The Mass. Institute of Technology, GE’s (NYSE:GE) Global Research and Analog Devices Inc. (NYSE:ADI) are teaming up to create the Medical Electronic Device Realization Center to push connectivity between health care providers and patients.
The idea is to bring together large business, venture-funded start-ups and the medical community to create prototype devices and intellectual property and promote implementation of technologies to reduce health care costs in the developed and developing worlds.
“MEDRC will develop technologies for patient-monitoring devices, point-of-care instruments and the communication technology to connect patients to caregivers," said co-founder and MIT LeBel professor of electrical engineering Charles Sodini. "These technologies will enable affordable and accessible delivery of services to patients across the globe."
GE is particularly interested in improvements to ultrasound imaging. GE researchers are building more intelligence into ultrasound probes in effort to achieve higher quality images and aid in the diagnosis of disease, according to a press release.
ADI engineers and MEDRC scientists plan to research technologies that enable portable, non-invasive monitoring of vital signs, such as heart rate, blood pressure and respiratory rate.
The center is lead by Sodini, who is also affiliated with Microsystems Technology Laboratories; Brian Anthony, director of the master of engineering in manufacturing program at the Laboratory for Manufacturing and Productivity; and Joel Voldman, associate professor of electrical engineering and computer science in the Research Laboratory of Electronics.
