Reimagining the Medical Wearable

A modular, continuously connected medical wearable platform designed to evolve with the patient, the technology and the medical ecosystem.

Vitachrona is developing a new generation of modular wearable technology combining continuous health monitoring, emergency response, independent connectivity and interchangeable hardware into a single wearable platform.

Rather than treating a smartwatch as a fixed product, Vitachrona is designing a long-life hardware platform in which displays, sensors, watch modules and external medical devices can be replaced or upgraded as technology advances.

We are seeking an engineering and technology partnership with NXP to help develop the next generation of Vitachrona's embedded platform.

The Problem

Today's smartwatches are primarily designed as consumer electronics.

Medical wearables are often designed around a specific sensor, application or clinical use case.

This creates several problems:

• Hardware becomes obsolete as technology advances.
• Medical sensors are difficult to expand.
• Different monitoring devices operate independently.
• Users increasingly depend on smartphones.
• Battery life competes directly with processing capability.
• Medical monitoring and smartwatch functionality are often separated.
• Hardware cannot easily evolve after purchase.

Vitachrona takes a different approach.

The Vitachrona Concept

One wearable. Multiple configurations. One evolving platform.

Vitachrona is being designed as a modular medical wearable capable of operating in multiple configurations.

Smartwatch configuration

A removable AMOLED display module provides:

• smartwatch functionality
• health information
• notifications
• communications
• navigation
• emergency functions
• sensor information
• user controls

Quartz configuration

The electronic display can be removed and replaced with a quartz watch module containing a Lavet-type stepping motor.

This allows the same underlying platform to become a conventional analogue watch while retaining the modular electronics underneath.

Medical configuration

Additional medical devices can communicate wirelessly with the watch, including:

• wireless EEG headset
• wireless ECG body buttons
• additional ECG electrode modules
• modular strap sensors
• future medical sensor modules

A Wearable Designed to Grow

The key concept behind Vitachrona is modularity at the hardware level.

The watch is designed around interchangeable modules rather than a permanently fixed sensor configuration.

Modular strap links

Individual strap links can contain electronics and sensors.

Potential modules include:

• ECG
• PPG
• SpO₂
• bioimpedance
• EDA
• temperature
• motion
• environmental sensing
• future sensors

As new sensor technologies become available, new modules can potentially be developed without redesigning the entire watch.

Wireless EEG

Vitachrona does not attempt to force EEG electronics into the wrist.

Instead, the EEG system is designed as a separate wireless headset.

The headset performs local EEG acquisition and communicates wirelessly with the watch.

This architecture provides a much more practical physical arrangement for EEG while allowing the watch to become the central user interface and data-processing platform.

Wireless ECG

Vitachrona also separates ECG acquisition from the traditional fixed smartwatch electrode arrangement.

The system is being designed around wireless ECG buttons/electrodes that can be positioned at appropriate locations on the body.

Each device can communicate wirelessly with the watch.

There are therefore no wires connecting multiple ECG devices together.

This creates the possibility of configuring the ECG system around the measurement required rather than around the physical limitations of a watch case.

Multi-Source Energy Architecture

Vitachrona is also exploring a distributed energy architecture incorporating:

Battery

Primary rechargeable energy storage.

Qi

Wireless charging.

Solar

Integration of solar energy harvesting into the wearable architecture.

Thermal

Thermoelectric energy harvesting.

Kinetic

Motion-based energy harvesting.

The objective is not to claim that harvesting sources alone can power the complete system.

Instead, the architecture is intended to supplement the rechargeable battery and reduce energy consumption where practical.

The Computing Platform

The current prototype architecture uses:

Rockchip RK3568

with:

• 8 GB LPDDR4X
• 32 GB eMMC

The architecture is being designed around substantial onboard processing rather than relying entirely on a smartphone.

However, Vitachrona is also exploring the possibility of developing a more deeply integrated semiconductor architecture in the future.

This is where NXP becomes particularly interesting to Vitachrona.

Why NXP?

Vitachrona is not simply looking for a processor.

We are interested in exploring how NXP semiconductor technology could contribute to a complete wearable computing platform.

