Frost & Sullivan Recognizes Holst Centre and imec for Its Path Breaking Wearable Energy Harvester Technology

LONDON, February 2 - Based on its recent research on the wearable energy harvesters market,
Frost & Sullivan presents Holst Centre and imec with the 2009 European Frost
& Sullivan Award for Technology Innovation for its wearable
electrocardiograph energy harvesting solution, which provides tens of
microwatts of energy per square centimetre for modules with 3×4 cm2
dimensions. Due to its convenience of use, self powering, and low
maintenance, this has opened the way for a wide range of commercial and
personal solutions. The European open-innovation R&D centres Holst Centre and
imec achieved this result within their R&D program on micropower generation
and storage.

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Recently, Holst Centre and imec developed miniaturized health monitoring
systems, which consume heat naturally dissipated from the human body in order
to operate. While wearable devices that operate using the body's heat have
been in use for several years, small thermoelectric energy generators have so
far proven their capability to power only small personal devices such as
watches without needing an external power source. The unique device developed
by Holst Centre and imec is the result of clever design of a thermal
harvester, matched specifically to a human body, as well as a large reduction
of the power consumption of the electronics. The thermal harvester is made of
a thermoelectric material, in this case bismuth telluride, that converts
human body heat into electric current. Once this device is placed close to
the body, it generates electricity that is further accumulated in an energy
storage system. The electricity capacitor subsequently powers the autonomous
wearable electrocardiography (ECG) system and a radio which transmits the ECG
signal real-time to a base station. Thanks to clever optimization, the power
consumption of the electronics has been largely reduced. The thickness of the
system components does not exceed 6.5 mm and can be easily integrated into
fabric. Once installed, the system requires no technical maintenance.

"The personal devices, which couldn't be made portable due to their large
sizes or high power requirements can now be developed in the form of easy to
wear and care gadgets," says Frost & Sullivan Research Analyst Krzysztof
Grzybowski. "This approach is valid for monitoring systems and related
personal low-power appliances that could be integrated in clothes, e.g.
watches. On the other hand, devices like mobile phones currently still use
too much power to be powered by body heat."

Holst Centre and imec's demonstrated energy harvesting solution provides
tens of microwatts of energy per square centimetre of the skin for modules
with 3×4 cm2 dimensions. In this specific application, the energy harvesting
module efficiency was sufficient to operate the wearable ECG using fourteen
units integrated in a shirt and occupying less than 1.5 per cent of its total
area. The device operation was tested in indoor and outdoor conditions with
outdoor clothes worn on and off. During energy harvesting, the power
management unit of the presented system uses the ASIC converter to charge two
2.4V batteries, which are powering the second stage DC/DC converter supplying
the ECG unit. In all cases, the system performance was sufficient to operate
the ECG.

Further, the whole unit is fortified against the mechanical stress that
would accidentally destroy the fragile thermopiles of the energy harvester.
The shock protection, made of thermally isolating material, is placed between
the radiator and the hot end of the device (exposed to the source of a heat).
It was found that this protection facilitates even washing the device in
laundry with a drying cycle of 1,000 rpms. Interestingly, the developed
prototype is service-free for its entire life and user activity is only
limited to the need of wearing it. Once placed close to the body the device
starts itself and monitors the patient's health.

"Most personal devices still consume large amounts of energy that cannot
be provided by currently available energy harvesting solutions," notes
Krzysztof Grzybowski. "However, increasing efficiencies of energy harvesters,
such as the system developed by Holst Centre and imec for health monitoring
systems, combined with a further decrease of power consumption of the
electronic elements could enable the fabrication of a wide range of self
sustainable personal solutions in the future."

Holst Centre and imec will continue to miniaturize self-powered health
monitoring devices such as this one through decreasing their power
consumption. Maintenance-free devices, self-powered for their entire service
life such as the demonstrated electrocardiograph in a shirt, allow for
efficient and easy monitoring of human health, which was not possible in the
past. In recognition of this unique wearable energy harvesting technology
based on a unique design platform, Frost & Sullivan is proud to present Holst
Centre and imec with the 2009 European Technology Innovation Award in the
wearable energy harvesters market.

Each year, Frost & Sullivan presents this award to a company that has
carried out new research, which has resulted in innovations that have or are
expected to bring significant contributions to the industry in terms of
adoption, change, and competitive posture. The award recognizes the quality
and depth of a company's research and development program as well as the
vision and risk-taking that enabled it to undertake such an endeavour.

Frost & Sullivan Best Practices Awards recognize companies in a variety
of regional and global markets for demonstrating outstanding achievement and
superior performance in areas such as leadership, technological innovation,
customer service, and strategic product development. Industry analysts
compare market participants and measure performance through in-depth
interviews, analysis, and extensive secondary research in order to identify
best practices in the industry.

About Holst Centre

Holst Centre is an independent open-innovation R&D centre that develops
generic technologies for Wireless Autonomous Transducer Solutions and for
Systems-in-Foil. A key feature of Holst Centre is its partnership model with
industry and academia around shared roadmaps and programs. It is this kind of
cross-fertilization that enables Holst Centre to tune its scientific strategy
to industrial needs.

Holst Centre was set up in 2005 by imec (Flanders, Belgium) and TNO (The
Netherlands) with support from the Dutch Ministry of Economic Affairs and the
Government of Flanders. It is named after Gilles Holst, a Dutch pioneer in
Research and Development and first director of Philips Research.

Located on High Tech Campus Eindhoven, Holst Centre benefits from the
state-of-the-art on-site facilities. Holst Centre has over 150 employees from
around 25 nationalities and a commitment from over 20 industrial partners.

About imec

Imec performs world-leading research in nano-electronics. Imec leverages
its scientific knowledge with the innovative power of its global partnerships
in ICT, healthcare and energy. Imec delivers industry-relevant technology
solutions. In a unique high-tech environment, its international top talent is
committed to providing the building blocks for a better life in a sustainable
society.

Imec is headquartered in Leuven, Belgium, and has offices in Belgium, the
Netherlands, Taiwan, US, China and Japan. Its staff of more than 1,650 people
includes over 550 industrial residents and guest researchers. In 2008, imec's
revenue (P&L) was 270 million euro.

Further information on imec can be found at www.imec.be.

Imec is a registered trademark for the activities of IMEC International
(a legal entity set up under Belgian law as a "stichting van openbaar nut"),
imec Belgium (IMEC vzw supported by the Flemish Government), imec the
Netherlands (Stichting IMEC Nederland, part of Holst Centre which is
supported by the Dutch Government) and imec Taiwan (IMEC Taiwan Co.).

About Frost & Sullivan

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Contact:

Ciara Jamie Connolly, Senior Events & Promotions Executive/ EMEA, Best
Practices, Frost & Sullivan, ciara.connolly@frost.com,
P: +44-(0)-207-915-7868, F: +44-(0)-207-730-3343, www.frost.com

Ciara Jamie Connolly, Senior Events & Promotions Executive/ EMEA, Best Practices, of Frost & Sullivan, +44-(0)-207-915-7868, Fax, +44-(0)-207-730-3343, ciara.connolly at frost.com