LED sensors enahanced in wearable devices to improve personal health monitoring

Korean researchers have advanced the accuracy of wearable healthcare gadgets aimed at monitoring blood pressure.

Lee Eun-jin explains.

Monitoring blood pressure as a part of personal healthcare has become even more important as cardiovascular diseases, like stroke or heart failure, are the leading cause of global death.

However, existing healthcare devices for blood pressure monitoring are cumbersome or inconvenient to use.

Some smartwatches that aid in health monitoring can measure heart rate by detecting changes in blood volume, but the use of optical sensors limits their accuracy for it to meet the standards of a healthcare device.

LED-based photoplethysmography, or PPG, technology only uses between one and four LEDs in its sensors.

Now, a research team from the Korea Advanced Institute of Science and Technology has developed a highly sensitive, wearable piezoelectric blood pressure sensor that utilizes up to 50 LEDs, making it much more sensitive, therefore, significantly improving its accuracy.

"By maintaining a higher spectral resolution, more signals can be emitted in a tighter and smaller wavelength range.

With extensively more wavelengths measured at the same time, even when there is distortion, high accuracy can be guaranteed."

Ultrathin piezoelectric sensors with a thickness of several micrometers, which is thinner than human hair, remain in conformal contact with the skin allowing for the successful collection of accurate blood pressure from the subtle pulsation of the blood vessels.

"Blood pressure levels can be measured not only during workouts but in daily life, and even while sleeping.

Because the spectroscope was made very small, it can easily be applied to wearable devices."

Continuous monitoring of blood pressure changes can help prevent cardiovascular-related diseases.

The research team plans to develop a wireless blood pressure measuring device through follow-up research and to commercialize it before too long.

Lee Eunjin, Arirang News.