SonoSkin will realise an open technology platform for wearable ultrasound devices … … for continuous and unobtrusive health monitoring.

About SonoSkin

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Unobtrusive continuous ultrasound monitoring

Affordable and scalable MEMS ultrasound technology in combination with edge AI have made it possible to manufacture wearable ultrasound devices that allow for the continuous and unobtrusive monitoring of organs and vital bodily processes deep inside the body. This satisfies a large unmet clinical need and opens the way to high-volume consumer applications.

It is the objective of SonoSkin to develop open-access platform technologies powered by reference designs that will enable the realization of a multitude of wearable ultrasound applications from multiple manufacturers and to demonstrate these in challenging 2D ultrasound products and 3D ultrasound concepts. This is highlighted by two challenging use cases for lung and musculoskeletal health monitoring.

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Impact

Europe traditionally has a very strong position in ultra-sound diagnostics. SonoSkin will be instrumental in consolidating and extending that position. Sixty years after its first introduction into the professional medical domain, ultra-sound diagnostics is now ready to enter the new markets of out-of-hospital, wearable and consumer applications.

The open platform for wearable ultrasound that will be realized in the SonoSkin project can be tailored to many applications both in the professional as well as in the consumer domains. These new markets will generate the production volumes necessary to fuel further innovations in MEMS ultra-sound technology, allowing Europe to maintain its leading role in professional ultra-sound diagnostics.

Next to the already mentioned lung and musculoskeletal health monitoring applications addressed in the SonoSkin use cases, wearable ultrasound technology will find its application in the monitoring of blood pressure, cardiac output, foetal heart, (post-partum) haemorrhages, pre-eclampsia, pregnancies at risk in general, fertility and bladder.

From a societal perspective, continuous body monitoring with devices that can be worn unobtrusively on the body and that continuously monitor vital body parameters will allow elderly and sick people to remain longer in their home environment, thereby reducing hospitalisation and consequently the cost of healthcare.