Link This |
Email this |
Blog This |
Comments (4)
St. Jude Medical Center advances with in-body communications
July 17, 2008
If you or somebody you know has undergone treatment for heart failure or arrhythmias, you understand that having the more up-to-date technology and treatment can make a life-changing difference.
Zarlink Semiconductors has teamed up with St. Jude Medical Center to expand technology used for in-body communications. St. Jude’s is a leader in development of medical technologies and services used to treat cardiac, neurological, and chronic pain in patients worldwide. Located in Canada, Zarlink has shipped over 30,000 radio modules to the center which are being used in wireless enabled devices to treat patients with heart failure and arrhythmias. Implantable medical devices which can use these radio modules including pacemakers, implantable cardioverter defibrillators (ICD), neurostimulators, implantable insulin pumps, bladder control devices, and implantable physiological monitors.
Zarlink’s ZL70101 radio system-on-a-chip has high data rates, low power consumption, and a wake-up circuitry. These features enable wireless performance in medical devices that support advanced monitoring, and diagnostic and therapeutic applications. The ZL70101 is the first chip designed exclusively to operate in the Medical Implantable Communication service (MICS).
St. Jude Medical Center has developed a custom MICS radio frequency (RF) module which incorporates the ZL70101 in its advanced cardiac resynchronization therapy defibrillator (CRT-D) and ICD products. This wireless technology enables communication between the implanted devices and program equipment in a clinician’s office or hospital.
“The ZL70101 radio chip for in-body communications is innovative technology that solves key performance challenges for St. Jude Medical and other manufacturers in this growing area of medical telemetry,” said Steve Swift, Senior Vice President and General Manager of Zarlink’s Medical Communications product group in a press release.
“The ZL70101 was designed and optimized for use in both implanted medical devices and external instruments, including patient home monitors that will provide the ability to monitor patients outside the clinical setting.”
A major goal for the development of this technology is to find a way to provide patient care and device management that is more convenient.
Posted by Melissa D'Amico on July 17, 2008 | Comments (4)
