PAGE TITLE
Overview
PAGE SUMMARY
Drexel’s electrical engineers have developed a wearable, wireless and battery-free continuous health monitor that can be used in a wide range of applications. The core of the monitor is an off-the-shelf RFID tag connected to a proprietary circuit. The circuit registers electric signals of the body and converts them into heart rate information that is then transmitted by the RFID. In a battery-free mode the monitor is powered by an energy harvester, which converts electromagnetic energy surrounding us in daily life (Wi-Fi, cellular networks etc.) into electricity. The monitor’s signal can be read by a standard RFID reader located 10-15 feet away from a battery-free version, or a much greater distance if the monitor is powered by a small coin battery. The RFID tag is used as an on-off keying device to measure the heart rate, and the tag’s returned signal strength variations, caused by body’s movements resulting from breathing, are used to calculate the respiration rate. RFID signals are processed using machine learning algorithms to determine the health parameters.
For seamless integration in garments, the heart rate electrodes and major energy harvester parts can be knitted during garment’s manufacturing using specialized conductive fibers, thus minimizing the hardware footprint of the monitor. These technologies have also been developed by the inventors and their collaborators at Drexel.
APPLICATIONS
TITLE: Applications
Wearable continuous infant heart rate and respiration monitoring
Quantification of respiration and heart rate for fitness enthusiasts and athletes
Continuous health parameters’ monitoring in children and adults
ADVANTAGES
TITLE:Advantages
Battery-free operation for improved usability and simplified maintenance
Seamless integration with garments. Improved manufacturability using existing industrial equipment
IP STATUS
Intellectual Property and Development Status
United States Patent Pending- 15/162,544
http://appft1.uspto.gov/netacgi/nph-Parser?Sect1=PTO1&Sect2=HITOFF&d=PG01&p=1&u=/netahtml/PTO/srchnum.html&r=1&f=G&l=50&s1=20160338798.PGNR.&OS=DN/20160338798&RS=DN/20160338798
Commercialization Opportunities
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Contact Information
Alexey Melishchuk
Associate Director, Licensing
Office of Applied Innovation
Drexel University
Tel: 215-895-0304
amelishchuk@drexel.edu
3180 Chestnut Street, Suite 104
Philadelphia, PA 19104