Maxim Launches MAXM86161 and MAX30208
| In-ear heart rate monitor MAXM86161
| Low-Power Digital Temperature Sensor MAX30208

Maxim has launched an in-ear heart rate monitor and a medical digital temperature sensor.

According to IDTechEx Research, wearable devices continue to exert increasing influence on the market. Global sales of wearable devices are projected to grow at a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 13% from $56.4 billion in 2019 to $78.3 billion in 2022.

Key growth drivers in the wearables market include the growing value of smartwatches and earbuds, as well as the adoption of dedicated wearables in key healthcare sectors.

Maxim Integrated announced on the 26th that it has launched the in-ear heart rate monitor 'MAXM86161' and the medical digital temperature sensor 'MAX30208'.

Wearable medical and fitness monitors must accurately measure human biometric information such as body temperature and heart rate. Until now, small, battery-powered wearable devices have had many limitations due to sensor accuracy.

Maxim's two new continuous monitoring body sensors improve the accuracy of vital signs measurements such as body temperature, heart rate, and blood oxygen saturation (SpO2).

Designers of wearable medical and fitness applications can reduce the power required for temperature measurement by 50% using the MAX30208.

The MAXM86161 can reduce the size of optical solutions by up to 40% and improve both sensitivity and accuracy with the highest signal-to-noise ratio (SNR).

The MAXM86161 in-ear heart rate monitor and pulse oximeter is a fully integrated solution designed for hearable and wearable applications to measure heart rate and oxygen saturation with high accuracy.

This solution is housed in an ultra-small OLGA package (2.9 mm x 4.3 mm x 1.4 mm), making it 40% smaller than competing products. Equipped with three LEDs, the red and IR LEDs measure oxygen saturation, while the green LED measures heart rate.

Power consumption is less than 10μA in operating mode (typically 25sps) and 1.6μA in standby mode, which is approximately 35% less than competing products, extending wearable battery life.

By adopting an integrated analog front-end (AFE), there is no need to purchase a separate chip and the additional AFE that needs to be connected to the optical module is eliminated.

Development of a wider range of devices is also possible with the MAXM86161, which has the best SNR in its class. To improve measurement accuracy, an algorithm for motion compensation is also provided.

The MAX30208 digital temperature sensor operates at 67μA and is available in a thin 10-pin LGA package (2mm x 2mm x 0.75mm).

The MAX30208 provides medical-grade temperature measurement accuracy (±0.1℃) and responds quickly to temperature changes.

This solution is also suitable for small battery-operated applications such as smartwatches and medical patches due to its low power and small size.

It also simplifies the design of battery-powered medical temperature sensing wearable applications.

The MAX30208 is compatible with up to four I2C addresses, allowing multiple sensors to be connected to the same IC bus and can be mounted on a PCB or FPC (Flexible Printed Circuit).