- The Wearable Imaging for Transforming Elderly Care (WITEC) collaborative analysis undertaking goals to develop the world’s first wearable ultrasound imaging system for steady, real-time monitoring and personalised analysis of power situations resembling hypertension and coronary heart failure.
- WITEC is a multi-million greenback, multi-year initiative that brings collectively prime researchers from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Nanyang Technological University and the National University of Singapore, with Tan Tock Seng Hospital as its medical collaborator.
- To assist the analysis, WITEC is provided with superior instruments resembling Southeast Asia’s first Nanoscribe Quantum X sub-micrometre 3D printer and probably the most superior Verasonics ultrasonic imaging system out there in Singapore.
SINGAPORE –
Media OutReach Newswire – 11 December 2025 – Imagine a world the place ultrasound imaging is now not confined to hospitals; sufferers with power situations, resembling hypertension and coronary heart failure, could possibly be monitored constantly in actual time at dwelling or on the transfer, giving healthcare practitioners ongoing medical insights as an alternative of the occasional snapshots – a scan right here and a check-up there. This shift from reactive, hospital-based care to preventative, neighborhood and home-based care might allow earlier detection and well timed intervention, and really personalised care.
Prototype of WITEC’s customised patch ultrasonic transducers that adhere to the human physique utilizing bioadhesive gel smooth supplies
Bringing this imaginative and prescient to actuality, the
Singapore-MIT Alliance for Research and Technology (SMART), Massachusetts Institute of Technology’s (MIT) analysis enterprise in Singapore, has launched a brand new collaborative analysis undertaking –
Wearable Imaging for Transforming Elderly Care (WITEC).
WITEC marks a pioneering effort in wearable expertise, medical imaging, analysis and supplies science. It is Singapore’s first centre devoted to foundational analysis and improvement of the world’s first wearable ultrasound imaging system succesful of 48-hour intermittent cardiovascular imaging for steady and real-time monitoring and analysis of power situations resembling hypertension and coronary heart failure.
This multi-million greenback, multi-year initiative, supported by the National Research Foundation (NRF) Singapore underneath its Campus for Research Excellence and Technological Enterprise (CREATE) programme, brings collectively prime researchers and experience from MIT, Nanyang Technological University (NTU Singapore) and the National University of Singapore (NUS). Tan Tock Seng Hospital (TTSH) is WITEC’s medical collaborator and can conduct affected person trials to validate long-term coronary heart imaging for power heart problems administration.
“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 harness interdisciplinary expertise – from MIT and leading institutions in Singapore – to advance transformative research that creates real-world impact and benefits Singapore, the US and societies all over. This is the kind of collaborative research that not only pushes the boundaries of knowledge, but also redefines what is possible for the future of healthcare,” stated
Bruce Tidor, Chief Executive Officer and Director (Interim), SMART.
Industry-leading precision gear and capabilities
To assist this work, WITEC’s laboratory is provided with superior instruments, together with Southeast Asia’s first Nanoscribe Quantum X sub-micrometre 3D printer and the most recent Verasonics Vantage NXT 256 ultrasonic imaging system, which is the primary unit of its sort in Singapore.
Unlike standard 3D printers that function at millimetre or micrometre scales, WITEC’s 3D printer can obtain sub‑micrometre decision, permitting elements to be fabricated on the degree of single cells or tissue constructions. With this functionality, WITEC researchers can prototype bioadhesive supplies and system interfaces with unprecedented accuracy — important to making certain pores and skin‑secure adhesion and steady, lengthy‑time period imaging high quality.
Complementing that is the most recent Verasonics ultrasonic imaging system. Equipped with a brand new transducer adaptor and supporting a considerably bigger quantity of probe management channels than present programs, it offers researchers the liberty to check extremely customised imaging strategies. This permits extra advanced beamforming, increased‑decision picture seize, and integration with AI‑primarily based diagnostic fashions — opening the door to lengthy‑length, actual‑time cardiovascular imaging not potential with normal hospital gear.
Together, these applied sciences permit WITEC to speed up the design, prototyping and testing of its wearable ultrasound imaging system, and to show imaging high quality on phantoms and wholesome topics.
Transforming power illness care via wearable innovation
Chronic diseases are rising rapidly in Singapore and globally, particularly among the many ageing inhabitants and people with a number of long-term situations. This pattern highlights the pressing want for efficient home-based care and easy-to-use monitoring instruments that transcend fundamental wellness monitoring.
