Key Considerations for Power Management in Active Implantable Medical Devices

Within the rapidly advancing field of active implantable medical devices, power management is a major consideration. Devices that provide life critical (or avoiding life threatening) function require a dependable, always-on power source, for example pacemakers. There is then a trade-off with battery lifetime as to whether such devices employ a primary cell or rechargeable battery. With new applications requiring multi-module implants, there is now also a need for transmitting within the body from one device to another. This paper outlines the key considerations and the process to define and optimise the power management strategy. We then apply this to a case study application – developing an implanted, multi-module closed-loop neuromodulation device for the treatment of focal epilepsy

Wireless body sensor networks for health-monitoring applications

This is an author-created, un-copyedited version of an article accepted for publication in Physiological Measurement. The publisher is not responsible for any errors or omissions in this version of the manuscript or any version derived from it. The Version of Record is available online at http://dx.doi.org/10.1088/0967-3334/29/11/R01

Applications of aerospace technology in biology and medicine

Utilization of National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) technology in medicine is discussed. The objective is best obtained by stimulation of the introduction of new or improved commercially available medical products incorporating aerospace technology. A bipolar donor/recipient model of medical technology transfer is presented to provide a basis for the team's methodology. That methodology is designed to: (1) identify medical problems and NASA technology that, in combination, constitute opportunities for successful medical products; (2) obtain the early participation of industry in the transfer process; and (3) obtain acceptance by the medical community of new medical products based on NASA technology. Two commercial transfers were completed: the Stowaway, a lightweight wheelchair that provides mobility for the disabled and elderly in the cabin of commercial aircraft, and Micromed, a portable medication infusion pump for the reliable, continuous infusion of medications such as heparin or insulin. The marketing and manufacturing factors critical to the commercialization of the lightweight walker incorporating composite materials were studied. Progress was made in the development and commercialization of each of the 18 currently active projects

MiPOS - the Mote Indoor Positioning System

In the past few years, there have been huge research efforts into ubiquitous and context aware platforms that offer a user a custom level of service based on some known local parameters. The utility of such systems is greatly enhanced if a physical locational area can be determined. Recently, hybrid devices have been developed combining low power micro controllers with short range FM radio transceivers. Some location identification work has been carried out with these systems such as the Matrix Pencil approximation technique[8],however most of these all provide information for an ideal square area with no RF obstructions.Here we present MiPOS, a scalable locationing system based on the MICA mote[11] family of devices.The design goal of MiPOS is to provide a low-power, scalable, distributed locationing system suited to an indoor (office) environment.During the presentation of this paper we will highlight solutions in the areas of security, radio and network management and power awareness for a hybrid context aware wearable locationing device

A LITERATURE REVIEW ON THE CURRENT STATE OF SECURITY AND PRIVACY OF MEDICAL DEVICES AND SENSORS WITH BLUETOOTH LOW ENERGY

Technology use in healthcare is an integral part of diagnosis and treatment. The use of technology in medical devices and sensors is growing. These devices include implantable medical devices, and consumer health and fitness tracking devices and applications. Bluetooth Low Energy (BLE) is the most commonly used communication method in medical devices and sensors. Security and privacy are important, especially in healthcare technologies that can impact morbidity. There is an increasing need to evaluate the security and privacy of healthcare technology, especially with devices and sensors that use Bluetooth Low Energy due to the increasing prevalence and use of medical devices and sensors. Therefore, more robust security analysis is needed to evaluate security and privacy aspects of medical devices and sensors that use Bluetooth Low Energy