u‑blox, a global provider of leading positioning and wireless communication technologies and greenTEG, a company specializing in the development of heat flux sensors, announced the commercial launch of CORE. CORE is a wearable for continuous and accurate core body temperature monitoring. The device, which communicates wirelessly using the u‑blox NINA‑B306 stand‑alone Bluetooth 5 low energy module, can be used to track its user’s wellness status as they return to the workplace from their homes and alerts them when their core body temperature rises unexpectedly.
CORE uses an innovative approach to continuously monitor core body temperature with accuracies rivaling those of ingestible sensors. Worn close to the body with a patch or a belt CORE translates sensed data into an estimate of the core body temperature commonly defined as the temperature of blood as it leaves the heart’s aortic valve using an algorithm specifically trained for the task.
Initially developed to help athletes avoid overheating when training for and competing in extreme environments such as ultra‑marathons or the Ironman, the solution was repurposed to address new challenges brought about by the COVID‑19 pandemic. Target groups include the general public that is seeking to return to work safely, business owners and patrons concerned with protecting their workforce's and customer's well-being, and individuals in risk groups.
greenTEG needed a small and pre‑certified low power Bluetooth module that could keep the size of the overall solution to a minimum while offering the connectivity options, the considerable memory and the reliability their application. The u‑blox NINA‑B306 looked like a promising candidate as it was interfaced with Garmin devices using the ANT+ protocol.
This application perfectly demonstrates the value that the NINA‑B3 series of Bluetooth 5 low energy modules can bring to wearable applications including their small size, low power consumption, a full megabyte of Flash memory and the powerful Arm Cortex-M4 microprocessor.
In these uncertain and testing times, it’s encouraging to see these kind of technologies to help keep people safe and hopefully flatten the curve.
Click here to read more about the CORE Temperature Monitoring Device.
