Near Zero Cost Business

Development of ultra low-power smart sensor nodes for cardiovascular activity monitoring
2015 – 2016
Public research networked with companies, Tekes – the Finnish Funding Agency for Innovation
Total budget: 525 000€
Ongoing

There is huge commercial potential in the exploitation of data provided by miniaturized sensors and this field will grow fast in the near future. At the heart of applications such as industrial internet, health monitoring etc. are low-power smart sensor nodes which wirelessly connect to the network and provide useful information to be directly used or for further processing. The development of service and business concepts which make use of this data is in a big role when targeting commercially successful business – only well thought out services which are reliable, user-friendly and reasonably priced can survive.

In Finland, about 5000 people suffers from a stroke every year. With a massive screening of atrial fibrillation (AF) it would be possible to significantly decrease the number of strokes, because AF is a major risk factor for the stroke and many people are unaware of having this arrhythmia. Early detection of AF alone could avoid up to 2000 deaths every year and costs up to 1 billion euro per year (direct costs are about 500 M€, indirect even more depending on the method of calculating).

In the future, miniaturized low-cost devices can detect AF which enables the screening of the masses. Low manufacturing costs make it possible to use a give-away business model and build the business around the services around the devices.

In the Near Zero Cost Business project development and exploitation of MEMS and new business models are investigated. A ultra low-power smart sensor node for monitoring cardiovascular activity is developed. Custom designed SoC features electromechanical sensing, data processing and wireless communication. New ”Give Away” business model enabled by the developed SoC is investigated. The new business concept is pilot studied in Finland and the results are utilized in scaling to global markets.

Press coverage
Entä jos sydänkohtauksen voisi nähdä älypuhelimella? (in Finnish), Luonnontieteilijä (December 14 2015)