Wireless BAN research project aims at health

March 23, 2011

LONDON – A European consortium lead by CSEM (Neuchatel, Switzerland) has launched the WiserBAN project, with the objective of developing ultra-miniature RF microsystems for wireless Body Area Networks (BAN). The work is aimed primarily at wearable and implanted devices for health-care, biomedical, wellness and lifestyle applications.

The project includes 12 other partner organizations including hearing aid company Siemens Audiologische Technik GmbH and Debiotech SA of Switzerland. It is looking to develop the following wearable & implantable use cases for a wireless BAN: hearing instruments, cardiac implants, insulin pumps and cochlear implants.

It is set to run for 36 months from Sept. 1, 2010, with a budget of 9.58 million euro (about $13.5 million) of which the European Union is set to provide 6.9 million euro (about $9.8 million).

WiserBAN is expected to push wireless beyond state of the art by delivering an ultra-tiny and ultra low-energy radio that will enable WBAN capability and novel product perspectives for wearable and implanted devices for use in lifestyle and bio-medical applications.

The research is focused on the design and manufacture of an ultra low-power MEMS-based radio SoC, RF and low-frequency MEMS and miniature components, miniature reconfigurable antennas, miniaturized and cost-effective system-in-package, sensor signal processing and flexible communication protocols.

The ultimate result is expected to be a highly integrated radio-plus-antenna-plus-data processing microsystem.

Source: Peter Clarke 3/23/2011 www.eetimes.com

Related links and articles:

WiserBAN project page