Low-power electronics

Are you looking to develop a smart medical device that is implantable, wearable, or portable? Provision of power to these devices during their lifetime is a critical factor, regardless of whether they are using a battery or an energy harvesting technology. Some use cases may even require devices to continually monitor their environment from the time of manufacture through to disposal, extending their operating life from months to years. Minimising power consumption to use this finite energy source efficiently is crucial to provide sufficient device lifetime while maintaining performance.

Working together, our software and electronics experts can help you navigate the challenges of designing low-power electronics for your smart device.

Battery selection

There are many factors to consider when selecting a battery for your device. Will the battery be single-use, rechargeable or replaceable? Is there a suitable off-the-shelf battery? On top of this, you need to balance requirements including peak current draw, cost, device lifetime and environment of use to select the optimum solution for your design. Our engineers can help you understand the impact of all these factors by modelling the power consumption of your medical device concept to inform your choice of battery.

Energy harvesting

Using energy from the surrounding environment to power your device can extend battery life or even remove the need for a battery altogether. Efficient power management is key, as the energy available to harvest from the surrounding environment is often limited. Our electronics engineers have experience designing circuits to capture, condition and store energy to minimise losses and maximise the energy available to your device.

Software

Software plays an important role in the design of low-power electronics. It can be used to control your device between active and sleep modes to reduce current draw and extend battery life. Software can also be used to disable entire blocks of the circuit when not in use to reduce power leakage and further preserve the battery. We use direct current power analyser test equipment to allow precise optimisation of coding for low power consumption. Our integrated electronics and software teams work collaboratively to design robust and efficient solutions for your application.

User interface

It is important to consider not only the technical requirements but the nature of the user interaction with the device. User interfaces are a significant component of the power consumption of your device, so the benefit it brings to the user must be carefully considered. Our electronics engineers collaborate closely with our UX/ UI designers to assess the use cases of your device and determine the most appropriate UI solution.

Our multidisciplinary teams have a wealth of knowledge to help you realise your innovative low-power medical systems, supporting connectivity and bringing healthcare closer to patients.