Wearable Health 
Nearly all of the human-body signals traditionally monitored in a clinical environment can now be collected by a wearable product, very often with close to the same level of precision. These traditional signals include:
- Pulse/Heart Rate
- Blood Oxygen
- Stress
- Electrocardiogram (EKG/ECG)
- Body Temperature
- UV Light (Skin Exposure)
Applications
Power and Battery Management
In a wearable product the power system must be able to regulate voltage from a battery—a voltage source with a declining voltage output. The regulators must be efficient enough to maximize charge usage, and must also supply all of the power rails required by the design. The usable voltage range of a rechargeable Li+ battery ranges from 4.2V to approximately 3.2V. Most wearable products use main power rails that are below the minimum charge of a single-cell Li+ battery, so the main rails are typically sourced by a step-down regulator. Some functions within a wearable product may require a higher voltage level than that provided by a single-cell battery. Thus, the power management function must contain at least one step-up regulator. The number of rails required depends on the device, but for optimum efficiency it is best to minimize the total number of rails.
Processing
Power usage and processing capabilities are important selection criteria for micro-processing applications. A system partitioning strategy must be used to decide which system functions are best integrated into the microcontroller and which can be handled externally. Since wearable health devices read human body signals, the capabilities of any on-chip analog circuitry must also be taken into account to ensure they can accurately process low-level signals.
Sensors
Human body sensors output very low magnitude signals, in the millivolt and microvolt range. Our integrated devices for wearable health applications combine sensors with amplification and conversion circuits within a single die or package. These small, high-accuracy solutions provide higher magnitude analog outputs or serialized digital outputs.
Featured Products
High-Sensitivity Pulse Oximeter and Heart-Rate Sensor
MAX30102Pulse Oximeter and Heart-Rate Biosensor for Wearable Health
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Wearable Charge Management Solution
MAX14676This battery-charge-management solution includes a linear battery-charger with 28V tolerant input, smart power control, and several power-optimized peripherals. A boost regulator with 5V to 17V output, and 3 programmable current sinks can drive a variety of LED configurations.
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Wearable Power Management Solution for Primary Cells
MAX20310Wearable Power Management for Single-Cell Zinc Air, Silver Oxide, and Alkaline Battery Architectures
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Wearable Charge-Management Solution
MAX14690Extends Battery Life of Wearable Electronics
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High-Sensitivity Pulse Oximeter and Heart-Rate Sensor
MAX30101Includes 3 LEDs (Red, IR, Green), photo diode, and AFE in a 5.6mm x 3.3mm x 1.55mm optical module for HR and SpO2 measurement.
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Ultra-Low Power Arm® Cortex® M4 with FPU Microcontroller for Wearables and IoT, with 2MB Flash and 512KB SRAM, and Advanced Cryptographic Hardware Engines
MAX32630/MAX32631The MAX32630/MAX32631 feature an Arm® Cortex®-M4 with FPU CPU that delivers ultra-low power, high-efficiency signal processing functionality with significantly reduced power consumption and ease of use.
Wellness Measurement Microcontroller
MAX32600-KITThis complete functional system includes a MAX32600 wellness measurement microcontroller, selectable power sources, headers for access to I/O port pins and the AFE, 8-digit LCD display, USB, UART, low-power Bluetooth® transceiver, and general-purpose IO.
Ultra-Low Power Arm Cortex M4 with FPU Microcontroller for Wearables and IoT, with up to 512KB Flash and 160KB SRAM
MAX32625/MAX32626The MAX32625/MAX32626 feature an Arm® Cortex®-M4 with FPU CPU that delivers high-efficiency signal processing, ultra-low power consumption and ease of use.
Ultra-Low-Power Arm® Cortex®-M3 with Wellness Sensor Analog Front-End, Advanced Hardware Security, 256KB Flash and 32KB SRAM
MAX32600
High-Performance, Ultra-Low Power ARM Cortex-M4F with FPU-Based Microcontroller for Rechargeable Devices
MAX32620/MAX32621Ultra-Low Power Cortex-M4F for Wearable Medical and Fitness Applications
Solutions
Wearable
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Vital Signal Patch
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Pulse Oximetry
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Patient Monitoring (ECG+PPG+Temperature)
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Digital Thermometer
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Blood Pressure Monitor System
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Blogs
Technical Docs
| Type | ID | Title | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Tutorial | 4702 |
|
Easily Add Memory, Security, Monitoring, and Control to Medical Sensors and Consumables |
| Tutorial | 4700 |
|
Introduction to Medical Instruments and Growing Trend for Point-of-Care and Near-Patient Testing |
Introduction to the MAX30131 MAX30132 MAX30134 4-Channel Ultra-low Power Electrochemical Sensor AFE
8:25 min
November 2019
How to Accurately Measure Human Body Temperature Using the MAX30208
4:18 min
July 2020
Introduction to the MAX86916 Integrated Optical Sensor Module for Mobile Health
6:34 min
April 2020
How to Quickly Measure SpO2, HR, and HRV Blood from Your Wrist Using the MAXREFDES103
3:45 min
June 2020
How to Get Your Healthcare Wearable Off the Ground Faster
1:45 min
June 2020
How Remote Patient Monitoring Can Help Us Battle COVID-19
2:39 min
June 2020
Introduction to the MAX31825 1-Wire® Temperature Sensor With ±1°C Accuracy
9:52 min
June 2020
Introduction to the MAX32664 Ultra-Low Power Biometric Sensor Hub
5:35 min
February 2019
Introduction to the MAXM86161 Single-Supply Integrated Optical Module for HR and SpO2 Measurement
2:31 min
May 2019
Introduction to the MAX30208 Low-Power, High-Accuracy Digital Temp Sensor
5:56 min
May 2019
Introduction to the MAX86170A MAX86170B MAX86171 Best-in-Class Optical Pulse Oximeter and Heart-Rate Sensor AFE for Wearable Health
12:03 min
January 2020
Introduction to the MAXM86146 Complete Optical Biosensing Module with Ultra-Low-Power Biometric Sensor Hub
3:54 min
August 2020
