STMicroelectronics, a global semiconductor leader serving customers across the spectrum of electronics applications, and Preventice, Inc.TM, a leading developer of mobile health solutions and remote monitoring systems, announced today that ST is providing wearable body sensor technologies to power the new BodyGuardian Remote Monitoring System (RMS)TM from Preventice.
Preventice recently announced its receipt of 510(k) clearance from the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) for the BodyGuardian RMS, allowing Preventice to market and sell BodyGuardian to hospitals and clinics for use in detecting and monitoring non-lethal cardiac arrhythmias for ambulatory patients.
ST, one of the world's largest semiconductor companies serving all sectors of the electronics industry, has made a strong commitment to expanding its expertise and innovation in sensor technology to health care and other industries.
"A key goal for ST is to enable our customers to quickly develop solutions that contribute to people enjoying a better quality of life; ST makes that possible through our unique ability to provide the complete breadth of products and technologies required for their applications," said Benedetto Vigna, executive vice president and general manager analog, MEMS and Sensors Group, STMicroelectronics. "The clearance from the FDA of the Preventice BodyGuardian System clearly demonstrates our expertise in helping customers develop medical-grade electronics for demanding markets."
The BodyGuardian RMS uses clinical algorithms that were developed by doctors at Mayo Clinic to support remote monitoring of individuals with cardiac arrhythmias. The BodyGuardian System will allow physicians to monitor key biometrics outside of the clinical setting, while patients go about their daily lives, by providing a continuous connection between the patient and their physicians.
According to Preventice, this connection is made possible by a small body-worn sensor that is attached to the patient's chest. This sensor collects important data, including the patient's ECG, heart rate, respiration rate, and activity level and transmits that data to physicians via mobile-phone technology, enabling doctors to monitor patients from their iPad or desktop. The wearable body sensor in the BodyGuardian RMS is enabled by ST hardware and software technology that includes sophisticated MEMS, low-power STM32 microcontrollers, and analog components combined with advanced ST-proprietary algorithms.
"ST is a pioneer and leader in the sensor industry and working with them allows us to bring the high-end, clinical monitoring technology developed by Mayo Clinic and Preventice to a broader base of patients," said Jon Otterstatter, co-founder, president and CEO of Preventice. "Our goal at Preventice is to bring sophisticated remote patient monitoring to patients where they live, work and play—creating an environment of continuous care for patients with cardiac arrhythmias and a variety of other chronic conditions."
The potential for remote patient monitoring to reduce patient costs and influence care delivery is contributing to rapid growth in the use of wireless monitoring, which is expected to continue in the coming years. In fact, recent research from Kalorama shows that the U.S. market for advanced patient monitoring systems has grown from $3.9 billion in 2007, to $8.9 billion in 2011. The market is expected to reach $20.9 billion by 2016, according to this same study.