SMART Launches WITEC: Pioneering Wearable Ultrasound for Elderly Care

The Singapore-MIT Alliance for Research and Technology (SMART) has announced the launch of WITEC (Wearable Imaging for Transforming Elderly Care), a pioneering research initiative that aims to develop the world's first wearable ultrasound imaging system capable of continuous 48-hour cardiovascular monitoring. This breakthrough technology could fundamentally transform how chronic conditions like hypertension and heart failure are managed, shifting care from episodic hospital visits to continuous, real-time monitoring in home and community settings.

Bridging the Gap in Chronic Disease Management

Chronic diseases are rising rapidly in Singapore and globally, particularly among aging populations and individuals with multiple long-term conditions. Current monitoring solutions present significant limitations. Consumer wearables like smartwatches and fitness bands provide only basic physiological data such as heart rate and step count, insufficient for managing complex chronic conditions. Traditional ultrasound systems, while clinically powerful, are bulky, operator-dependent, and limited to episodic hospital use, providing only snapshots in time rather than continuous monitoring.

WITEC addresses this critical gap by developing a wearable ultrasound system that uses bioadhesive technology to enable up to 48 hours of uninterrupted imaging. Combined with AI-enhanced diagnostics, this innovation aims to support early detection, home-based pre-diagnosis, and continuous monitoring of chronic diseases, potentially reducing hospital visits and enabling more personalized care.

Cutting-Edge Laboratory Infrastructure

The research team has established a state-of-the-art laboratory equipped with advanced tools specifically chosen to support this ambitious goal. The facility houses Southeast Asia's first sub-micrometer 3D printer, capable of achieving resolution at the level of single cells or tissue structures. This precision allows researchers to prototype bioadhesive materials and device interfaces with unprecedented accuracy, essential for ensuring skin-safe adhesion and stable, long-term imaging quality.

Complementing this is the latest Verasonics Vantage NXT 256 ultrasonic imaging system, the first unit of its kind in Singapore. Unlike standard hospital equipment, this system features a new transducer adapter and supports a significantly larger number of probe control channels, enabling highly customized imaging methods. This includes more complex beamforming, higher-resolution image capture, and integration with AI-based diagnostic models—capabilities crucial for long-duration, real-time cardiovascular imaging.

Interdisciplinary Collaboration at Scale

WITEC represents a truly interdisciplinary effort, bringing together top researchers from MIT, Nanyang Technological University (NTU Singapore), the National University of Singapore (NUS), and clinical expertise from Tan Tock Seng Hospital (TTSH). The project is led by five co-lead principal investigators:

• Xuanhe Zhao (MIT): Professor of Mechanical Engineering and Civil and Environmental Engineering
• Joseph Sung (NTU Singapore): Senior Vice President of Health and Life Sciences, Dean of Lee Kong Chian School of Medicine
• Cher Heng Tan (NTU Singapore): Assistant Dean of Clinical Research at LKCMedicine
• Chwee Teck Lim (NUS): NUS Society Professor of Biomedical Engineering, Director of Institute for Health Innovation and Technology
• Xiaodong Chen (NTU Singapore): Distinguished University Professor at School of Materials Science and Engineering

This collaboration combines deep expertise across materials science, data science, AI diagnostics, biomedical engineering, and clinical medicine. The phased approach aims to accelerate translation from fundamental research to a fully wearable platform that reshapes chronic disease monitoring, diagnosis, and management.

Clinical Validation and Research Roadmap

Clinical trials are expected to commence this year, led by Violet Hoon, senior consultant at TTSH, to validate long-term heart monitoring in chronic cardiovascular disease management. Over the next three years, WITEC aims to develop a fully integrated platform capable of 48-hour intermittent imaging through innovations in bioadhesive couplants, nanostructured metamaterials, and ultrasonic transducers.

The research program, supported by the National Research Foundation (NRF) Singapore under its Campus for Research Excellence and Technological Enterprise program, represents a multi-million dollar, multi-year investment in transformative health-care technology.

Broader Impact and Future Implications

Beyond improving patient outcomes, WITEC's technology could help address critical health-care challenges. By enabling patient self-management and timely intervention, the innovation may lower health-care costs and alleviate increasing financial and manpower pressures associated with aging populations. The technology could also ease labor shortages by freeing up ultrasound operators, nurses, and doctors to focus on more complex care, while reducing demand for hospital beds and resources.

The breakthroughs from WITEC are expected to drive innovation across multiple sectors, including health-care technology and manufacturing, diagnostics, wearable ultrasonic imaging, metamaterials, and AI-powered health analytics. This deep-tech R&D initiative also promises to accelerate growth in high-value jobs across research, engineering, clinical validation, and health-care services, while attracting strategic investments that foster biomedical innovation and industry partnerships.

As MIT's research enterprise in Singapore, SMART continues its commitment to advancing breakthrough technologies that address pressing global challenges. WITEC adds to SMART's existing research endeavors in areas such as antimicrobial resistance, cell therapy development, precision agriculture, AI, and 3D-sensing technologies, further establishing Singapore as a hub for research and innovation that creates real-world impact for societies worldwide.