Comprised of wearable, coin-cell powered ultra-low power (ULP) wireless sensors based on Nordic Semiconductor 2.4GHz transceivers, the ActiHealth BodyLAN monitoring system from FitSense provides guidance and timely motivational feedback to start and maintain active and healthy lifestyles. Accuracy and reliability in field trials has persuaded leading US healthcare and wellness providers(1) to offer reward incentives for policy-holders that achieve recommended daily activity levels as measured by ActiHealth - as it reduces healthcare costs(2)
Oslo, Norway - December 6, 2007 - Nordic Semiconductor ASA (OSE: NOD) today announced that US wireless health monitoring pioneer, FitSense Inc., has standardized on its nRF2401A 2.4GHz transceivers in its wearable, coin-cell sensor powered ActiHealth BodyLAN system.
ActiHealth BodyLAN has proven so reliable and accurate in field trials, that leading US healthcare and wellness program providers are now employing the system to measure the activity levels of policy-holders. Individuals that achieve recommended daily activity levels receive reward incentives.
BodyLANTM is a patented, ULP wireless personal area network (PAN) that can control and respond to miniaturized health and wellness measurement sensors or actuators. These are typically efficient and compact enough to run off coin cell batteries for up to two years.
ActiHealth is a network that provides a secure end-to-end data network that makes it easy for healthcare and wellness program providers to process personal health data and present the feedback to members. ActiHealth all day activity monitor sensors monitor activity parameters such as caloric burn, activity duration, distance, and total number of steps. In addition, the BodyLAN Wireless protocol has been embedded within health devices including scales, blood pressure monitors, and peak flow meters (FEV2 and FEV6). This wearable monitoring system provides timely motivational feedback encouraging change in personal behavior. The user can view personal health data instantly during their daily routine.
ActiHealth sensors upload their data automatically via an ActiLink wireless transceiver with a range of 30 to 100 feet (10 to 30m). Collected data is uploaded to secure FitSense data servers (feeding to a healthcare and wellness provider's servers if required) via an ActiLink wireless connection using a PC. Optionally, FitSense provides an ActiHealth personal dashboard PC application, for developing and managing private personal monitoring programs.
"We currently have around 25 pilot schemes with wellness and healthcare providers now reaching maturity" says Dave Monahan, VP of marketing and business development at FitSense. "As such we confidently expect that the model of having healthcare and wellness organizations reward physical activity will become common among leading US and international providers.
"Obesity is on the rise and it brings with it serious and costly health problems such as diabetes, heart disease and cancer," continues Monahan. "Numerous studies link inactivity to the increase in obesity. More recently, researchers have found that tracking activity with an activity monitor and a specific goal in place can greatly increase activity levels while reducing an individual's weight. This, in turn, can lead to a decrease in obesity levels over time(3)."
"When we were developing BodyLAN we compared Nordic's chip with that of every other vendor we could find on the market," adds Tom Quinlan, FitSense Executive VP of Engineering. "In serious lab trials - that often present a picture far different to the data sheet - we found the nRF2401A to be unsurpassed in terms of its ability to provide ad hoc point-to-point transmissions in the most hostile 2.4GHz operating environments. This is crucial given BodyLAN applications can incorporate hundreds of wireless sensors in a single location and are expected to work even in the presence of other 2.4GHz sources [such as Bluetooth wireless technology and Wi-Fi].
"Key to this achievement is Nordic's unique ShockBurstTM technology," continues Quinlan. "This technology stores and automatically transmits data in short efficient bursts (preamble length, for instance is just 8 bits versus a 16 bits market typical figure) in order to minimize power consumption and the likelihood of packet collisions."
According to Quinlan, the popular Bluetooth wireless technology was not a good solution for this application. "The problem is with Bluetooth wireless technology's synchronization requirement - which drives up power consumption (along with other factors) to an order of magnitude too high - and also incurs a 200 percent hike in cost compared with the Nordic-based solution," Quinlan says.
FitSense demanded sensor battery life of 1 to 2 years from a 3V coin cell because the sensors must be lightweight and wearable. The ultra-low power consumption of Nordic's nRF2401A enabled this critical specification to be met (see "About nRF2401A" below).
Key to the success of the ActiHealth BodyLAN technology is its ability to modify a person's everyday activity behavior using feedback. "Feedback is the motivational glue that holds such programs together," says Monahan."The 60% of the population who are inactive but know that they should become more active just need a little bit of guidance as to what they should do, when and where they can fit it into their busy lives, and how well they're doing to keep them motivated and confident that they're making progress. That can be as simple, for example, as aiming to take 5000 steps a day by building a short walk into a morning coffee break and during lunch, and aiming to take a short stroll on the way home from work."
(1) Early illustrative example: GlobalFit online fitness corporate program, see http://www.globalfit.com/corp/news10.asp.
(2) According to the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, an estimated 75% of all healthcare costs directly stem from preventable, obesity-related health conditions such as Type-2 diabetes.
(3) Source: Bravata D, et al. http://jama.ama-assn.org/cgi/content/abstract/298/19/2296 "Using pedometers to increase physical activity and improve health: a systematic review", JAMA 2007; 298: 2296-2304.
About the nRF2401ATM
The nRF2401A is a high sensitivity (-93 dBm), true GFSK single chip transceiver with a maximum date rate of 1 Mbit/s. It consists of a fully integrated frequency synthesizer, a power amplifier, a crystal oscillator and a modulator. Output power and frequency channels are easily programmable by use of a 3-wire serial interface. Current consumption is very low, only 10.5 mA at an output power (TX) of -5 dBm and 18 mA in receive (RX) mode. Built-in Power Down modes make significant power savings easily realizable.
