SMART Collaborative Research Stories: Wearable Imaging for Transforming Elderly Care (WITEC) and Tan Tock Seng Hospital

Managing chronic diseases such as heart failure and hypertension remains one of the most pressing challenges facing ageing societies. In Singapore, where the proportion of older adults is rising rapidly, there is a growing urgency to move beyond episodic, hospital-based care towards continuous, personalised monitoring in homes and communities.

Addressing this challenge is the focus of the Wearable Imaging for Transforming Elderly Care (WITEC) collaborative research project at SMART. WITEC is developing the world’s first wearable ultrasound imaging system, designed to deliver up to 48-hour cardiovascular imaging for continuous and real-time monitoring and diagnosis of chronic conditions, including hypertension and heart failure, beyond traditional clinical settings.

In this series, we explore SMART’s collaborations with research and medical institutions in Singapore, highlighting how close partnerships are enabling translational research. This feature focuses on the partnership between SMART’s WITEC and Tan Tock Seng Hospital (TTSH), and how close collaboration with clinicians is enabling wearable ultrasound technology to be validated through clinical trials for chronic disease care and management.

Advancing Wearable Ultrasound Through Clinical Partnership

Central to WITEC’s work is its collaboration with TTSH, which serves as its main clinical partner.

Dr Zhiyuan Shen, Scientific Director at SMART Wearable Imaging for Transforming Elderly Care

“The collaboration arose from the need to validate our wearable ultrasound technology in real clinical settings, particularly for continuous cardiovascular monitoring,” said Dr Zhiyuan Shen, Scientific Director at WITEC.

The collaboration is built on clearly defined, complementary roles. WITEC leads technology development, while TTSH provides clinical expertise, patient access, and trial infrastructure. This alignment has enabled the partnership to grow into an ongoing collaboration involving joint clinical trials focused on real‑world use.

Clinical Validation in Real‑World Settings

The collaboration with TTSH is anchored under Research Thrust 5 (RT5) of the WITEC project, which focuses on clinical data collection, validation and real‑world medical applications of wearable ultrasound imaging.

“Our collaboration with TTSH centres on the clinical validation of the Bioadhesive Ultrasonic System (BAUS) developed by WITEC,” said Dr Shen. “TTSH plays a key role in conducting extended clinical studies, including up to 48‑hour continuous imaging of both healthy volunteers and patients.”

These studies are designed to capture cardiac and pulmonary data under real‑world conditions, with a particular focus on heart failure progression in elderly populations. The first clinical trial runs from December 2025 to December 2026, during which TTSH leads clinical protocol design, participant recruitment, and data acquisition within a hospital setting, while also evaluating the safety and clinical feasibility of long‑duration imaging.

From the clinical perspective, this validation is essential. Dr Hoon Hui Qing Violet, Senior Consultant at TTSH and lead clinician for the collaboration, highlighted the importance of testing the technology under realistic conditions.

Dr Hoon Hui Qing Violet, Senior Consultant at Tan Tock Seng Hospital

“My role is to bridge real‑world patient needs with technical development during device invention and clinical validation,” she said. “We ensure that the device is not only scientifically robust, but truly impactful in improving patient care, particularly for patients with heart failure and cardiogenic shock.”

Why the Collaboration Matters for Research

For WITEC, access to real clinical environments and patient populations is critical. Continuous, longitudinal cardiac data collected from elderly patients provide validation that cannot be replicated in laboratory settings.

“TTSH brings medical expertise, trial infrastructure, and regulatory oversight,” said Dr Shen. “This allows us to rigorously evaluate the safety, efficacy, and reliability of continuous imaging, which is essential for translating our technology from a research prototype into a clinically accepted solution.”

Clinical insights also feed directly back into system development, helping WITEC refine the technology to address unmet needs, especially in an environment where conventional imaging modalities remain limited.

WITEC researchers and clinicians from TTSH in a progress review meeting to align on engineering development and clinical requirements

From TTSH’s perspective, the collaboration enables interdisciplinary problem‑solving and clinical relevance.

“This collaboration combines our access to diverse patient populations and real‑world workflows with WITEC’s strengths in engineering innovation and rapid prototyping,” said Dr Hoon. “Working closely together creates opportunities for impactful solutions, as well as joint publications and intellectual property development.”

How the Teams Work Together

WITEC and TTSH maintain a structured and highly interactive working relationship, with regular progress review meetings to align engineering development and clinical requirements.

Beyond formal meetings, researchers and clinicians work side by side, training on clinical imaging systems and jointly performing initial imaging. Clinical trial protocols are co‑developed through collaborative ideation, problem‑solving, and on‑site engagement, ensuring close integration between technology development and clinical validation.

Looking Ahead

Looking forward, both teams see opportunities to expand clinical validation and deepen the collaboration. In the near term, this includes scaling patient cohorts, refining long‑duration data acquisition, and developing predictive markers for early disease deterioration.

Beyond cardiovascular applications, future work may extend to other clinical areas and to home‑based and ambulatory care, enabling continuous monitoring beyond hospital environments.

The SMART WITEC research team and TTSH collaborators

Reflecting on the broader value of collaboration, Dr Hoon emphasised its importance to scientific and clinical progress. “Inter‑organisational and interdisciplinary collaboration is key to advancing healthcare research. Only by working together can we accelerate innovation and meaningfully improve patient outcomes.”