Think CES 2012 is all about tablets, smart phones and internet-connected fridges? Think again. We had the chance to talk in detail with the folks over at Texas Instruments regarding their medical device technology.
When you think of Texas Instruments do you think of Electrocardiography, Electroencephalography or Pulse Oximeters? I surely did not. But today after spending time with Texas Instruments’ Sonya Terry Medical Communications Manager, Robert Burnham Strategic Marketing Manager — Health & Fitness and Karthik Soundar, Business Development Manager – Health & Fitness, I just may.
Three years ago Texas Instruments made a strategic decision to get into medical devices for health, fitness and clinical applications. The 7 billion people on the planet (and growing) at one time or another are either going to need care or be able to take care of themselves better – that is one huge market.
Texas Instruments has applied their design and manufacturing expertise to develop ultra low power SoC’s for applications like portable ECG’s, EEGs and pulse oximeters. These solutions can be pulled together to provide medical instrumentation companies a lower integration cost, and an overall solution that is more cost effective and smaller by as much as an order of magnitude.
They showed an ECG demonstration kit that involved three probes attached to a mannequin, leading back to a small central hub not much bigger than a thumb drive, and then going down to the wrist of the mannequin where a full color 2″ (approx.) display, showed all of the hearts activity. A more conventional solution, as we have all seen in hospitals, is considerably larger.
Texas Instruments ADS1298 ECG Demonstration
The “heart” of this solution is the ADS129X, a family of ultra low power, 8 mm x 8 mm (64 mm2) single chip solutions. Previous solutions were on the order of 1,850 mm2. The ADS1294/6/8/4R/6R/8R are multichannel, simultaneous sampling, 24-bit, delta-sigma (ΔΣ) analog-to-digital converters (ADCs) with built-in programmable gain amplifiers (PGAs), internal reference, and an onboard oscillator. The ADS1294/6/8/4R/6R/8R incorporate all of the features that are commonly required in medical electrocardiogram (ECG) and electroencephalogram (EEG) applications. These devices are fabricated using a 0.35 um CMOS process.
TI advises us, that with all of this functionality integrated into a single chip they have enabled integrators to drop the end cost of an ECG solution from $15,000 to $2,500. This is a huge reduction in price that now puts this diagnostic capability within the reach of many more people. This is a disruptive technology solution and will no doubt raise some eye brows at the big med tech firms like GE Healthcare, Philips Healthcare and Draeger.
Texas Instruments ADS129X Analog Front End Monolithic SoC
Another product introduced to me today was the Texas Instruments AFE4110, a low cost MCU with integrated LCD driver. The AFe4110 is based upon TI’s MSP430 core and offers ultra-low power, small size and low cost by operating on a single 1.5 V battery. The AFE4110 features 16 kB ROM, 512B RAM, a 4×12 LCD driver with charge pump, a high accuracy oscillator, and additional features that are perfect for digital thermometers, pedometers, thermostats and portable single alkaline battery devices. These MCU’s are fabbed on a 180 nm standard CMOS process and come in a bare die 2.7 mm x 1.1 mm.
Texas Instruments AFE4110 Low Cost MCU
Texas Instruments took a conscious decision to get into the medical devices business in pursuit of lucrative new markets. With an aging population, and the market for those who are trying to take better care of themselves, this looks like a wise decision, but can they be a winner?
TI is well poised to be a significant player in this industry because they bring significant depth and breadth in design and manufacturing as well as a global reach with field application engineers. Our guess is that this could be a tremendous market for TI in the future.
I think when we get back to the lab, we will decapsulate some of these devices and have a closer look at the die layout and utilization in order to post a follow up blog to share some of these die images with our readers.
Good Luck Folks.
