Design and implementation of an ultra-small vital-signs-monitoring multi-sensing microsystem for COVID-19 management

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This collaborative research project, which counts on a multidisciplinary team, including two universities, two Canada research Chairs, and three innovative partner organizations in medical technologies and advanced manufacturing, aims to design, manufacture and test a tiny, inexpensive and easy-to-use wearable multi-sensing device to continuously monitor patients remotely, and help greatly to manage COVID-19. This device will be useful both for the follow-up of patients that tested positive as for the monitoring of patients at risk such as the elderly or immunocompromised. We envision the smallest vital signs monitoring device ever designed. This microsensor will achieve an extreme level of miniaturization by combining CMOS custom integrated circuits with ultra-small electronic components available off the shelf (COTS) through an advanced 3D-IC integration strategy that will be developed in collaboration with CMC Microsystems. The miniature multi-sensing device will address the requirements of iMD research, which strives to provide patients with inexpensive multi-sensing monitoring devices of extended battery life to continuously measure temperature, heart rate (HR), blood pressure (BP), oxygen saturation (SPO2) and respiratory rate (RR) remotely. Application-specific integrated circuits (ASICs) and ultra-small COTS will be combined and interconnected together using the advanced system-in-package chip integration that will be developed based on silicon interposers. The power consumption of the whole microsensor will be very low, within a few hundreds of microwatts, in order to extend the battery life. A custom software application will be developed in collaboration with Nexless to accurately and continuously read patients' vital signs and close the loop between the patients and various connected devices, such as Nexless's ventilators. At scale, our device will be inexpensive and provide direct and effective relief to patients, their families, and health care workers. Furthermore, the ability of Canada to reopen its economy will depend on our ability to measure and monitor the fluctuation in COVID-19 cases. Our device could be of immense help in that effort.