Healthcare - Improving the quality of care, lives and treatments

Ageing populations and modern lifestyle challenges (such as the trend towards increasing levels of obesity and the challenge of managing related illnesses such as type-2 diabetes) are placing record levels of financial stress on public and private healthcare providers across the globe. Ultra low power (ULP) wireless, however, enables healthcare providers to employ their limited resources more effectively, while improving care quality and treatment outcomes.

Healthcare applications and sports & fitness products share a lot of similarities in terms of battery life, size, and connectivity requirements. And given that Nordic Semiconductor pioneered 2.4GHz RF solutions for sports & fitness applications in 2004 with the release of the Suunto T6 sportswatch with built-in ANT support, our line up of ULP wireless solutions provide an ideal solution for healthcare applications by offering:

• Class-leading battery lifetimes – Up to years from coin cell batteries
• Small size – Compact packaging options, enabling miniaturized sensors to be developed, including ‘wearable’ devices
• Ease-of-integration – Proven ANT/ANT+ and Bluetooth low energy on-chip protocol stacks and support for a wide range of application microcontrollers eases design-in
• Multi-vendor interoperability – Seamless connectivity to existing ANT+ enabled sensors and hubs or future Bluetooth low energy devices
• Mobile phone connectivity – Seamless connectivity to existing mobile phones with built-in ANT+ support, or forthcoming Bluetooth low energy-enabled mobiles phones

ANT/ANT+ RF ICs

ANT is today the de-facto standard for ultra low power wireless connectivity in sports & fitness equipment, and is fast gaining momentum and support in healthcare applications. It is supported by a range of ANT+ profiles for healthcare applications enabling multivendor interoperability, and the first mobile phones with built-in ANT+ support were launched in early 2011.

The nRF24AP2 Series of ANT Connectivity ICs is the second generation ANT product line-up from Nordic Semiconductor. The nRF24AP2 Series defines the industry-leading benchmark for power consumption from a single chip ANT solution and includes the following Nordic products:

nRF24AP2-8CH - 8-channel ANT Connectivity IC with integrated 2.4GHz radio and enhanced ANT protocol stack, ideally suited for ANT/ANT+ hub devices that may need to connect to multiple sensors simultaneously:

• Wrist top hubs / watches
• Blood glucose meters
• Blood pressure meters
• Pulse oximeter meters

nRF24AP2-1CH - 1-channel ANT Connectivity IC with integrated 2.4GHz radio and enhanced ANT protocol stack, ideally suited for a wide range of ANT/ANT+ sensors including:

• Heart-rate belts
• Blood glucose sensors
• Blood pressure sensors
• Pulse oximeter sensors
• Activity sensors
• Weight scales

nRF24AP2-USB - 8-channel ANT Connectivity IC with integrated 2.4GHz radio, enhanced ANT protocol stack, and full-speed USB interface. A true single chip solution for USB dongles delivering ANT/ANT+ connectivity and supported by driver software for both Microsoft Windows and Mac OS X. Ideally suited for:

• USB dongles
• Built-in connectivity with USB host interface

Bluetooth^® low energy RF ICs

Bluetooth low energy is an emerging technology with a roadmap for Continua^®-compliant profiles for healthcare applications. The first profiles – including heart rate – are expected to be ratified mid-2011, with the first Bluetooth low energy mobile phones due by the end of 2011.

The Nordic μBlue™ Series of Bluetooth low energy IC features the industry's lowest power consumption, and include:

nRF8001 – A highly integrated Bluetooth low energy connectivity IC, ideally suited for healthcare applications as and when profiles become available.

2.4GHz RF ICs

The nRF24L Series of 2.4GHz RF ICs is an alternative solution for performance/cost-optimized applications where the interoperability benefits of ANT/ANT+ or Bluetooth low energy are not required such as:

• Hearing aids
• Remote controls for hearing aids