WULPUS PRO wearable ultrasound achieves B-mode imaging at under 60mW

Wearable ultrasound has been limited to simple A-mode sensing due to power and size constraints. Now, a team led by researchers at ETH Zurich and the University of British Columbia introduces WULPUS PRO, a fully programmable, ultra-low-power wearable ultrasound platform that achieves B-mode imaging for the first time in such a small form factor. Measuring just 39x21x6 mm and weighing only 5 grams, it integrates 30V excitation, 16 time-multiplexed channels, and a low-noise receive front-end with up to 70 dB gain and 9.9 MHz bandwidth.

The platform supports deep-tissue echo acquisition up to 2.2 MHz in RF-sampling mode and 8 MHz in envelope-detection mode. In phantom experiments, it demonstrated B-mode imaging with sub-millimeter axial (0.5 mm) and millimeter-scale lateral resolution while consuming just 40 mW at a 50 Hz pulse repetition frequency—and under 60 mW at 300 Hz. It works with both piezoelectric and CMUT transducers, enabling integration with skin-conformal polymer-based arrays. With a standard data interface, it can transmit wirelessly via BLE or WiFi. Using a 300 mAh, 6.4 g Li-Po battery, it projects 1-2 days of BLE operation at 50 Hz PRF or over 3 hours of WiFi streaming at 300 Hz PRF.