Monitoring vital signs through contactless technology
PrīmSphera is a sensor technology company pioneering break-through solutions to solve real-world challenges. The company’s vision is to create a contactless sensor platform to improve effective decision making by unlocking insights that are otherwise unavailable. PrīmSphera has selected healthcare as a primary industry for the beachhead market, with additional applications in defense and food processing.
Solving known problems
Fluid management challenges manifest in a variety of conditions that often lead to hospitalization in chronic diseases such as heart failure, chronic kidney disease and liver disease. In the U.S. there are 48.5 million people living with these diseases, which results in approximately 7 million annual hospitalizations.
In the case of heart failure, fluid build-up occurs due to the heart’s inability to efficiently pump blood around the body. Less fluid being moved around the body with each heartbeat causes fluid retention. In chronic kidney disease, general dysfunction not associated with reduced heart function leads to the same resulting fluid overload. Similarly, in advanced liver cirrhosis, excess fluid builds up in the abdominal cavity, a condition known as ascites.
Unlike in a sudden cardiac event, fluid levels increase relatively slowly, over weeks. The amount of fluid may vary naturally based on the patient’s lifestyle. Once the fluid starts to steadily rise, it can be a month or more before the level of fluid becomes a threat. At that point, patients require hospitalization for treatment to return to a stable fluid volume.
If clinicians had the means to monitor patient fluid levels, they could use existing tools to intervene before hospitalization. Early, reliable, fluid data is unavailable today. With an at-home fluid monitoring system, clinicians are enabled to safely administer diuretics and adjust diet and exercise plans without admitting their patient into the hospital.
To date there are no effective means of monitoring fluid in the body at home. Existing methods include implantables and wearables, all of which only measure surrogate data such as arterial pressures, or measuring vascular fluid, which only imply fluid levels. These methods are insufficient and are not accurate enough to provide an early warning.
Now, PrīmSphera is ready to disrupt the medical market with an at-home contactless technology that measures the change in body fluid far earlier than competing products.
Research breakthrough enables contactless measurement
The underlying technology of the PrīmSphera sensor platform is Radio Frequency Polarization Mode Dispersion (RF PMD) patented by Dr. Thomas Pratt of the University of Notre Dame.
RF PMD refers to the polarization change of radio frequency signals after passing through space, reflecting off objects and recombining at the receiver, which results in a large data-rich output to help classify signals.
The total solution comprises an optimized antenna array, a software-defined radio (SDR) and patented processing algorithm. PrīmSphera developed the custom antenna array, which is unique to the device, and chose the AMD ZynqTM UltraScale+TM RFSoC as the heart of the SDR.
Chris Rauh, co-founder and chief technology officer of PrīmSphera, explained that while the antenna array is designed for the application, the real differentiating intellectual property is in the algorithm running on the SDR, processing the reflected RF signals.
“We designed the platform using the AMD Zynq UltraScale+ RFSoC, which has an ideal level of integration and performance for our application,” said Rauh.
“The AMD Zynq UltraScale+ RFSoC has an ideal level of integration for our application.”
Chris Rauh, co-founder and CTO, PrīmSphera.
Cloud-based HMI using /IOTCONNECT
PrīmSphera is working with Softweb Solutions, an Avnet company, to leverage the /IOTCONNECT™ ecosystem. /IOTCONNECT comprises software that runs in devices and on cloud platforms to create a secure end-to-end connection. The /IOTCONNECT ecosystem also provides a simple interface to AWS IoT cloud components, making it easier and faster to develop connected devices.
PrīmSphera’s at-home device has a simple user interface that relies on the /IOTCONNECT web portal, which features data trends and notifications associated with patients and clinicians.
“My goal was to create the most intuitive user interface possible, and /IOTCONNECT truly delivers on that vision,” explained Cassandra Adams, co-founder and chief executive officer, PrīmSphera.
PrīmSphera recently completed a human factors user study and received positive interaction feedback on overall usability of the device and the /IOTCONNECT portals.
In 2025 PrīmSphera will conduct clinical study as well as submit its first 510(k) application to the U.S. Food and Drug Administration.
“My goal was to create the most intuitive user interface possible, and /IOTCONNECT truly delivers on that vision.”
Cassandra Adams, co-founder & CEO, PrīmSphera.
/IOTCONNECT provides framework for PrīmSphera’s innovative body scanner
Avnet worked with PrīmSphera to deliver the hardware and software that makes its innovative body scanning technology a viable product for use in the home. The solution uses /IOTCONNECT to give patients and doctors secure access to the scan data, providing early detection of possible fluid retention.
Electronic health record integration
Another critical reason for using /IOTCONNECT with cloud connectivity relates to PrīmSphera’s business plan. Full electronic health record (EHR) integration has always been part of the strategy. It allows the data to be stored and accessed remotely by clinicians and patients.
Integration with EHR can be challenging for companies entering the medical market. Avnet has successfully navigated the EHR landscape using /IOTCONNECT for a number of companies. “This was a definite benefit for PrīmSphera,” Rauh said.
/IOTCONNECT is Avnet’s platform as a service (PaaS), designed to provide an ecosystem complementary to AWS IoT. Using /IOTCONNECT makes it faster and more secure to connect to a cloud platform. Scalability and security are at the core of /IOTCONNECT, using secure device management to provision and update connected devices throughout their product lifecycle.
To find out more about /IOTCONNECT, or how Avnet can help you get your next product to market, contact your local Avnet representative.
Learn more about PrīmSphera and follow them on LinkedIn to track their success.
