MEDICAL BLUETOOTH LE DEVICES
www.newelectronics.co.uk 23 February 2021 21
Feodora/stock.adobe.com
conditions at home.
Historically, connected medical
device engineers have been
challenged by a number of factors,
such as cost and power availability.
For example, the bill of materials,
for both the SoC and external
components needed to design a
smart blood pressure meter or smart
inhaler, has been a major roadblock
for engineers trying to deliver
meaningful connectivity for these
applications.
Meanwhile, power consumption
and shelf life have also been major
design hurdles.
Medical devices often have long
shelf lives, lasting anywhere between
18 months and four years. If the SoC
is not consuming power efficiently it
simply won’t be able to keep up with
user needs.
Tackling these challenges
To overcome these challenges, back
in November 2019, Dialog introduced
the DA14531. As the world’s
smallest and most power-efficient
Bluetooth 5.1 SoC, the DA14531 SoC
and DA14531 module were designed
specifically to simplify Bluetooth
product development and enable
wider adoption in industries such as
healthcare.
The chip, also known as
SmartBond TINY lowers the threshold
in terms of cost of adding BLE
functionality to a level where it’s not
any longer prohibitive, even not for
disposables. an application to as little
as $0.50 in high volumes. The SoC’s
high level of integration only requires
six external passives, a single clock
source and a power supply to make
a complete Bluetooth low energy
system. Combined with its ultra-small
form factor of just 2.0 x 1.7 mm, the
SmartBond TINY can easily fit into any
medical device engineer’s design.
SmartBond TINY is based on a
powerful 32-bit ARM Cortex M0+
with integrated memories and a
complete set of analogue and digital
peripherals, delivering a record score
of 18300 on the latest IoTMark-
BLE, the EEMBC benchmark for IoT
connectivity.
Its architecture and resources
allow it to be used as a standalone
wireless microcontroller or as an RF
data pipe extension for designs with
existing microcontrollers.
TINY’s low power consumption
also ensures a long operating and
shelf life, even while powered by the
smallest of batteries. The DA14531’s
integrated DC-DC converter enables
a wide operating voltage (1.1 to
3.3V) and derives power directly from
environmentally-friendly, disposable
silver oxide, zinc air or printable
batteries required for high-volume
applications, such as smart glucose
monitors.
The future of BLE connectivity
As the list of devices requiring
wireless connectivity continues to
grow, so does pressure and cost of
delivering a complete IoT system with
medical applications. SmartBond TINY
looks to address the growing breadth
and costs of IoT devices by enabling
a complete system cost reduction
through a smaller footprint and size,
while maintaining performance quality
at a level unmatched by competitors.
The DA14531 makes it possible
to extend wireless connectivity to
applications where it would have
previously been prohibitive in terms of
size, power or cost, especially those
within the growing connected medical
field. In instances where wearable
products will be considered to
support medical monitoring functions,
the DA1469x family is a perfect
choice – it is fully equipped with an
on-board sensor node controller and
all functionality required for wearableon
chip designs.
From blood pressure wearables
to smartphone-connected glucose
monitoring and connected inhalers,
the number of connected medical
devices that are possible is limitless
- and so is the opportunity for
innovating patients’ quality of life with
BLE.
With the ability to turn any device
into a connected application, the
TINY SoC and module are opening
new markets and driving the
adoption of BLE beyond what was
previously thought possible in today’s
landscape.
“Historically,
connected
medical device
engineers have
been challenged
by a number of
factors, such as
cost and power
availability.”
Adrie Van
Meijeren
/www.newelectronics.co.uk
/stock.adobe.com