Panthronics’ PTX100W enables reliable NFC charging of new, smaller version of Prevent Biometrics’ impact-sensing mouthguard

Graz, Austria – Panthronics AG, a fabless semiconductor company specializing in high performance wireless technology, today revealed that wearable device manufacturer Prevent Biometrics has adopted Panthronics’ NFC wireless charging solution in the next generation of its innovative head impact monitoring product.

The solution, based on Panthronics’ PTX100W NFC Charger IC, offers the market’s best charging performance when the coil in the charger (or ‘poller’) and in the charged device (or ‘listener’) are imperfectly aligned.

Minneapolis, US-based Prevent Biometrics manufactures the Prevent Impact Monitoring Mouthguard (IMM). Prevent’s head impact monitoring system is the market leading solution for accurately tracking head impacts in sports and the military. Worn by athletes in contact sports such as rugby, hockey, lacrosse and football, and by soldiers in training activities, the mouthguard measures the intensity, frequency, location and angle of impacts to the head. This enables organizations to monitor the level of head impacts which take place, and to identify individuals who have sustained a large impact or a high number of impacts to better manage their risk of concussion.

The mouthguard includes the sensor system, Bluetooth connectivity and the wireless charging system on a PCB embedded in the mouthguard.

Now Prevent Biometrics has developed a smaller second-generation product that will further improve wearability and comfort. Prevent also wanted to simplify the management of the mouthguards by ensuring that charging operation is maintained even if the mouthguard is not properly aligned in the charging case.

By using the Panthronics PTX100W in the charging case, Prevent Biometrics is able to maintain optimal charging performance when the coils are misaligned, even if they are as much as 13mm apart. Mike Shogren, Chief Executive Officer at Prevent Biometrics, said: ‘Rigorous evaluation of the PTX100W in pre-development indicated that it offered better out-of-alignment performance than any other commercial NFC charger IC. Final production samples validate our promise that customers will get reliable wireless charging with the new Prevent IMM, thanks to the PTX100W.’

‘The development team at Prevent Biometrics also benefited from the excellent engineering support from Panthronics, which did an outstanding job of optimizing the antenna matching between the new Prevent IMM and its charging case.’

Unique sine wave architecture

The ability of the PTX100W-based solution to maintain high charging performance when the charging coils are out of alignment is due to the unique sine wave architecture implemented in the device’s silicon. Superior to competing NFC chargers based on a conventional square wave architecture, the PTX100W requires no EMI filtering components. This simplifies the configuration of an application’s antenna matching circuit, enabling system developers to optimize charging performance without the compromises or trade-offs inherent in systems based on competing NFC charger ICs.

Prevent Biometrics benefited in other ways from the Panthronics filterless architecture: requiring fewer components, the PTX100W-based solution helped minimize the charging system’s board footprint. In addition, the elimination of the filter reduces losses, enabling the device to provide higher Transmit (output) power, and the listener to harvest up to 1W. This enabled the Prevent IMM to achieve an operating range of 13mm between the two coils.

The PTX100W is available now in production volume. More information may be found at www.panthronics.com/products.

Panthronics was named a CES^® 2022 Innovation Awards Honoree for its NFC Wireless Charging solution based on the PTX100W. CES, the world’s most influential technology event, ran on 5-8 January 2022 in Las Vegas, NV, and digitally.

The Prevent IMM is available directly from Prevent Biometrics via [email protected]. More information may be found at preventbiometrics.com.

About Panthronics

Founded in 2014, Panthronics AG (PTX) is an established semiconductor product company with over 50 staff headquartered in Graz, Austria. It develops differentiated wireless solutions from the ground up for security and power applications. Panthronics’ website is at www.panthronics.com.

About Prevent Biometrics^®

Prevent Biometrics^®, a spinoff of research first conceptualized at the Cleveland Clinic, was established in 2015 in Minneapolis. The company developed mouthguards that provide the infrastructure for the leading head impact monitoring system in sports. Currently, Prevent's mouthguards and systems are being utilized by the U.S. Military and leading sports organizations around the world. Prevent's mouthguards accurately measure head impact characteristics in real time and its infrastructure has undergone more testing than any competitor, making it the most validated system in the industry. Prevent is setting the standard for how head impacts are measured, making sports and military training more safe. For additional information visit PreventBiometrics.com.

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