Introduction
Tang Liang, Chief Growth Officer of Deloitte, revealed that the digital healthcare market had already reached 112 billion yuan in 2023, with an astonishing annual compound growth rate of 40.2%. In recent years, the economic aftermath of the COVID-19 pandemic and the increasing uncertainty and conflicts in the international trade environment due to geopolitical turbulence have brought immense work pressure and anxiety about the future to families and employees worldwide. This has, in turn, led to a significant increase in the number of people suffering from sub-health conditions. More and more people are developing hypertension, hyperlipidemia, and hyperglycemia (the "three highs"), and the number of people struggling with insomnia is also on the rise, with a noticeable trend towards younger age groups. It is against this backdrop that the AI digital mattress has emerged, bringing great relief to those suffering from sleep disorders.
Figure: With sleep problems becoming a global issue, AI digital mattresses have emerged as a timely solution
In China, with a population of 1.5 billion, 330 million people suffer from various cardiovascular diseases, among which malignant arrhythmias (such as atrial fibrillation, atrial flutter, ventricular tachycardia, and ventricular fibrillation) pose significant health risks and can even be life-threatening.
Figure: Heart health is increasingly a matter of concern
However, to care for and protect these loved ones, most existing technological solutions still face four major pain points that are difficult to resolve:
1) Inability to detect and monitor early—The lack of real-time monitoring and early warning for cardiac abnormalities is a significant safety hazard.
2) Difficulty in continuous monitoring—The absence of quantifiable monitoring data can lead to delayed treatment and a substantial impact on quality of life.
3) Uncomfortable wearable monitoring devices—Wearable devices are often uncomfortable and inconvenient for patients, who may also need to recharge them frequently, resulting in low compliance.
4) Inability to measure during sleep—In sleep scenarios, individuals are often unaware of the risks, and many dislike wearing devices. According to a random survey, 98% of 100 people surveyed are unwilling to wear watches or other wearable devices during sleep.
Duan Lixin, Director of the Shenzhen Institute of Zhong Wu Lian Sensing Technology Research Center, stated: "Continuous monitoring and AI data analysis can indeed detect cardiac issues early and issue early warning signals. The best time to continuously monitor the heart's working state is during sleep when one is lying in bed. The birth of the AI digital mattress perfectly addresses these two major market pain points: it allows users to forgo any wearable cardiac monitoring devices during sleep while still enabling long-term continuous monitoring of the heart's working state."
Compared with medical instruments commonly used in hospitals for detecting respiratory and cardiac diseases (such as ultrasound and CT scans), the AI digital mattress based on piezoelectric sensors has the advantages of low usage cost, no radiation, higher precision, and ease of use. It allows individuals to conduct real-time, continuous, and long-term monitoring of respiratory and cardiac diseases at home without the need to visit hospitals. Whether it is static data, effective data, precise data, or data that can be transmitted to the backend for analysis and processing, the AI digital mattress generates the most comprehensive data, thereby enabling more accurate AI analysis results.
The AI digital mattress developed by the Shenzhen Institute of Internet of Things and Sensing Technology Research Center is the world's first contactless monitoring digital healthcare platform. It employs the second-generation PVDF life sign sensors and first-tier artificial intelligence core algorithms, ushering the global digital healthcare level into a new era of true artificial intelligence.
Director Duan revealed that Huawei, Xiaomi, MPE, Midea, Skyworth, Konka, and Guancheng have all become clients of the Zhong Wu Lian Digital Mattress.
I. System Architecture of the AI Digital Mattress
The system architecture of the AI digital mattress consists of sensors + wired communication modules + AI control box (including pneumatic system + electric system + graphene or carbon fiber heating system + water heating and cooling system + physiotherapy system + other various functional systems) + wireless communication module + gateway + server or PC + AI Digital Mattress APP and official account.
The sensors can be gas pressure sensors, flexible film pressure distributed sensors, or ZWL second-generation piezoelectric film sensors. Wired communication modules can be TTL, 485, or 232, while wireless communication modules can be Bluetooth, WiFi, LoRa, or 4G CAT1.
