Dr Kafil M Razeeb of Tyndall and SmartVista. Image: Domnick Walsh/Eye Focus
Powered by body heat, this smart plaster can ensure patients can be monitored and assessed remotely.
Cork’s Tyndall Institute is the lead partner of a pan-European project funded to the tune of €4m to develop a remote monitoring biosensor patch.
Funding for SmartVista has been provided through the EU Horizon 2018-2020 ICT programme. Multidisciplinary partners include University College Cork, CNRS, Novosense, Fraunhofer EMFT and Analog Devices.
‘Monitoring vital signs is key for patient health and well being’
– DR KAFIL M RAZEEB
Tyndall will be awarded €1m out of the €4m and will lead a consortium that also includes CNRS, Novosense, Fraunhofer EMFT and Analog Devices.
“This is game-changing technology in the digital health sector,” said Tyndall CEO Prof William Scanlon.
“Powered by body heat, the SmartVista patch will enable patients to live normal lives away from hospital or clinical environments, and yet be fully monitored in real time. The societal impact in terms of waiting times, hospital infrastructure, and patient comfort and care is very significant. We are delighted to lead the SmartVista project, as our market-leading research across wireless, nanotech, sensors and wearables combines to create an innovative solution for digital health.”
Nanomaterial sensors
A key innovation of SmartVista is the ability to integrate nanomaterial-based sensors to monitor the heart, along with thermoelectric energy harvesters to extract energy from the body to power the system, and printable battery systems to store this energy.
Together, these will result in a self-powered device that will autonomously monitor the electrocardiograph, respiratory flow, oxygen flow and temperature of the patient. This information will then be transmitted wirelessly for online health processing.
The real-time, self-powered monitoring of a patient’s health in this manner is not currently available, so the technology in SmartVista will be at the forefront of digital health and wearable biosensor technology for wireless monitoring in hospitals and of remote patients – a necessary innovation for an ageing population.
“Monitoring vital signs is key for patient health and wellbeing. The SmartVista technology will revolutionise patient care, enabling remote, real-time monitoring,” explained SmartVista project lead Dr Kafil M Razeeb of Tyndall.
“The latest nano and energy research from partners across the EU will combine at Tyndall National Institute, and this multimillion-euro investment will be strategically deployed to deliver a new digital health patch application which will have global applicability.”
