Massachusetts-based electronics company Analog Devices says it can reduce the size and extend the life of bioimpedance (BioZ) remote patient monitoring devices.

Using the Max 30009 low-power BioZ analogue front-end (AFE), developers of small, battery-powered, continuously wearable devices can gain clinical-grade vital sign measurements of bioimpedance analysis for patient health assessment for wellness wearables and medical-grade patches.

Many vital signs monitors, chest patches, stress monitors, BioZ and wearable healthcare devices must operate on a small battery as part of compact designs that emphasise convenience and comfort. The device has a low-power design with a range of options to enable use-case power optimisation that reduces the draw on tiny batteries, thus extending the operational life of BioZ wearables.

It is said to reduce power consumption by 62 per cent compared with the closest competitive product to extend measurement periods for body-worn patches and vital signs monitoring devices. The integrated AFE is also said to be 30 per cent smaller than the closest competitor, allowing designers to reduce the size of vital signs measurement devices, making them more comfortable and convenient for consumers and patients.

Bioimpedance analysis devices are popular and convenient ways healthcare professionals measure body fat percentage and body composition, such as respiration and impedance cardiography. The device monitors a range of BioZ modalities through simultaneous I and Q measurements, two-electrode (bipolar) and four-electrode (tetrapolar) configurations. This enables flexible inputs for BioZ modality measurements as well as a wide range of sample rates to support various medical BioZ measurements.

A wider range allows more profound insights into patient health by measuring respiration rate, galvanic skin response and electrodermal activity, body composition and fluid analysis, bioimpedance spectroscopy, impedance cardiography, and plethysmography.

“Healthcare wearables are saving lives by measuring the health of millions of patients with a broad range of conditions,” said Benjamin Sanchez, assistant professor at the University of Utah and a bioimpedance expert. “Through bioimpedance, medical professionals and scientists have been able to gain access to a new plethora of clinically meaningful physiological parameters that now can directly benefit consumers, including stress, hydration levels and early detection of cancer. I use devices like the Max 30009 AFE in my research and they play a valuable role in making BioZ monitoring more ubiquitous for healthcare device designers and fitness consumers.”

The device can handle sample rates from 16S/s to 4kS/s and has a frequency range from 16Hz to 891kHz.

Analog Devices serves 125,000 customers worldwide with more than 75,000 products in the industrial, communications, automotive and consumer markets. It is headquartered in Wilmington, Massachusetts.