The globally unique ZWL second-generation PVDF life sign sensor, through its built-in second-generation PVDF life sign sensor, detects various organ pulse sound waves from within the human body. When these pulse sound waves are transmitted to the sensor, the sensor undergoes minute deformation, generating different electric charge signals based on the varying deformations. These signals are processed by the module to display respiratory, heart rate, snoring, and body movement conditions. After core algorithm processing, the data is output to the APP, forming a sleep curve.
The core technology of the AI digital mattress is the three first-tier intelligent AI perception and analysis engines: perception monitoring engine, heart rate monitoring engine, and respiratory monitoring engine.
The perception monitoring engine can identify and locate human pulse waves, achieving frequency and time-domain recognition of pulse waves, as well as person ID recognition.
The heart rate monitoring engine can perform the following functions: real-time heart rate and HRV monitoring, arrhythmia screening, abnormal heart rhythm monitoring, vascular stiffness assessment, and relative blood pressure trend tracking.
The respiratory monitoring engine can achieve the following functions: real-time respiratory rate calculation, chest and abdominal breathing monitoring, sleep apnea screening, and abnormal breathing monitoring.
II. 12 Innovations of the AI Digital Mattress
1) The world's first integration of piezoelectric film sensors in intelligent products.
2) Exclusive use of bone conduction technology to monitor life movement signals.
3) Original piezoelectric sensing technology + cantilever beam packaging structure.
4) The world's first use of passive electronic technology in intelligent products.
5) Original sensor signal processing integrated module.
6) Unique self-shielding loop design for sensors.
7) Proprietary multi-layer core life monitoring algorithms.
8) Exclusive early warning and control functions.
9) The world's first 1-second transmission and visualization of life sign signals.
10) Exclusive intelligent alarm for life safety.
11) Unique grading of life health and safety warnings.
12) Seamless integration with vehicle networking and Internet of Things platforms.
III. 6 Characteristics of the AI Digital Mattress
1) 100% passive sensing.
2) Made through 101 manufacturing processes.
3) Maximum load capacity of 170 kg and maximum pressure of 20 kPa.
4) Only raw signal output, no power output (external).
5) Over 20,000 times of 200-kg product rolling pressure testing, with multiple national environmental protection certifications.
6) Medical-grade materials.
IV. 12 Functions of the AI Digital Mattress
This intelligent digital mattress is an extraordinary "thinking" AI mattress. It is centered on strong artificial intelligence, capable of automatic recognition, judgment, alarm, warning, diagnosis, adaptation, regulation, and recording. It integrates life medicine, digital healthcare, life alarms, and health warnings, providing customized medical, rehabilitation, and sleep services, ushering the medical mattress into the AI era!
Director Duan stated: "This digital mattress has 12 basic functions: sleep posture recognition, deep sleep assistance, snoring reduction, status awareness, self-adaptation, force distribution, synchronized rhythm, lullabies, slow movement, intelligent noise reduction, interconnectivity, and customization. It can automatically identify various postures such as supine, prone, left lateral, right lateral, sitting, lying, entering bed, and leaving bed, and self-regulate the optimal sleep posture to prevent body injuries caused by poor sleep postures. It can perceive human body shape within 45 seconds and adapt the mattress firmness in real-time. Within 120 seconds, through AI, it can perform human engineering regulation and digital feature data analysis and recognition for the shoulder, waist, and hip areas, automatically adapting to maintain the normal spinal curve."
Figure: Director Duan Lixin indicated that this AI digital mattress has 12 basic functions
Healthcare experts believe that the slow movement generated by the digital mattress can increase lung capacity and is an excellent weight-loss exercise without rebound. Moreover, during slow movement, cancer cells can be digested and eliminated, which also promotes postoperative wound healing. The process of slow movement can also help release life stress and has therapeutic effects on cervical spine, lumbar spine, irritability, overeating, heart disease, diabetes, and stroke.
This digital mattress has a deep sleep-inducing effect, allowing people to relax and fall asleep within 5 minutes. It can also play natural, safe, and effective lullabies to help you relax, relieve stress, regulate brain nerves, and induce sleep.
This digital mattress features multiple noise reduction and silent designs (including AI state-based noise reduction and deep sleep silent design), with a minimum noise level of 0.
