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MediaTek offers biosensor module for smartphones

MediaTek offers biosensor module for smartphones

Technology News |
By Peter Clarke



The component combines hardware and software to perform six health-monitoring functions including tracking heart rate information, blood pressure trends, peripheral oxygen saturation levels.

However no mention is made of how accurate these measurements are or whether equipment that includes Sensio must carry a disclaimer about its suitability for medical use.

The MediaTek Sensio uses light emitting diodes (LEDs) in conjunction with a light sensitive sensor to measure the absorption of red and infrared light by the user’s fingertips. By touching a smartphone’s sensors and electrodes with your fingertips, MediaTek Sensio creates a closed loop between your heart and the biosensor to measure ECG and PPG waveforms.

The Sensio is intended to delivers six health data points in about 60 seconds: heart-rate, heart-rate variability, blood pressure trends, peripheral oxygen saturation (SpO2), electrocardiography (ECG) and Photoplethysmography (PPG).

MediaTek Sensio MT6381 includes: integrated red and infrared LEDs for reflective PPG measurement plus a 1-channel ECG analog front-end. It comes in a 6.8mm by 4.93mm by 1.2mm OLGA 22-pin package and requires four external capacitors and connection to two electrodes on the case. It has an I2C/SPI digital interface and will available early in 2018, MediaTek said.

“With our MediaTek Sensio biosensor module and software, developers and device makers have a powerful, embedded health monitoring solution that delivers heart and fitness information in around 60 seconds,” said Yenchi Lee, senior director of product marketing for MediaTek’s wireless business, in a statement.

Next: Leman pushes back


Leman Micro Devices SA (Lausanne, Switzerland) is a startup that introduced its own vital signs sensor – V-sensor – for inclusion in smartphones in 2017 (see Vital signs sensor could transform smartphones).

The V-Sensor health sensor and app is set to undergo final clinical trials at CHUV, a renowned Swiss university hospital, early in 2018, before submission to the FDA and other authorities globally for certification of medical accuracy. In addition to blood pressure and temperature measurements, the V-Sensor can also read blood oxygen saturation, heart rate and respiration rate.

“The recent announcement by Taiwanese company MediaTek shows the degree of confidence that industry has in this approach,” said Mark-Eric Jones, founder and CEO of LMD, in a statement. “Medical accuracy is the last barrier that industry must overcome before we see the smartphone become accepted as a device that is trusted by users as well as doctors and other professionals worldwide to provide precise, repeatable analysis of the user’s state of health.”

Related links and articles:

www.mediatek.com

www.leman-micro.com

News articles:

Vital signs sensor could transform smartphones

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