Analog Devices Shrinks Size for Low-Power BioZ Monitoring

By Chad Cox

Production Editor

Embedded Computing Design

April 04, 2022

News

Analog Devices Shrinks Size for Low-Power BioZ Monitoring
Image Provided by Analog Devices

Reduce the size and extend the life of bioimpedance (BioZ) remote-patient monitoring (RPM) devices with the MAX30009 low-power, high-performance BioZ analog front-end (AFE) from Analog Devices, Inc. (ADI).

For developers of small, battery-powered, continuously wearable devices, this AFE on a chip offers clinical-grade vital sign measurements of bioimpedance analysis for patient health assessment for wellness wearables and medical-grade patches.

Vital sign monitors, chest patches, stress monitors, BioZ, and other wearable healthcare devices need to operate on a small-scale battery as part of a compact design that emphasize convenience without sacrificing comfort.

The MAX30009 is a low-power design with a range of options to enable use-case power optimization that reduces the draw on tiny batteries, thus extending the operational life of BioZ wearables.  

The MAX30009 is 30% smaller and reduces power consumption by 62% compared to competitive products that offer to extend measurement periods for body-worn patches, and vital signs monitoring devices.

Healthcare professionals can measure body fat percentages and body compositions (such as respiration and impedance cardiography.) with bioimpedance analysis devices. According to Analog devices, the MAX30009 monitors a comprehensive range of BioZ modalities through simultaneous I and Q measurements, 2-electrode (bipolar) and 4-electrode (tetrapolar) configurations. This enables flexible inputs for BioZ modality measurements as well as a wide range of sample rates to support various medical BioZ measurements. A wider range allows more profound insights into patient health by measuring respiration rate, galvanic skin response and electrodermal activity, body composition and fluid analysis, bioimpedance spectroscopy, impedance cardiography and plethysmography.

MAX30009 BioZ AFE Key Features:

  • Smaller Size: high level of integration enables 30 percent smaller design to reduce size and improve patient comfort
  • Lower Power: Consumes 62 percent lower power to reduce power
  • High-Performance: Measuring from both I and Q channels, 2-electrode and 4-electrode configurations as well as sample rates from 16sps to 4ksps and a wide frequency range of 16Hz to 891KHz

 “Healthcare wearables are saving lives by measuring the health of millions of patients with a broad range of conditions. Through bioimpedance (BioZ), medical professionals and scientists have been able to gain access to a new plethora of clinically meaningful physiological parameters that now can directly benefit consumers, including stress, hydration levels, and early detection of cancer,” said Dr. Benjamin Sanchez, Assistant Professor of ECE at University of Utah and bioimpedance expert. “I use devices like the MAX30009 AFE in my research and they play a valuable role in making BioZ monitoring more ubiquitous for healthcare device designers and fitness consumers.”

For more information, visit analog.com.

Chad Cox. Production Editor, Embedded Computing Design, has responsibilities that include handling the news cycle, newsletters, social media, and advertising. Chad graduated from the University of Cincinnati with a B.A. in Cultural and Analytical Literature.

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