Toumaz to start medical trials of digital plaster

Abingdon-based chip designer Toumaz Technology is to start medical trials of its ultra low power, disposable wireless chip in a matter of days.
The Sensium chip (yes, they call it a platform) is a 4 x 4mm chip with an 8051 controller and RF made on Infineon's 130nm RF CMOS process. The key is Toumaz's patented Advanced Mixed Signal (AMx) design technology that provides an ultra low power wireless link - the link operates at 1.0 V and takes just 2.5nW (yes, nanoWatts) with one reading per day. This allows smaller, thinner batteries to be used to create the 'digital plaster' - a standard 2400mAh AA battery would last 114 years at this rate!
This is used to connect the mobile individual via any existing network to a healthcare provider - from the hardware (including body-worn and base station Sensiums) and wireless link protocols to the operating system. By delivering not just the sensors but the rest of the system, Toumaz is enabling a new generation of low-cost, disposable, personalised healthcare and lifestyle solutions.
These digital plasters can continuously monitor multiple key physiological parameters, linking in real-time to standard PDAs, cellphones and USB-enabled computers. The Sensium collects, processes and extracts the key features of the data and intelligently reports to a base station Sensium via an ultra low-power, short-range radio telemetry link, using Toumaz's power optimized Nano-power Sensor Protocol operating system. From there, the data can be further filtered and processed by application software and integrated into existing medical information systems, such as those employing the worldwide HL7 standard, to provide a complete end-to-end system and the foundation for a total patient care package.
This is the first in a family of ultra-low power sensor interface systems currently being developed by Toumaz for healthcare markets.

"Toumaz has succeeded in pulling together the key core competences of ultra-low power wireless and ultra-low power signal processing first developed at Imperial College and integrating these onto its completely unique system for the acquisition of data from a mobile individual," said Co-Founder and Chairman, Professor Chris Toumazou (pictured is co-founder and COO Keith Errey). "The landmark we are celebrating today represents the realisation of a whole solution to ultra-low power wireless body monitoring, an achievement of which everyone involved is extremely proud."