Wireless body monitors

1. Weight and body scales

Nowadays electronic weight scales with inbuilt body functions (fat mass, water, muscle, body mass
index, also called body scales) are commercially on the market with wireless connections such as
Wifi or bluetooth in order to accommodate automated storage and trend profiling via internet or
smartphone. Most of these consumer scales are in a price range of 100-200 euro's and allow weight
measurement with a 100 g accuracy. This seems appropiate. The body functions are being measured
via biomedical impedance. The more electrodes and frequencies that are employed, the more
sophisticated and detailed the measurements become. The Wifi or Bluetooth allows connection to a
PC/internet or smartphone. Only Withing has an iPhone app for downloading and viewing the
internet stored data. There is however not yet a direct smartphone app that easily interacts with a
weight scale directly.

Withings body scale with Wifi Tanita body scale with Bluetooth

Some examples
Brandname Weight Body Connectivity Remarks
Withings ± 100 g fat mass Wifi 802.11g PC/internet connectivity
4 electrodes lean mass WEP/WPA/WPA2 iPhone app available
BMI USB user recognition
Tanita BC-590BT ± 100 g fat mass 0,1% Bluetooth 2.0 + EDR PC/internet connectivity
or BC-1000 water mass 2.0 USB Bluetooth adapter
8 electrodes muscle mass Wireless ANT (BC-1000)
metabolism age
bone mass
visceral fat
BMI
Omron BF-206BT ± 100 g body fat Bluetooth Ver.2.1+EDR PC/internet connectivity
8 electrodes skeletal muscle IEEE11073-10415 SPP/HDP Continua
resting metabolism health alliance protocols
visceral Fat
body age
BMI
2. Wireless blood pressure monitors
Despite many attemps, continuous blood pressure monitoring is not yet available on the market. The
last known product is the BPro from HealthSTAT (a blood pressure wrist monitor in a watch) that is
unfortunately suffering robustness in readings and has been withdrawn from the market last year. A
new attemp is underway via the start-up Cardiosign, a spin-off from MIT using a finger-cuff.

BPro continuous blood Continuous blood

pressure watch from pressure monitor
HealthSTAT MIT/Cardiosign

For the present moment, we have to rely on discontinuous blood pressure monitoring working with
a cuff on the upper arm. In this field a few products are on the market that provide wireless
connectivity. Two leading companies in this field (Omron and A&D) are part the Continua Health
Alliance in the US. This is a non-profit, open industry coalition of the finest healthcare and
technology companies joining together in collaboration to improve the quality of personal
healthcare. With more than 200 member companies around the world, Continua is dedicated to
establishing a system of interoperable personal health solutions with the knowledge that extending
those solutions into the home fosters independence, empowers individuals and provides the
opportunity for truly personalized health and wellness management.
In Germany, two companies (Corscience and IEM) provide wireless options for medical devices
such as a blood pressure monitor. The IEM device enables data collection through a cell phone and
sends it directly to the Internet. On the online database an automated interaction between the patient
and the physician is granted, in order to efficiently manage hypertension. In addition to the
Bluetooth data transmission, they have an infra red communication port for downloading data to the
doctors' PC.

Omron 708-BT blood pressure

monitor with Bluetooth
PC/internet connectivity IEM Bluegiga WT12 Boso Medicus/Corscience
connects directly to a blood pressure with BT
smartphone via Bluetooth connectivity
Some examples of available blood pressure monitors with wireless connectivity
Brandname Connectivity Remarks
Omron Blood Pressure systolic/diastolic pressure Bluetooth Ver.2.1+EDR PC/internet connectivity
Monitor 708-BT (irregular) heart beat IEEE11073-10407 SPP/HDP Continua health alliance
detection protocols
A&D medical UA-767 systolic/diastolic pressure Bluetooth PC/internet connectivity
and Lifesource UA- (irregular) heart beat ActiLink USB SPP/HDP Continua health alliance
851THW detection Transceiver protocols
IEM Bluegiga WT12 systolic/diastolic pressure Bluetooth to phone Connects directly to smartphone
(irregular) heart beat Infrared to PC Infrared data communication to
detection PC
Boso Medicus/Corscience systolic/diastolic pressure Bluetooth to phone or PC Blood pressure monitor from
(irregular) heart beat Boso. Corscience developed the
detection BT connectivity

