SMART launches Wearable Imaging for Transforming Elderly Care research group | MIT News

What if ultrasound imaging is no longer available in hospitals? Patients with chronic conditions, such as high blood pressure and heart failure, can be continuously monitored in real time at home or on the move, providing healthcare practitioners with continuous clinical information instead of images accessed from time to time – a scan here and a test there. This shift from active, hospital-based care to preventive, community and home-based care may allow for early detection and timely intervention, as well as truly personalized care.

To bring this vision to reality, the Singapore-MIT Alliance for Research and Technology (SMART), the research business of MIT in Singapore, launched a new joint research project: Wearable Imaging for Transforming Elderly Care (WITEC).

WITEC marks a pioneering effort in wearable technology, medical imaging, research, and materials science. It will be dedicated to basic research and development of the world’s first ultrasound imaging system capable of taking 48-hour periodic cardiovascular imaging for continuous and real-time monitoring and diagnosis of chronic conditions such as hypertension and heart failure.

This multi-million dollar, multi-year research program, supported by the National Research Foundation (NRF) Singapore under its Campus for Research Excellence and Technological Enterprise program, brings together senior researchers and expertise from MIT, Nanyang Technological University (NTU Singapore), and the National University of Singapore (NUS). Tan Tock Seng Hospital (TTSH) is a WITEC clinical partner and will conduct patient trials to validate long-term cardiac imaging for the management of cardiovascular disease.

“Addressing society’s most pressing challenges requires innovative, interdisciplinary thinking. Building on SMART’s long legacy in Singapore as a hub for research and innovation, WITEC will leverage diverse expertise – from MIT and Singapore’s leading institutions – to develop transformative research that creates real-world impact and benefits Singapore, the US, and communities through research that not only integrates knowledge, but also redefines what is possible for the future of healthcare,” it said. Bruce Tidor, chief executive officer and interim director of SMART, who is also an MIT professor of biological engineering and electrical engineering and computer science.

Industry leading equipment and skills

To support this work, the WITEC laboratory is equipped with advanced equipment, including Southeast Asia’s first sub-micrometer 3D printer and the Verasonics Vantage NXT 256 ultrasonic imaging system, which is the first unit of its kind in Singapore.

Unlike conventional 3D printers that operate on a millimeter or micrometer scale, WITEC’s 3D printer can achieve sub-micrometer resolution, allowing parts to be made at the level of single cells or tissue structures. With this capability, WITEC researchers can model bioadhesive materials and device connections with unprecedented precision – essential for ensuring safe skin adhesion and stable, long-term imaging quality.

Complementing this is the latest Verasonics ultrasonic imaging system. It is equipped with a new transducer adapter and supports a much larger number of probe control channels than existing systems, giving researchers the freedom to test highly customized imaging methods. This enables sophisticated imaging, high-resolution imaging, and integration with AI-based diagnostic models – opening the door to long-term, real-time cardiovascular imaging not possible with conventional hospital equipment.

Together, these technologies allow WITEC to accelerate the design, prototyping, and testing of its wearable ultrasound imaging system, and demonstrate imaging quality in phantoms and healthy subjects.

Transforming chronic disease care through wearable innovation

Chronic diseases are growing rapidly in Singapore and around the world, especially among the elderly and people with multiple long-term conditions. This trend highlights the urgent need for effective home care and easy-to-use monitoring tools that go beyond health tracking.

Current consumer wearables, such as smart watches and fitness bands, provide limited physical data such as heart rate or step count. Although they are useful in general health, they lack the depth needed to support the management of chronic diseases. Traditional ultrasound systems, although clinically powerful, are bulky, operator dependent, can only be deployed occasionally in hospitals, and are limited to snapshots in time, making them unsuitable for long-term, daily use.

WITEC aims to close this gap with its wearable ultrasound imaging system that uses bioadhesive technology to enable up to 48 hours of uninterrupted imaging. Combined with AI-enhanced diagnostics, the invention aims to support early detection, home-based early diagnosis, and continuous monitoring of chronic diseases.

In addition to improving patient outcomes, this innovation can help alleviate staff shortages by freeing up ultrasound providers, nurses, and physicians to focus on more complex care, while reducing the need for hospital beds and resources. By shifting monitoring to homes and communities, WITEC’s technology will enable patient self-management and timely intervention, potentially reducing health care costs and reducing increased financial and occupational stress for the elderly.

Driving innovation through interdisciplinary collaboration

WITEC is led by the following leading principal investigators: Xuanhe Zhao, professor of mechanical engineering and professor of civil and environmental engineering at MIT; Joseph Sung, senior vice president of health and life sciences at NTU Singapore and dean of the Lee Kong Chian School of Medicine (LKCMedicine); Cher Heng Tan, assistant manager of medical research at LKCMedicine; Chwee Teck Lim, NUS Society Professor of Biomedical Engineering at NUS and director of the Institute for Health Innovation and Technology at NUS; and Xiaodong Chen, distinguished university professor in the School of Materials Science and Engineering within NTU.

“We are very proud to bring together a special team of researchers from Singapore and the US to develop the core technology that will make wearable ultrasound imaging a reality. This effort combines deep expertise in material science, data science, AI diagnostics, biomedical engineering, and medicine. Our phased approach will accelerate translation into a fully wearable platform that diagnoses chronic diseases and re-evaluates how it is used in the diagnosis of diseases. incurable,” said Z. lead PI of WITEC.

Road research with broad implications across health care, science, industry, and economics

Bringing together leading experts in various fields, WITEC will develop fundamental work in soft materials, transducers, microelectronics, data science and AI diagnostics, medicine, and biomedical engineering. As a deep-tech R&D group, its success will have the opportunity to drive innovation in healthcare technology and manufacturing, diagnostics, wearable ultrasonic imaging, metamaterials, diagnosis, and AI-powered health analysis. WITEC’s work is expected to accelerate the growth of high-value jobs across research, engineering, clinical validation, and healthcare services, and attract strategic investment to foster biomedical innovation and industrial relations in Singapore, the United States, and beyond.

“Chronic diseases present enormous challenges to patients, families and health systems, and with an aging population like Singapore, those challenges will only grow without new solutions. Our research on a wearable ultrasound imaging system aims to transform the daily care of those living with cardiovascular and other chronic diseases – providing doctors with rich, continuous information to guide treatment, while giving patients greater confidence and control that WITEC’s key to their health interventions. of an episodic, hospital-based approach to effective, day-to-day management in the community,” said Sung, who serves as WITEC’s lead PI.

Led by Violet Hoon, senior consultant at TTSH, clinical trials are expected to begin this year to validate long-term heart monitoring in the management of chronic heart disease. Over the next three years, WITEC aims to develop a fully integrated platform capable of taking 48-hour time-lapse images by using new bioadhesive couplings, nanostructured metamaterials, and ultrasonic transducers.

As the research business of MIT in Singapore, SMART is committed to developing effective technologies that address the world’s pressing challenges. WITEC adds to SMART’s existing research efforts that foster a rich exchange of ideas by collaborating with leading researchers and academics from the United States, Singapore, and around the world in key areas such as antimicrobial resistance, cell therapy development, precision agriculture, AI, and 3D sensing technologies.