Electronic design and firmware consulting is the focus of Voler Systems, which specializes in wearable and Internet of Things (IoT) devices for companies that create medical and consumer products. The company’s expertise spans sensors, wireless communications, power management for battery-operated devices, and medical devices.
Voler Systems recently introduced its universal health-sensor platform, which collects data from people to determine the right type of sensor to use, the right place on the body to wear the sensor, and the best software algorithm to process the sensor data (see figure). It can essentially be described as a pre-engineered prototype device that creates a fast route for a patient’s data to be captured and transmitted. Through its combination of hardware, firmware, and software, the platform facilitates data transmission to a smartphone or the cloud.
This universal health-sensor board, shown with a PPG sensor attached, measures about 2.5 × 4 inches.
With the health-sensor platform, physiological data that’s potentially related to a condition or complication is gathered, and either diagnosis or therapy can be refined. The platform works with a wide range of sensors, including those for blood pressure, heart rate, body temperature, leg swelling, and many others. Furthermore, the universal health-sensor platform supports Bluetooth Low Energy (BLE) wireless data transmission.
According to Voler Systems, the benefits of the universal health-sensor platform include cost savings, fast development, and its compact size. Moreover, the company is partnering with Medium One, which offers a cloud platform that would enable customers to easily build smart applications for IoT products. Overall, this creates an ecosystem of highly customizable workflows that allow for the processing and analyzing of real-time device data.
What’s the Mission?
The main use of the universal health-sensor platform is to collect sample data to verify a hypothesis or test a sensor or algorithm prior to building a production device. The goal of a production device based on the platform is essentially to prevent hospital visits and readmissions. The objective in the company’s own words is “to keep patients well when they’re at home—but identify when they do need to go to the hospital.”
Lastly, Voler Systems emphasizes that it understands best practices and regulatory requirements for patient data, design control, risk analysis, and verification. Therefore, the company states that it can design a high-quality production device and help it quickly navigate through FDA or CE approval. In addition, devices can be made HIPAA-compliant, and support for GDPR for Europe is available.