3. Wireless ECG monitor

Corscience (Germany) has developed PC ECG in the versions BT 3/6 and BT 12. The Bluetooth
ECG module is a compact ECG meter which can be worn on the body and is independent of the
mains. It wirelessly transmits a 3-, 6- or 12-channel ECG to a monitor (e.g., a PC or regular patient
monitor) in the close range up to 10 m. The Bluetooth standard is used for transmission. A built-in
display signalizes electrode contact problems, heart rate, battery status and telemetry reception. An
acoustic signal is also given off synchronously with the R wave. The operating time of the 12-
channel version lies at over 10 hours with two standard AA batteries and a sampling rate of 500 Hz.

3/6 and 16 electrode wireless ECG

device from Corscience

Corscience also has developed an intelligent chest strap, which continuously measures and analyzes
a 1-channel ECG via two hard electrodes made of stainless steel. The following rhythmic
pathologies are detected: Tachycardias, VF/VT, AF and Bradycardias. Motion artefacts can be
effectively suppressed with a built-in motion sensor, allowing the maximum sensitivities and
specificities to be reached. The algorithm analyzes the ECG and, if an arrhythmia occurs, records a
2-minute ECG (one minute before and one minute after the arrhythmia). The memory capacity is
about 20 minutes or 10 events. The recorded measurements are then read out via Bluetooth. The
saved events are visualized and documented in the VM300 PC software. This is also where the belt
is configured. The ECG signal is sent to an intermediate relay station, usually a cell phone, via a
Bluetooth connection, and is then further transmitted to a rescue dispatch center, a clinic, treating
physicians or heath care services. The chest strap can be operated with a standard AA battery (>24
hrs). It is biocompatible and has special electrode technology which requires no unpleasant gel layer
or disposable articles. The belt is extremly easy to wear.
 Corbelt: wireless ECG belt strap

Imec's electrocardiography (ECG) necklace targets cardiac activity monitoring in every-day life
situations. It measures a bipolar ECG signal between two Ag/AgCl electrodes attached to the body,
and connected to the necklace using standard leadware. Low-power and high performance ECG
monitoring is achieved through the use of a proprietary single channel application-specific
integrated circuit (ASIC) for biopotential read-out. The system features a commercial low-power
microcontroller and low-power radio at 2.4 GHz (similar to Bluetooth or Zigbee), providing
embedded processing capabilities and wireless communication within 10 m range. The prototype
ASIC using the 802.15.4a standard can transmit up to 1 Mbit/second awhile consuming a single
milliwatt. The transmit power consumption is an order of magnitude less than Bluetooth or Zigbee.
Alternatively, data can be stored on a secure digital (SD) card for applications in which wireless
connectivity is not required. The ECG necklace achieves 1 week autonomy on a 165 mAh Li-ion
battery, while continuously streaming ECG data.

Ambulatory monitoring using imec's ECG necklace.

This is supposed to be the most advanced, lightweight wireless ECG monitoring system at the
moment offering continous ECG-data streaming in combination with optimal comfort to the user.
The main advantages of the smart ECG necklace are its low power consumption, its embedded beat
detection algorithm and the performance of its integrated bio-potential ASIC. Up-coming pilot
studies will evaluate the technology for use in various applications including arrhythmia detection,
stress monitoring and epilepsy monitoring.
A more simple, discontinuous system is being offered by HealthFrontier (USA) and Vignate (Italy) .
Their ecg@home product features two thumb electrodes (i.e. the standard I lead) and a wireless
transmission of the data out to a central server via Bluetooth, USB, or a cell phone network. This
system might serve in case of an emergency when a doctor needs additional information.
 ECG by fingertips, for instantanuous ECG
measurement, can be send wirelessly via
Bluetooth or GSM network.

Other companies offer wireless (Bluetooth based) add-ons for existing ECG monitoring systems
such as the Lifesync wireless ECG system, GE healthcare Apex Pro and Carecenter MD. These
products are however designed for professional in-hospital use and not for continuous use at home.

GE's Apex Pro wireless connectivity system

operates in both the 608 to 614 MHz and 1395 to
1400 MHz ranges of WMTS