Nordic's powerful next gen SoCs tackle global hypertension epidemic

According to the World Health Organization (WHO) an estimated 1.28 billion adults between the ages of 30 to 79 suffer from hypertension (high blood pressure), a major cause of premature death worldwide^[1]. The WHO has set a target to reduce the prevalence of hypertension by 33 percent by 2030.

The only way to detect high blood pressure (BP) is to regularly measure it, and as such many people don’t know they have it until a serious medical event occurs. Advanced wearable devices enable the wearer to track their BP around the clock, without having to attend their health professional or grapple with a clunky home BP monitor.  

Managing hypertension in the wireless age

Today, the technology available to space- and resource-constrained devices means accurate and reliable BP readings are possible from both wrist- and finger-worn wearable devices, as well as a host of other cardiovascular health markers such as the wearer’s V02 max, blood oxygen saturation (Sp02), temperature, heart rate, heart rate variability (HRV), and sleep data.  

As well as enabling proactive intervention, today’s wearables can also support Machine Learning (ML) and sensor fusion at the edge. ML has a role to play in measuring hypertension because it can scan through swathes of data to identify the multitude of factors that influence a person’s BP. It can then help develop algorithms that continue to refine the accuracy of wearables to not only identify hypertension, but also potential causes, such as inactivity or sleep apnea.   

Sensor fusion, meanwhile, enables a device to combine different data streams from multiple sensors, eliminating ‘noise’ and determining which data points from which sensors correspond to the same health concern, and which do not. This data is not only valuable to individuals, but also their clinicians who can then monitor their patients remotely and take remedial action as required.  

ML and sensor fusion at the edge

To provide ML and sensor fusion at the edge, simultaneously undertaking a lot of heavy computational work, ensuring security of sensitive health data, and supervising reliable wireless connectivity, today’s advanced health wearable developers are demanding near miracles from the wireless SoCs that power their devices.  

For wearables weight and form factor are also key considerations because they are designed to be worn comfortably, if not imperceptibly, 24/7. That means the SoCs that power them must pack a lot of hardware—an MCU, radio, memory, security features—into a package that in the case of a smart ring might measure no more than 8 mm by 3 mm. These space constraints also immediately limit the size, weight, and capacity of the battery that can be used in the wearable. As a result, power consumption is always a critical design consideration, and the SoC used needs to be optimized for ultra-low power consumption. No one wants to have to recharge their wearable every night.

Nordic's next gen wireless SoCs power advanced wearables 

Chipmakers have responded to the strict size constraints of today’s wearables by releasing ever more powerful SoCs in smaller packages. Nordic Semiconductor, for example, recently launched its nRF54L Series that offers an ultra-compact 2.4 by 2.2 mm WLCSP variant 50 percent smaller than its comparable predecessor, the nRF52840 SoC, while at the same time doubling the processing power, tripling the processing efficiency, and lowering the power consumption. 

Within the series, the nRF54L15 offers the largest memory capacity with 1.5 MB non-volatile memory (NVM) and 256 KB RAM, ideal for demanding applications, including BP monitoring wearables. In addition to expanded memory, the nRF54L Series integrates a low-power RISC-V coprocessor, supporting advanced application requirements without additional external components, reducing BOM costs, and again enabling compact designs.   

Advanced security by design in the nRF54L Series

And with consumers ever vigilant about protecting their sensitive personal data, the nRF54L Series prioritizes security by design, integrating features such as Arm TrustZone isolation, tamper sensors, and hardened cryptographic accelerators to fulfill essential-to-advanced security requirements.  

Of course to tackle the global hypertension epidemic will require more than just smart wearables, but nonetheless they’ll have a powerful role to play. The latest guidelines from the American Heart Association highlight their role in hypertension diagnosis and management. 

The next important question will be how best to incorporate the new technologies into clinical practice for both physicians and patients. Work is ongoing, but current and future developments from chipmakers and developers should help ensure wearable technologies become increasingly user-friendly, reliable, accurate, and flexible, and ultimately helping prevent cardiovascular events brought on by hypertension.

References:

1. World Health Organization Hypertension Fact Sheet. WHO, December 2024.