With the unique design of the anti-snoring pillow, this digital mattress can solve the snoring problem for 80% of normal people. It also allows customization of alarm clocks and massage direction and intensity.
Director Duan said: "This AI digital mattress is suitable for 19 application scenarios, including: 1) pressure + sleep technology mattress, 2) smart electric bed, 3) vibration mattress, 4) sauna mattress, 5) jade mattress, 6) various heating mattresses, 7) various physiotherapy mattresses, 8) air purification mattress, 9) various detoxification mattresses, 10) various rehabilitation mattresses, 11) smart hospital mattresses, 12) mattresses for smart home integration, 13) mattresses for lumbar disc herniation repair, 14) mattresses that can turn over, 15) mattresses for hotels, saunas, spas, and water therapy, 16) shared mattresses, 17) mattresses for barracks, schools, and prisons, 18) mattresses for the elderly and children, and 19) mattresses for aviation and aerospace."
Director Duan revealed that a leading furniture company in Guangdong Province launched the world's first AI self-regulating mattress in January 2020. Its first major feature is 5D intelligent regulation: automatic detection of human body data, use of MPE sleep algorithms, intelligent matching of the human body, and support for zonal, firmness, and left-right regulation. The second major feature is three major intelligent cares: intelligent and precise detection of heart rate, respiration, body movement, snoring, and sleep stages, sleep management, and intelligent care. The third major feature is support for three regulation modes: automatic, manual, and precision modes.
V. Introduction to Shenzhen Institute of Zhong Wu Lian and Sensing Technology Research Center
The Shenzhen Institute of Internet of Things and Sensing Technology Research Center (referred to as Zhongwu Sensing) was established in 2017 and is a registered non-profit organization. It is currently the only professional sensor research institute in Shenzhen. The center's mission is "Made in China for Life Sensing," focusing on digital sensing, strong artificial intelligence, basic life sciences, and AI integrated solutions. It aims to meet the high-end intelligent needs of users in the field of life safety and health, leading the world into a new AI era. Starting from the design of sensing technology, implementation, digital conversion, edge computing, and digital control, it has become a leading player in the international sensing research field.
So far, the center has developed more than 40 globally leading original products, including the second-generation life sign piezoelectric monitoring belt, second-generation piezoelectric wristband, third-generation fatigue driving system, AIOT VOC microcontroller, low-power life data acquisition belt, COVID-19 screening device, bone conduction anti-snoring pillow, full-frequency dynamic flaw detection sensor, automotive digital cockpit, flexible self-power generation and storage device, digital life badge, and more.
The founder, Duan Lixin, has been deeply involved in the sensing industry for 20 years. He has worked in the R&D department of a Fortune 500 multinational company, has 15 years of experience as a core member of a global leading sensor company, and 14 years as the head of the TE-MEAS Piezo Lab (the world's only piezoelectric film laboratory). He is also a senior R&D engineer in the Piezo R&D department and the inventor of the first patent of TE-MEAS Precision Electronics in China. He holds several invention patents and utility model patents and was named one of the Top 10 Makers in Shenzhen and one of the Top 10 CEOs in Shenzhen in 2017.
Figure: Duan Lixin, founder of the Shenzhen Institute of Internet of Things and Sensing Technology Research Center
Duan Lixin currently serves as the Deputy Dean of the Shenzhen Yuhang Smart Manufacturing Technology Research Institute, Director of the Shenzhen Institute of Zhong Wu Lian and Sensing Technology Research Center, Chairman and Chief Technology Officer of Shenzhen Yunzhuan Zhilian Technology Co., Ltd., Director of Qingdao Zhongwu Yunzhuan Intelligent Technology Co., Ltd., Executive Dean of the Zhongke Sensing Technology (Qingdao) Research Institute, Shareholder and Technical Director of Shenzhen Yuanwang Microelectronics Co., Ltd., Special Expert at Xiamen University, Special Expert at Shenzhen Zhongwei Urban Rail Transit Technology Development Co., Ltd., Expert of the Shenzhen Internet of Things Intelligent Technology Application Association, and Executive Vice President of the Shenzhen Hunan Zhuzhou Chamber of Commerce.
