| Achieving medical-grade accuracy even on mobile devices
| Heart rate, blood pressure, and ECG measurement available 24/7
| Achieving the best signal quality for all skin tones

ams announced on February 28th the launch of the AS7026, an optical sensor for continuous cardiovascular health monitoring that performs blood pressure measurement with medical-grade accuracy.
When used in ams' VivaVita accessory designs, the AS7026 provides a turnkey solution for customers requiring rapid time-to-market. It is also supplied with a feature-rich mobile app for both iOS and Android mobile operating systems.

The AS7026 is embedded in consumer devices such as fitness monitoring wristbands or smartwatches to perform continuous heart rate measurement (HRM), heart rate variability (HRV), blood pressure, and electrocardiography (ECG) measurements.

The new product combines advanced optical semiconductor technology and sophisticated software algorithms to achieve measurement accuracy not easily found in wearable device form factors. For example, the blood pressure measurement accuracy of the algorithm running on AS7026 is evaluated to be at the medical equipment-grade (Grade-B) level when tested according to the IEEE 1708-2014 industry standard.

The new sensor's exceptional cardiovascular measurement accuracy opens up the possibility of providing health monitoring data, typically only available through dedicated medical equipment used in hospitals or operating rooms, 24/7 through consumer and home appliance devices like smartwatches.

“By using a wristband or smartwatch equipped with the AS7026 sensor, consumers will be able to monitor their blood pressure and other key heart health indicators in much the same way they monitor familiar physical data such as height and weight,” said Dr. Reiner Jumpertz, Vice President and General Manager of the Color and Spectral Sensors business line at ams. “They can then use this information more actively and systematically to make more personalized health and lifestyle choices.”

The AS7026 optical module offers low power consumption and a compact 6.2mm x 2.8mm x 1.0mm package, enabling life-saving smart health monitoring 24/7 using battery power.

These miniature sensors offer opportunities for innovative applications for health monitoring technology, ranging from in-ear devices like earphones and hearing aids to toilet bidets.

The AS7026 features a high-performance optical stack that provides high sensitivity, low noise, and high ambient light rejection. This results in a significant reduction in power consumption, which is an important feature for wearable and mobile devices due to their small battery sizes.

Additionally, the AS7026's new optical stack achieves the highest signal quality for all skin colors classified in von Luschan's chromatic scale.


VivaVita Mobile Reference Design for Rapid Product Launch
The performance of the AS7026 has been demonstrated in the VivaVita mobile reference design developed by ams. VivaVita is a production-ready 5cm x 5cm mobile accessory that supports heart rate measurement, photoplethysmography, electrocardiography, blood pressure measurement, and vagal tone measurement.

VivaVita served as a reference platform for FDA certification of a medical blood pressure measurement algorithm. FDA certification for this algorithm, used in AS7026, is expected in August 2019.

Engineering samples and evaluation kits for the AS7026 are available now for order from ams sales offices and distributors. Production volumes are scheduled for May 2019. The AS7026 sensor is priced at $3.61 in quantities of 10,000 units.