Current client wearables, resembling smartwatches and health bands, supply restricted physiological knowledge like coronary heart charge or step depend. While helpful for normal well being, they lack the depth wanted to assist power illness administration. Traditional ultrasound programs, although clinically highly effective, are cumbersome, operator-dependent, can solely be deployed episodically inside the hospitals, and are restricted to snapshots in time — making them unsuitable for long-term, on a regular basis use.
WITEC goals to bridge this hole with its wearable ultrasound imaging system that makes use of bioadhesive expertise to allow up to 48 hours of uninterrupted imaging. Combined with AI-enhanced diagnostics, the innovation is geared toward supporting early detection, home-based pre-diagnosis and steady monitoring of power ailments.
Beyond enhancing affected person outcomes, this innovation might assist ease labour shortages by releasing up ultrasound operators, nurses and docs to give attention to extra advanced care, whereas lowering demand for hospital beds and sources. By shifting monitoring to houses and communities, WITEC’s expertise will allow affected person self-management and well timed intervention, probably reducing healthcare prices and assuaging the rising monetary and manpower pressures of an ageing inhabitants.
Driving innovation via interdisciplinary collaboration
WITEC is led by the next Co-Lead Principal Investigators:
- Prof Xuanhe Zhao, Professor of Mechanical Engineering and Professor of Civil and Environmental Engineering, MIT
- Prof Joseph Sung, Senior Vice President (Health & Life Sciences), NTU Singapore, and Dean, Lee Kong Chian School of Medicine (LKCMedicine)
- Prof Cher Heng Tan, Assistant Dean, Clinical Research, LKCMedicine
- Prof Chwee Teck Lim, NUS Society Professor of Biomedical Engineering, NUS, and Director, Institute for Health Innovation and Technology, NUS
- Prof Xiaodong Chen, Distinguished University Professor, School of Materials Science & Engineering, NTU
“We’re extremely proud to bring together an exceptional team of researchers from Singapore and the US to pioneer core technologies that will make wearable ultrasound imaging a reality. This endeavour combines deep expertise in materials science, data science, AI diagnostics, biomedical engineering and clinical medicine. Our phased approach will accelerate translation into a fully wearable platform that reshapes how chronic diseases are monitored, diagnosed and managed,” stated
Prof Xuanhe Zhao, Co-Lead Principal Investigator, WITEC.
Research roadmap with broad influence throughout healthcare, science, trade and financial system
Bringing collectively main specialists throughout interdisciplinary fields, WITEC will advance foundational work in smooth supplies, transducers, microelectronics, knowledge science and AI diagnostics, medical drugs and biomedical engineering. As a deep tech R&D, its breakthroughs may have the potential to drive innovation in healthcare expertise and manufacturing, diagnostics, wearable ultrasonic imaging, metamaterials, and AI-powered well being analytics. WITEC’s work can be anticipated to speed up progress in high-value jobs throughout analysis, engineering, medical validation and healthcare companies, and entice strategic investments that foster biomedical innovation and trade partnerships in Singapore, the US and past.
“Chronic diseases present significant challenges for patients, families, and healthcare systems, and with aging populations such as Singapore, those challenges will only grow without new solutions. Our research into a wearable ultrasound imaging system aims to transform daily care for those living with cardiovascular and other chronic conditions – providing clinicians with richer, continuous insights to guide treatment, while giving patients greater confidence and control over their own health. WITEC’s pioneering work marks an important step towards shifting care from episodic, hospital-based interventions to more proactive, everyday management in the community,” stated
Prof Joseph Sung, Co‑Lead Principal Investigator, WITEC.
Led by Dr Violet Hoon, Senior Consultant at TTSH, the medical trials are anticipated to begin in early 2026 to validate long-term coronary heart monitoring within the administration of power heart problems. Through improvements in bioadhesive couplants, nanostructured metamaterials and ultrasonic transducers, over the following three years, WITEC goals to develop a cart-based bioadhesive ultrasound (BAUS) system succesful of steady, real-time monitoring and personalised analysis of medical situations. In future phases, WITEC goals to develop a completely built-in moveable BAUS platform succesful of 48-hour intermittent imaging.
As MIT’s analysis enterprise in Singapore, SMART is dedicated to advancing breakthrough applied sciences that handle urgent international challenges. WITEC provides to SMART’s present analysis endeavours that foster a wealthy alternate of concepts via collaboration with main researchers and teachers from the US, Singapore, and around the globe in key areas resembling antimicrobial resistance, cell remedy improvement, precision agriculture, AI and 3D-sensing applied sciences.
Hashtag: #SMART
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