Continuous Care Is Moving Beyond the Hospital, Says ADI and Sensio

Healthcare in India is shifting from treatment to prevention, and wearables are supplying the data.
Analog Devices India and Sensio explain how sensing and semiconductor technology now enable remote patient monitoring, wellness and preventive care.
Vivek Tyagi, Head of Regional Sales and Head of India; Praveen Jose, Sr. Technical Leader of Field Applications; and Vikash Singh, Product Application Staff Engineer of Healthcare Marketing & Applications, join Sensio CEO Dr. Venkatesh Vadde to discuss the opportunities and hurdles to scaling connected healthcare.

Vivek Tyagi: Digital healthcare is particularly relevant in India because of the country’s population, growing stress and the rise of lifestyle-related conditions such as hypertension and diabetes. Continuous monitoring of vital signs can support preventive diagnostics and help people act before a condition reaches a more critical stage. The cost of healthcare becomes much higher after diagnosis and hospitalization, so prevention is important.

Q: What needs to change for wearables to move beyond fitness tracking?

Dr. Venkatesh Vadde: Wearables initially focused on fitness and activity because that was how wellness was defined. Moving to multiple vital signs and healthcare use requires collaborations such as the one between Sensio and ADI, as well as devices that are reliable and medical grade. These devices must earn the trust of doctors and medical practitioners.

Q: How are sensors, small form factors and battery life balanced?

Dr. Venkatesh Vadde: The first consideration is the placement of sensors, their housing and, where relevant, the optics, so that the device obtains the best possible signals. The second is the balance among signal quality, measurement frequency and duration of use. Lower measurement frequency can extend battery life.

Praveen Jose: Algorithms can also determine what data should be captured in a particular situation. A device can remain in sleep or deeper power-saving modes for much of the time, then wake when conditions require a measurement.

Q: Are Sensio’s devices meant for fitness or clinical use?

Dr. Venkatesh Vadde: Sensio cleared ISO 13485 the week before the briefing. It is an ISO process qualification and certification for companies making medical-grade devices. We see this as a clear step from fitness and wellness toward health, and we believe the larger opportunity lies in clinical and medical-grade use.

Q: How do you address motion artifacts and signal quality in real-world use?

Praveen Jose: Optics are critical to obtaining an accurate signal. To address customers’ integration challenges, ADI has developed an analog front end with integrated optics. This approach is intended to provide accurate data in a smaller, compact form factor.

Vikash Singh: Noise is a major challenge for PPG and ECG data. ADI works with customers to co-design the system so that noise is minimized and the performance specifications in the data sheets can be achieved.

Dr. Venkatesh Vadde: Motion artifacts, power consumption and signal quality are interconnected systems issues. Even a fraction of a millimeter of lift between the optical assembly and the skin can affect the PPG signal. An inertial measurement unit can help identify and screen motion artifacts so that only higher-quality data is accepted.

Q: How do sensing and AI work together at the edge?

Dr. Venkatesh Vadde: Edge AI will allow more processing to happen on the wearable device. A second layer of intelligence can sit on the nearby smartphone, and at the highest level, cloud-based AI can analyze longitudinal data over months and years.

Vivek Tyagi: Wearable devices need edge AI because they may not always be connected, particularly when they are outside a network.

Q: How can continuous data become something people can act on?

Dr. Venkatesh Vadde: This is fundamentally a data problem. More data can establish an individual’s baseline and create a digital model of that person’s health profile. Adherence and compliance are also important: people must wear the device and allow it to collect data. The burden on the user should therefore be reduced and the experience made as smooth and autonomous as possible.

Q: What stops wearable data from becoming part of routine patient care?

Vivek Tyagi: Certification is a central requirement. Unless wearable devices reach a level of certification comparable to FDA approval in the United States or its equivalent in India, hospitals and doctors may not readily accept the devices or integrate their data with hospital systems.

Dr. Venkatesh Vadde: A practical starting point is to use qualified, certified devices to monitor admitted patients outside the ICU, including step-down ICUs, wards and private rooms.

Q: What is the biggest barrier to mainstream continuous monitoring in India?

Vivek Tyagi: Awareness and affordability remain challenges, although both are improving. Some brands have sourced products from original design manufacturers in other countries, relabeled them and marketed them in India instead of investing in R&D for products designed around Indian requirements. Building the market will require awareness, affordability and the ability to design, develop and manufacture products in India.

Q: How can costs come down?

Praveen Jose: Greater product integration can reduce cost. The device can be customized for an application such as a ring.

Dr. Venkatesh Vadde: Mainstream silicon CMOS processes help keep semiconductor unit costs low. At the wearable-device level, new products and higher quality tend to begin at a higher price, while volume helps bring costs down.

Q: Where does ADI see the commercial opportunity?

Vivek Tyagi: Healthcare could become a significant business and market opportunity in India over the next five to seven years because of the country’s demographics, population size and lifestyle-related diseases. The objective is not limited to a commercial opportunity; ADI also wants to build the ecosystem. Sensio represents a product and systems company developing the product, manufacturing process, certification process, and future cloud analytics and AI. ADI also wants to explore collaboration with universities conducting research in the field.