Cambridge Consultants brings its Vena platform to the
Continua Health Alliance

Notes for editors:

Cambridge Consultants develops breakthrough products, creates and licenses intellectual property, and provides business consultancy in technology critical issues for clients worldwide.  For 50 years, the company has been helping its clients turn business opportunities into commercial successes, whether they are launching first-to-market products, entering new markets or expanding existing markets through the introduction of new technologies.  With a team of over 300 engineers, designers, scientists and consultants, in offices in Cambridge (UK) and Boston (USA), Cambridge Consultants offers solutions across a diverse range of industries including medical technology, industrial and consumer products, transport, energy, cleantech and wireless communications. 

Throughout 2010, Cambridge Consultants celebrates its 50th year in business.  Created by three Cambridge graduates in 1960, the company has grown into a leading technology business, renowned worldwide for its ability to solve technical problems and provide innovative, practical solutions to commercial issues.  In 2009, the company was awarded the prestigious Queen’s Award for Enterprise in International Trade.  For more information visit: www.CambridgeConsultants.com

Cambridge Consultants is part of Altran, the European leader in innovation and high technology consulting.  The Group’s 17,500 consultants, operating worldwide, cover the entire range of engineering specialities, including electronics, information technology, quality and organisation.  Altran offers its clients ongoing support throughout the innovation cycle, from technology watch, applied basic research and management consulting to industrial systems engineering and information systems.  The Group provides services to most industries, including the automotive, aeronautics, space, life sciences and telecommunications sectors.  Founded in 1982, Altran operates in 20 priority countries.  In 2008, it generated a turnover of €1,650 million.  For more information visit: www.altran.com

The mission of the Continua Alliance is to establish a system of interoperable personal telehealth solutions that foster independence and empower people and organisations to better manage health and wellness.  It is comprised of technology, medical device and healthcare industry leaders dedicated to making personal telehealth a reality.  Its objectives include:

• Developing design guidelines that will enable vendors to build interoperable sensors, home networks, telehealth platforms, and health and wellness services
• Establishing a product certification programme with a consumer-recognisable logo signifying the promise of interoperability across certified products
• Collaborating with government regulatory agencies to provide methods for safe and effective management of diverse vendor solutions
• Working with leaders in the healthcare industries to develop new ways to address the costs of providing personal telehealth systems

For more details, see www.continuaalliance.org

IEEE 11073 Personal Health Data is a framework of standards that addresses transport-independent application and information profiles between personal telehealth devices and monitors / managers (e.g. health appliance, set top box, mobile phone, personal computer). Device profiles include pulse oximeter, blood pressure monitor, weighing scale, and thermometer.

The Bluetooth word mark and logo are registered trademarks and are owned by the Bluetooth SIG, Inc.  A Bluetooth profile defines how different applications use Bluetooth wireless technology to set up a connection and exchange data. The Medical Devices Working Group of the Bluetooth SIG developed the Bluetooth medical device protocol to ensure that devices in the medical environment can transfer data between devices in a secure and well defined way via Bluetooth wireless technology. 

Associated images: The release contains an image of the Vena platform applied to a consumer wrist worn blood pressure monitor - the device would be easy to slip on periodically during the week and then would wirelessly transfer recorded data back to the central monitor.  The Vena platform will allow a range of more consumer focused medical device designs.