate.

That is the gap that the sensor designed by researchers at the Jacobs School of Engineering at UC San Diego aims to bridge. Combining information about heart rate and lactate--a first in the field of wearable sensors--could be especially useful for athletes wanting to improve their performance. Both Mercier and Wang have been fielding inquiries from Olympic athletes about the technologies the Center for Wearable Sensors produces.

"The ability to sense both EKG and lactate in a small wearable sensor could provide benefits in a variety of areas," explained Dr. Kevin Patrick, a physician and director of the Center for Wireless and Population Health Systems at UC San Diego, who was not involved with the research. "There would certainly be interest in the sports medicine community about how this type of sensing could help optimize training regimens for elite athletes," added Patrick, who is also a member of the Center for Wearable Sensors. "The ability to concurrently assess EKG and lactate could also open up some interesting possibilities in preventing and/or managing individuals with cardiovascular disease."

The researchers' biggest challenge was making sure that signals from the two sensors didn't interfere with each other. This required some careful engineering and a fair bit of experimentation before finding the right configuration for the sensors.

A press relaease can be found by following this link.

Smart phone integrated EKG

Smaller than a credit card, Kardia Mobile allows people to capture single-lead EKGs anywhere, anytime. In 30 seconds, it records a medical-grade EKG, which can be relayed to a doctor for analysis and diagnosis. Kardia Mobile easily attaches to most smartphones making it convenient to always have with you.

Kardia Mobile is compatible with most Android and Apple Devices.

Kardia Band for Apple Watch is a medical-grade mobile EKG solution, providing on-demand heart monitoring and app-based services.

Kardia Band features include: instant detection of atrial fibrillation and/or normal heart rhythm and the ability to communicate results directly to your doctor.

Doctors can use Kardia Band’s heart rhythm recordings and instant detection (algorithm) results to inform diagnosis and treatment plans.

Though it is only a single lead EKG, it does bring efficience and convenience to certain users.

More product information can be found from AliveCore, the manufacturer's website.

China's Mindray launches wearable ECG at CMEF 2016

 

Mindray Medical International, a Chinese medical device manufacturer based in Shenzhen China, showcased its latest innovations at the 75th China International Medical Equipment Fair (CMEF) from April 17 to 20 at the National Exhibition and Convention Centre in Shanghai. Celebrating the 25th anniversary since its foundation in 1991, Mindray launched new products from all three key business lines, namely Patient Monitoring and Life Support, In-vitro Diagnostics and Medical Imaging System.

Mindray's first wearable medical device, Mr. Wear Wearable ECG Recorder/Bluetooth Heart Rate Monitor, was officially released to China's domestic market at the exhibition. Combining Mindray's expertise in ECG solutions and state-of-the-art industrial design, Mr. Wear is one of the lightest and thinnest ECG recorder on the market. It can be applied in chronic disease management and postoperative recovery for patients as well as in health and fitness management for the healthy.

3-in-1 Cardiac Arrhythmias Remote Monitoring System gets FDA Clearance

InfoBionic, Inc. today announced that it received 510(k) clearance from the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (“FDA”) for MoMe^® Kardia, a wireless, remote monitoring system designed to aid physicians in their diagnosis of cardiac arrhythmias in patients with a demonstrated need for cardiac Monitoring.

MoMe^® Kardia is the first 3-in-1 single piece device that acquires and stores ECG and motion data and transmits that data via embedded cellular technology to the MoMe^® Software System, a cloud-based platform with proprietary algorithms for analysis, using the MoMe^® Device Communications Protocol. The transmitted data is then analyzed by the MoMe^® Software Platform via completely new and robust server-based algorithms and when indicated, data identified by these algorithms is flagged for physician review. MoMe^® Kardia requires no patient intervention to capture or analyze data, however it does provide a patient event trigger.

 

 

InfoBionic news release could be found from this link.

Chinesse medical device manufacturers to compete globally

HUAWEI is now absolutely a globally recognized brand name, and definitely a rising star in its cluster. Perhaps within 3-5 years, there will be a new 'LENOVO' or a new 'HUAWEI' in medical device industry as well.

Currently there are around 150.000 medical device manufacturers in China, but 90% of them can only achieve a yearly turnover between RMB 10-20 million. Most of them are producing medical disposables or small devices like thermometer, blood glucose meter, blood pressure monitor, or ECG monitor, many are on OEM basis.

In Chinese hospitals, for equipment like MRI, CT or endoscopy, some 90% are imported products. But the situation starts to change now, slowly. Since2013, we see Chinese manufacturers are releasing new products including ultra-sound scanner, MRI, CT and even PET-CT, as well as bio-chemical analyzer and etc, all under manufacturers' own R&D with self-owned intellectual property rights.

So far these Made in China products can't compete effectively in international market with those global leaders, but a long march to the global med tech market with Chinese domestic market as a starting point is logical and realistic. As long as the Chinese medical device manufacturers accumulate knowledge and experience in product and market development, strengthen the capability in research and innovation and with practical strategy and patience, they will obtain a decent market share not only in Chinese domestic market, but also in international medica device market.