KarmelSonix selects Blackfin digital signal processors from Analog Devices

Analog Devices, Inc. announced today that KarmelSonix, pioneers in medical device development for asthma management, have chosen Analog Devices’ Blackfin digital signal processors and advanced signal chain components to power its products. KarmelSonix’s non-invasive acoustic technology devices, the Wholter^TM, an overnight pulmonary monitor, and the Wheezometer^TM, a personal asthmatic assessment device, address the critical need of over 300 million asthma sufferers worldwide, and over 50 million people in G7 countries alone, to self-assess and manage their threatening asthma symptoms- a capability previously available only at clinicians’ offices or hospitals.

“Asthmatic attack assessment requires moment to moment data acquisition and processing of lung activity, making real-time precision processing a critical factor. Our products’ effectiveness is driven by the on-patient sensors’ ability to acquire and process pulmonary activity quickly and accurately,” said Yitzhak Kroin, CTO and VP of R&D, KarmelSonix. “It is Analog Devices’ signal processing components and expertise that enabled us to achieve our device design goals for high performance, low price and low power demand.”

Powerful Performance and Mobile Precision

The Blackfin BF525-based Wheezometer, a hand held, mobile device acquires real-time data from sensors attached to the patient’s body, then stores, processes and displays the results as a “wheeze rate” level. This unique capability is facilitated by a proprietary noninvasive piezoelectric sensor array that enables detection, through sensitive breath sound analysis, of respiratory wheezing (stridor). To accomplish this granular level of data acquisition and processing, the Blackfin’s 600 MHz of performance coupled with its integrated DSP and control capabilities enables the device to produce a medically acceptable level of performance for the user, whether at home or in transit. The battery-operated Wheezometer’s mobility is facilitated by the low power consumption of the Blackfin BF525 processor (as low as 0.26mW/MHz @ 250MHz).

Continuous Real-Time Data Capture and Signal Processing

For at-home pulmonary diagnostics, the Blackfin BF524-based Wholter includes an on-person monitoring device which monitors wheeze activity over an extended period of time. The Wholter records continual breathing effort and heart rate from two phonopneumography (PPG) sensors and then digitally stores the data on the device’s flash memory for a 24-hour time period. After the recording period, the processed data is then uploaded to the physician’s system for diagnosis.

The Wheezometer designers were able to take full advantage of the core Blackfin processor’s extensive peripheral connectivity, including, SPI, SPORT, USB and serial ports, and other signal chain components including an ADI AD8608 low noise, quad rail-to-rail, I/O operational amplifier and an ADM708 voltage monitoring supervisory circuit. KarmelSonix’s Wholter device utilizes an ADI AD7656 6-channel, simultaneous sampling bipolar 16-Bit analog-to-digital converter (ADC), in addition to the aforementioned ADI voltage monitoring and amplifier components.

“KarmelSonix, by leveraging the power and precision of ADI signal processing technology, is an excellent example of an innovative company developing medical devices that transform the healthcare industry, while simultaneously bringing a sense of security to asthmatic patients,” said Colin Duggan, product line director, ADI GP DSP Division. “The exceptional performance, precision and low power consumption delivered via ADI’s advanced digital signal processors and signal processing components enabled KarmelSonix’s feature-rich, mobile designs.”