Potential areas include:

Embedded processing

Low-power application processing for continuous health monitoring.

Real-time processing

Dedicated processing for time-critical sensor and emergency functions.

Connectivity

Integration of reliable wireless communications and peripheral interfaces.

Security

Hardware-assisted security for:

• device identity
• secure boot
• encrypted data
• authentication
• secure firmware updates
• medical-data protection

Power management

Optimising the balance between:

processing performance ↔ sensor operation ↔ connectivity ↔ battery life

Edge AI

Local processing could allow selected health-monitoring algorithms to operate directly on the wearable rather than continuously transmitting raw data to a smartphone or cloud service.

The Long-Term Vision

Vitachrona is intended to become more than a smartwatch.

It is envisioned as a modular wearable computing and medical-sensing platform.

The same core platform could support:

Watch

↓

Modular sensors

↓

Wireless ECG

↓

Wireless EEG

↓

Emergency monitoring

↓

Independent communications

↓

Future medical devices

The architecture is designed so that the wearable can evolve rather than becoming obsolete when one component reaches the end of its technological life.

AI at the Edge

Vitachrona's AI architecture is intended to operate primarily as an edge-processing system.

Potential applications include:

• physiological signal analysis
• ECG analysis
• activity classification
• fall detection
• anomaly detection
• sensor fusion
• personalised baseline modelling
• emergency-event classification
• energy optimisation
• adaptive sensor sampling

The objective is to process appropriate information locally, reducing unnecessary cloud dependence and enabling faster responses to time-critical events.

AI outputs would not automatically constitute a medical diagnosis. Clinical validation and regulatory pathways would be required for any diagnostic or clinical claims.

Designed for Independent Living

A major application for Vitachrona is supporting people who need additional safety and health monitoring while maintaining independence.

The system is being designed around:

• emergency detection
• fall detection
• health monitoring
• independent communication
• long battery life
• accessible controls
• continuous background monitoring
• modular medical sensing

The goal is to make advanced monitoring technology part of an everyday wearable rather than requiring users to manage multiple specialised devices.

Why This Could Be Significant

Vitachrona combines several technologies that are normally separated:

Consumer wearable

Medical monitoring

Modular hardware

Independent connectivity

Edge AI

Energy harvesting

Interchangeable physical watch modules

Wireless medical accessories

The result is intended to be a platform rather than a single product.

What We Are Looking For From NXP

Vitachrona is seeking discussions with NXP around:

Semiconductor architecture

Evaluation of suitable NXP processors, MCUs, connectivity and security technologies.

Power optimisation

Architecture development for long-duration wearable operation.

Embedded security

Development of a secure hardware/software architecture.

Edge AI

Exploration of NXP's edge-computing capabilities for wearable health applications.

Hardware engineering

Advice on designing a production-grade wearable computing architecture.

Future custom silicon

Exploration of whether the Vitachrona architecture could eventually justify a more deeply integrated or customised semiconductor solution.

Engineering collaboration

Technical collaboration during prototype development and subsequent product development.

What Vitachrona Brings

Vitachrona brings a new product architecture and application concept focused on modular medical wearables.

The project is currently in the prototype architecture and development phase, with work progressing across:

• system architecture
• modular hardware
• PCB development
• sensor integration
• power architecture
• emergency communication
• operating-system architecture
• wireless medical accessories
• display modules
• quartz module engineering

The next stage is turning the architecture into a fully validated engineering prototype.

The Opportunity

Build the wearable platform that comes after the smartwatch.

Vitachrona is designed around a simple principle:

Technology should evolve with the person using it — not force the person to replace the entire device every time technology changes.

We believe NXP's expertise in embedded processing, security, connectivity, power-efficient computing and edge intelligence could make NXP a particularly valuable technology partner as Vitachrona progresses from architecture into functional prototypes and, ultimately, a manufacturable platform.

Vitachrona × NXP

From wearable electronics to an evolving medical computing platform.

We are looking for the right semiconductor and engineering partner to help turn this architecture into reality.

Contact Vitachrona

Samantha Arya Ada Bilkus
sbilkus@graymatter3d.co.uk
graymatter3d.co.uk