What if ultrasound imaging is no longer limited to hospitals? Patients with chronic conditions such as high blood pressure and heart failure can be continuously monitored in real time at home or on the go, giving health care practitioners continuous clinical insights rather than occasional snapshots – a scan here and a check-up there. This shift from reactive, hospital-based care to preventive, community and home-based care can enable earlier detection and timely intervention and truly personalized care.
Bringing this vision to reality, MIT’s research enterprise in Singapore, the Singapore-MIT Alliance for Research and Technology (SMART), has launched a new collaborative research project: Wearable Imaging for Transforming Elderly Care (WITEC).
WITEC embodies a pioneering effort in wearable technology, medical imaging, research and materials science. It will be dedicated to the fundamental research and development of the world’s first wearable ultrasound imaging system capable of 48-hour intermittent cardiovascular imaging for continuous and real-time monitoring and diagnosis of chronic conditions such as hypertension and heart failure.
This multi-million dollar, multi-year research programme, supported by the National Research Foundation (NRF) Singapore under the Campus for Research Excellence and Technological Enterprise Programme, brings together top researchers and expertise from MIT, Nanyang Technological University (NTU Singapore) and the National University of Singapore (NUS). Tan Tock Seng Hospital (TTSH) is WITEC’s clinical partner and will conduct patient trials to validate long-term cardiac imaging for chronic heart disease management.
“Tackling society’s most pressing challenges requires innovative, interdisciplinary thinking. Building on SMART’s long legacy in Singapore as a hub of research and innovation, WITEC will harness interdisciplinary expertise from MIT and Singapore’s leading institutions to advance transformative research that creates real-world impact and benefits Singapore, the US, and all societies. This is the kind of collaborative research that not only pushes the boundaries of knowledge, but for the future of health care. Redefines what is possible,” says Bruce. Tidore, SMART’s chief executive officer and interim director, who is also an MIT professor of biological engineering and electrical engineering and computer science.
Industry leading precision equipment and capabilities
To support this work, WITEC’s laboratory is equipped with advanced equipment, including Southeast Asia’s first sub-micrometer 3D printer and the latest Verasonics Vantage NXT 256 ultrasonic imaging system, the first unit of its kind in Singapore.
Unlike traditional 3D printers that operate at the millimeter or micrometer scale, WITEC’s 3D printer can achieve sub-micrometer resolution, allowing components to be manufactured at the level of single cells or tissue structures. With this capability, WITEC researchers can prototype bioadhesive materials and device interfaces with unprecedented precision – essential to ensure skin-safe adhesion and stable, long-term imaging quality.
Complementing this is the latest Verasonics ultrasonic imaging system. Equipped with a new transducer adapter and supporting a significantly larger number of probe control channels than existing systems, it gives researchers the freedom to test highly customized imaging methods. This allows for more complex beamforming, high-resolution image capture, and integration with AI-based diagnostic models – long-term, real-time cardiovascular imaging not possible with standard hospital equipment.
Together, these technologies allow WITEC to accelerate the design, prototyping and testing of its wearable ultrasound imaging systems and demonstrate imaging quality on phantoms and healthy subjects.
Transforming chronic disease care through wearable innovation
chronic diseases These are increasing rapidly in Singapore and globally, especially among the aging population and individuals with multiple long-term conditions. This trend highlights the urgent need for effective home-based care and easy-to-use monitoring tools that go beyond basic wellness tracking.
Current consumer wearables, such as smartwatches and fitness bands, provide limited physiological data such as heart rate or step count. While useful for general health, they lack the depth needed to aid in the management of chronic disease. Traditional ultrasound systems, although therapeutically powerful, are bulky, operator-dependent, can only be deployed episodically within hospitals, and are limited to snapshots in time, making them unsuitable for long-term, everyday use.
WITEC aims to bridge this gap with its wearable ultrasound imaging system that uses bioadhesive technology to enable uninterrupted imaging for up to 48 hours. Combined with AI-enhanced diagnostics, the innovation aims to support early detection, home-based pre-diagnosis and continuous monitoring of chronic diseases.
In addition to improving patient outcomes, this innovation could help alleviate labor shortages by freeing up ultrasound operators, nurses and doctors to focus on more complex care while reducing demand on hospital beds and resources. By moving monitoring to homes and communities, WITEC’s technology will enable patient self-management and timely intervention, potentially reducing health care costs and alleviating the increasing financial and manpower pressures of an aging population.
Promoting innovation through interdisciplinary collaboration
WITEC is led by the following co-principal principal investigators: Xuanhe Zhao, professor of mechanical engineering and professor of civil and environmental engineering at MIT; Joseph Sung, Senior Vice President for Health and Life Sciences at NTU Singapore and Dean of the Lee Kong Chian School of Medicine (LKCMedicine); Cher Heng Tan, assistant dean for clinical research at LKMedicine; Chwee Teck Lim, NUS Society Professor of Biomedical Engineering at NUS and Director of the Institute for Health Innovation and Technology at NUS; and Xiaodong Chen, Distinguished University Professor in NTU’s School of Materials Science and Engineering.
Zhao, who serves as WITEC’s co-lead PI, says, “We are extremely proud to bring together an extraordinary team of researchers from Singapore and the US with leading technologies that will make wearable ultrasound imaging a reality. This effort combines deep expertise in materials science, data science, AI diagnostics, biomedical engineering, and clinical medicine. Our phased approach will accelerate translation into a fully wearable platform that can monitor, diagnose chronic diseases, And will reshape management.”
Research roadmap with broad impact on health care, science, industry and economy
By bringing together leading experts in interdisciplinary fields, WITEC will advance foundational work in soft materials, transducers, microelectronics, data science and AI diagnostics, clinical medicine and biomedical engineering. As a deep-tech R&D group, its breakthroughs will have the potential to drive innovation in health care technology and manufacturing, diagnostics, wearable ultrasonic imaging, metamaterials, diagnostics and AI-powered health analytics. WITEC’s work is also expected to accelerate the growth of high-value jobs in research, engineering, clinical validation and health care services, and attract strategic investments that foster biomedical innovation and industry partnerships in Singapore, the United States and beyond.
“Chronic diseases pose significant challenges to patients, families and health care systems, and with aging populations like Singapore’s, these challenges will only increase without new solutions. Our research into wearable ultrasound imaging systems aims to transform daily care for people living with cardiovascular and other chronic conditions – providing physicians with rich, continuous insights to guide treatment, while giving patients greater confidence and control over their own health. WITEC’s pioneering work aims to transform care from episodic, It’s an important step toward moving from hospital-based interventions to more active, everyday management in the community,” says Sung, who serves as WITEC’s co-lead PI.
Led by TTSH senior advisor Violet Hoon, the clinical trial is expected to begin this year to validate long-term heart monitoring in the management of chronic cardiovascular disease. Over the next three years, WITEC aims to develop a fully integrated platform capable of 48-hour intermittent imaging through innovations in bioadhesive couplers, nanostructured metamaterials, and ultrasonic transducers.
As MIT’s research enterprise in Singapore, SMART is committed to advancing cutting-edge technologies that solve global challenges. WITEC adds to Smart’s existing research efforts that foster a rich exchange of ideas with leading researchers and academics in the United States, Singapore and around the world in key areas such as antimicrobial resistance, cell therapy development, precision agriculture, AI and 3D-sensing technologies.
