Isansys Lifecare launches low cost, low power wireless ECG cardiac
monitor
21 July 2011
British
medical services startup, Isansys Lifecare Limited, has announced
the world's first commercially available, clinical-grade, wireless
cardiac monitor to support low cost continuous ECG heart monitoring.
It is based on nRF24AP2 ANT chips from ultra low power (ULP) RF
specialist Nordic Semiconductor ASA.
This means cardiac patients can be monitored continuously and thus
any problems detected when they are usually easier to treat, while
avoiding life-threatening and costly emergency room-re-admissions.
By making the most costly elements of the Isansys LifeTouch HRV011
ECG wireless monitor recyclable, its application cost can fall (with
repeated usage) to just a few tens of cents. In operation, the HRV011
resembles a lightweight bandage strip that adheres to a patient's body
and analyses the ECG signal of every heartbeat in 4-5x more detail than
that required for a wired ECG monitor.
From this data, a proprietary
algorithm running within an on-board ARM Cortex-based microcontroller is
used to calculate key physiological parameters — including respiration
rate and R-to-R peak intervals — to detect problems rapidly. Redundancy
is also built-in because collected data is securely transmitted to a
web-based HL7-compliant database.
The Nordic nRF24AP2's performance and use of the
proven, ultra low power ANT wireless protocol help enable the LifeTouch
HRV011 to achieve a battery operating life of up to 100 hours (four
days) from a regular CR2032 coin cell battery under continuous usage
conditions, while offering high interference immunity in even the most
challenging (active Bluetooth and Wi-Fi) 2.4GHz RF operating
environments.
"This product will mean that healthcare providers could save
thousands of lives and slash millions of dollars from their
over-stretched healthcare budgets," says Keith Errey, CEO at Isansys.
"At present nearly one in three patients that are discharged from
intensive care wards will suffer a relapse of some kind, often within a
week or so of discharge. Our devices and services provide an early
warning of adverse events, and thus allow earlier and generally less
costly and traumatic interventions compared to an emergency re-admission
into intensive care.”
Errey continues: "Until now there has been no low cost solution to
this problem. And given that in the US many major medical insurers
from next year are saying they will start treating many re-admissions as
a failure on the part of the hospital and so not be liable for any
further emergency room costs, our solution — which is commercially
available now — could not be more timely."
"It's an unfortunate reality that aging populations and an explosion
in lifestyle-related health problems such as obesity and linked
conditions such as type-2 diabetes, are placing crippling financial
burdens on government healthcare budgets, healthcare providers, and
insurers," comments Geir Langeland, Nordic Semiconductor's Director of
Sales & Marketing. "This situation is only going to worsen and is in
desperate need of innovative technological solutions such as this low
cost, wireless cardiac monitor from Isansys."
Source: Nordic Semiconductor