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:
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.
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.
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.
Pulse Oximeter and Heart-Rate Biosensor for Wearable Health
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This 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 for Single-Cell Zinc Air, Silver Oxide, and Alkaline Battery Architectures
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Extends Battery Life of Wearable Electronics
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Includes 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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The 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.
This 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.
The 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 Cortex-M4F for Wearable Medical and Fitness Applications
Our wearable healthcare solutions provide additional information on designing wearable health products, including examples and block diagrams of typical wearable designs.