Freescale has its little silicon hands in every kind of factors: e-readers , smartphones , tablets , even refrigerators . Now the manufacturer is asking to make a dent within the healthcare industry with a connected platform called Home Health Hub (HHH). The i.MX28-based HHH isn’t an exact product, but a reference platform for others to construct on. The ARM9 processor is hooked up to a number of networking interfaces, including WiFi, Bluetooth (in addition to its low-power implementation), Zigbee , sub-1GHz and Ethernet. The Hub is meant to be just that, a central point for connecting various medical devices like blood pressure monitors or glucometers that then feeds data to a tablet. Developers and other interested parties can get their hands at the reference platform from Digi International because the iDigi Telehealth Application Kit for $499. Take a look at the total PR after the break.
Comprehensive reference platform helps accelerate development of medical devices with seamless connectivity and information aggregation capabilities
MEDICA 2011-World Forum
DUSSELDORF, Germany–(BUSINESS WIRE)–Freescale Semiconductor (NYSE: FSL) today introduced a house health hub (HHH) reference platform to assist medical equipment manufacturers quickly and simply create remote-access devices that will collect, connect and securely share health data for improved healthcare management.
The HHH reference platform relies on Freescale’s i.MX28 applications processor and ZigBee® and sub-1 GHz transceivers. It enables secure WiFi and Ethernet connectivity to remote devices with displays, equivalent to tablets, smartphones or PCs with medical-specific remote user interface (UI) options. The platform can also provide wired and wireless connectivity to finish healthcare devices, consisting of blood pressure monitors, blood glucometers, weight scales, pulse oximeters and more via ZigBee, sub-1 GHz, USB, Bluetooth and Bluetooth Low Energy including medical-class-specific device profiles.
In response to the arena Health Organization, there are 860 million chronic disease patients worldwide, and 75 to 85 percent of all healthcare spending might be attributed to chronic disease management. A lot of people that be afflicted by chronic diseases are 65 years or older – a demographic that the U.S. Census Bureau estimates will represent 19 percent of the U.S. population, or about 72.1 million individuals, by 2030.
Societies all over the world continue to search for tactics to scale back health care costs for these chronic patients while improving their quality of life. Remote patient monitoring devices may be made in accordance with Freescale’s home health hub reference platform and may allow patients to bypass unnecessary emergency room visits which both saves money and helps improve patient outcomes.
“The changing dynamics of the aging global population are creating an increased demand for brand new technologies and tools which may offer peace of mind to the relations of seniors living at home,” said Steven Dean, manager of Freescale’s Global Healthcare team. “There’s also a necessity to offer access to healthcare in remote and growing regions of the sector to enhance the standard of life for millions of individuals. Our new home health hub reference platform is designed to simplify development of connected medical devices and help our customers more easily address these growing needs.”
Freescale’s HHH reference platform provides comprehensive functionality and might be used because the foundation for connected medical product designs, giving developers a head-begin to help them get to market faster. The Freescale HHH reference platform delivers a hardware implementation and the required software components to produce pre-validated, secure connectivity for healthcare devices and user interfaces.
“We’ve proven technology in the market to observe patients and fix their data to the cellular network, such that a health practitioner could intervene rather than the patient having to visit the emergency room,” said Kent Dicks, founder and CEO of MedApps. “We’ve found this to be extremely effective.”
The HHH reference platform software adheres to Continua device profiles to supply consistency and compatibility with other Continua-certified medical devices corresponding to blood pressure monitors, pulse oximeters and weight scales. The platform also enables connection to the Microsoft HealthVault, a privacy- and security-enhanced online data repository that lets users organize, store and share their health information.
The HHH reference platform comprises an aggregator/gateway board according to the low-power i.MX28 applications processor (built at the ARM9™ processor) running various connectivity interfaces to healthcare end devices and wireless or wired connectivity for a remote user interface. Also included is a panic alarm sensor in response to Freescale’s MC12311 sub-1 GHz radio, providing personal emergency response system (PERS) functionality. To finish the reference platform, software resembling board support packages (Linux® and Windows® Embedded Compact 7) and example code are included.
“In case you take into account all the different devices in a healthcare ecosystem, Windows Embedded allows our partners to align on one trusted technology platform,” said Lorraine Bardeen, marketing director for Windows Embedded EMEA at Microsoft. “This collaboration with Freescale builds upon Microsoft’s vision for the evolution of intelligent systems by helping medical manufacturers and healthcare organizations capture the entire potential of connected medical data.”
Pricing and availability
The HHH reference platform carries the aggregator/gateway board, panic alarm sensor, quick start guide, cables and software. Freescale has partnered with Digi International to bring the HHH reference platform to market. The iDigi Telehealth Application Kit is offered for purchase through Digi International for $499 (USD) at www.digi.com/hhh. Digi has extensive experience with the i.MX portfolio and give customized system on module and design services. For more info, visit www.freescale.com/homehealthhub.
“Network connected medical devices improve quality of care by providing real-time access to critical patient data,” said Frederic Luu, VP of Sales and Marketing, EMEA, Japan and Asia, Digi International. “We’re excited to partner with Freescale to make it easier for medical device manufacturers to develop network-enabled products.”
About Freescale
Freescale (NYSE:FSL) is a worldwide leader within the design and manufacture of embedded semiconductors for the automotive, consumer, industrial and networking markets. The corporate relies in Austin, Texas, and has design, research and development, manufacturing and sales operations worldwide. http://www.freescale.com/
Freescale, the Freescale logo are trademarks of Freescale Semiconductor, Inc., Reg. U.S. Pat. & Tm. Off., ARM is the registered trademark of ARM Limited. ARM9 is a hallmark of ARM Limited. All other services or products names are the valuables in their respective owners. © 2011 Freescale Semiconductor, Inc.
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