Imec and Bloomlife have unveiled a prototype of the first wearable 5-channel electrocardiogram (ECG) chip to continuously and accurately monitor fetal heart rate and mobility. Bloomlife's purposely-built BeatleIC chip, which leverages imec's integrated circuit IP, is efficient enough to enable long-term and continuous use, with a battery lifetime of approximately one week on a coin cell.

The device can enable fetal ECG data acquisition at very low amplitude levels (between 3 and 15µV peak-peak). The partners plan to launch a consumer product, consisting of a sensor integrated in a wearable patch, and a smartphone application, as well as a risk-management platform that can be used by medically-qualified staff. According to Nick Van Helleputte, R&D manager, circuit development for connected health solutions at imec, "This development with Bloomlife is a concrete example of how imec's expertise in nanoelectronics and digital technologies translates into increasingly smaller, accurate and yet more energy-efficient components that find their way in a wide variety of application areas.”

Learn more at www.imec-int.com.