German electronics company Infineon Technologies is working with California-based Blumio to develop a wearable, non-invasive blood pressure sensor.
 
The work is being carried out at Infineon’s Silicon Valley Innovation Center (SVIC) and is based on its Xensiv radar chipset. The sensor, which should be out next year, is targeting the $45bn market for wearable cardiovascular monitoring devices. It will enable continuous and precise measurement without a cuff.
 
“Bringing together Infineon’s 60GHz radar chipset and system understanding with Blumio’s expertise in cardiovascular health monitoring in a more formal engagement lets both companies leverage their strengths to more rapidly bring the product to market,” said Adrian Mikolajczak, head of power and sensors at SVIC. “We are excited to see our advanced sensors like radar being applied to novel and rapidly expanding health and wellness applications.”
 
Upon completion, a kit combining Infineon’s radar chipset and development board with Blumio’s software and algorithms will be released to consumer and medical wearable device makers to integrate into their blood pressure monitoring devices.
 
“We are thrilled to work together with Infineon, the technology leader in radar, to jointly bring the new blood pressure sensor to market,” said Catherine Liao, co-founder and CEO of Blumio. “We have experienced tremendous support since the beginning of our partnership in 2018 and we look forward to further advance our collaboration with Infineon.”
 
In its role as an incubator of new technologies, the SVIC will provide funding and resources to support the sensor’s commercialisation. The SVIC will leverage Infineon’s engineering, manufacturing and commercialisation expertise, as well as offer office and laboratory space.
 
“Innovation and partnerships are part of Infineon’s DNA,” said Mikolajczak. “As an incubator, Infineon works together with start-ups to develop leading-edge technologies that make life easier, safer and greener. The expanded partnership with Blumio truly exemplifies our commitment to invent new technologies that solve problems as we expand our footprint in Silicon Valley.”
 
The SVIC is Infineon’s incubation facility based in California with a mission to foster the region’s start-up community and bring technologies to market. A similar model in Singapore called the Co-Innovation Space targets start-ups in Asia Pacific with a yearlong commitment to provide R&D and manufacturing facilities, as well as access to Infineon research, expertise and guidance.