The nRF2401A requires only two external components and no external SAW filter - so is well suited to compact applications. It is designed specifically to block interference in crowded 2.4 GHz environments and utilizes a unique ShockBurst" feature in both receive and transmit modes to greatly simply protocol and software design, minimize power consumption and relax MCU requirements.
The nRF2401A comes in a small 24-pin QFN24 5 x 5 mm package, offers a 0 to 1 Mbit/s data rate, offers multi-channel operation and supports frequency hopping across up to 125 channels with a channel switching time of less than 200 µs, includes data slicing and clock recovery of data plus address and CRC computations.
It also features DuoCeiver" technology for simultaneous dual receiver topologies and a ShockBurst" mode for ultra low-power operation and relaxed MCU performance. Power supply range is 1.9 to 3.6 V, supply current is just 10.5 mA peak (TX) at -5 dBm output power and 18 mA peak (RX) in receive mode. Operating temperature range is -40 to +85 ºC.
Prime applications include wireless mouse, keyboards and joysticks, keyless entry, wireless data communication, alarm and security systems, home automation, surveillance, automotive, telemetry, intelligent sports equipment (e.g. wrist watches and associated sensors), industrial sensors and toys.
About FitSense (http://www.fitsense.com)
FitSense Technology Inc. - a wholly owned subsidiary of FitLinxx - is a health and wellness technology company whose products are designed to motivate people to become and stay physically active.
About FitLinxx (http://www.fitlinxx.com)
FitLinxx is the leading provider of products that motivate people to become and stay physically active. FitLinxx offers low-cost, wireless devices that are networked together and collect information from fitness equipment, personal activity devices and health monitors. This information is used to provide a comprehensive, web-based view of activity and health data, to enable individuals and organizations to better monitor and manage their health. FitLinxx serves a variety of markets including healthcare providers, YMCAs, commercial clubs, medical fitness centers, healthcare providers, military facilities and medical device markets.
FitLinxx is headquartered at Norwalk, Connecticut in the United States, with regional offices around the US, including a research and development office in Southborough, Mass.; and European headquarters in the UK.
About Nordic Semiconductor ASA
Nordic Semiconductor is a fabless semiconductor company specializing in ultra low power short-range wireless communication. Nordic is a public company listed on the Norwegian stock exchange.
Nordic provides RF silicon solutions including:
- Highly integrated RF silicon
- Sophisticated and flexible development tools
- Application specific communication software
- Complete reference designs
The company's innovative range of wireless solutions includes:
- The nRF24L01TM ultra-low cost and power 2.4GHz transceiver with MultiCeiver technology supporting up to six simultaneous wireless devices;
- The nRF24LU1TM a single chip 2.4GHz transceiver with full-speed USB, microcontroller and flash memory enabling ultra compact USB dongles for wireless peripherals;
- The nRF2401ATM and nRF2402TM compact, lowest cost, lowest current consumption and low voltage supply 2.4GHz RF transceivers;
- The nRF24AP1TM ultra-low power 2.4GHz transceiver for wireless communication with Dynastream Innovations production-proven low-power network protocol, ANT";
- The nRF24E1TM and nRF24E2TM low cost transceivers paired with the industry standard 8051 MCU core, and leading peripherals to create the world's first complete low cost SoCs for global 2.4GHz operation;
- The nRF24Z1TM single chip system for CD quality audio streaming of up to 16-bit, 48-kHz audio;
- The nRF905TM single-chip multiband radio transceiver for the 433, 868 or 915MHz ISM band;
- The nRF9E5TM low-cost, single-chip system with fully integrated RF transceiver for the 433, 868 or 915MHz ISM band;
- The nRF2401ATM and nRF2402TM compact, lowest cost, lowest current consumption and low voltage supply 2.4-GHz RF transceivers.
Nordic Semiconductor's nRF24xx range of 2.4 GHz-transceiver and transmitter devices are aimed at applications such as PC peripherals, keyboards/mice, game controllers, intelligent sports equipment and wireless audio (for example, mp3 and portable CD player headphones and PC speakers). The latest nRF24L01 family, for instance, is targeted at ultra-low cost and power applications such as wireless desktops and intelligent (for example, wristwatch-based) sports equipment.
Nordic is an associate member of the Bluetooth SIG, and has contributed core expertise in ultra-low power RF design to the forthcoming specification for ultra low power Bluetooth wireless technology. Ultra low power Bluetooth wireless technology is a short range RF communication technology featuring ultra-low power consumption, a lightweight protocol stack and simple integration with Bluetooth® wireless technology chips. Ultra low power Bluetooth wireless technology ushers in the next generation of RF communications by opening up many new opportunities for wireless data links between suitably equipped mobile phones or personal computers (PCs) and coin cell battery-powered devices such as sports and health sensors.
Nordic's products are all manufactured in ultra modern semiconductor process technologies through strong relationships with world-best manufacturing facilities. Sales are primarily made through a carefully selected worldwide distribution network. The company has offices in Trondheim and Oslo, Norway, the US (west coast), Hong Kong, Korea and Japan, and is listed on the Norwegian Stock Exchange (OSX: NOD). All operations are managed according to the ISO 9001:2000-approved quality assurance system.
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