Healthcare devices will evolve into body-attached or skin-injectable forms.
Not only low power and ultra-compact size, but also high functionality and high efficiency are required.

Simply carrying a smartphone allows you to know whether you have gone up and down stairs, how far you have walked, and even the distance traveled and speed. As the growth of the smartphone sensor market accelerates, there is a trend toward incorporating healthcare sensors.

Samsung Electronics equipped the 'Galaxy Note 4', released in 2014, with a UV sensor and a heart rate sensor, and this year announced 'My BP Lab', enabling the measurement of blood pressure and stress using the optical sensor of the Galaxy S9 series.

Semiconductor companies are also preparing for changes in the healthcare sensor market. Maxim Integrated is introducing analog front-end (AFE) products to the market, including optical pulse oximeters, heart rate sensors, electrocardiograms (ECGs), and bioimpedance sensors (BioZ).

Jang Heung-jong, Managing Director of Maxim Integrated Korea, explained, “Maxim has products that make up a wearable platform. We have secured products capable of configuring the entire platform, such as Arm Cortex-based MCUs, biosensors, temperature sensors, PMICs, and nano-power for low power.”

What are the key elements of healthcare-related semiconductors? In response to this, Executive Director Jang replied, “Currently, what users require from wearable solutions is a small size and the ability to use many functions for a long time.”

As with all portable products, healthcare wearables use lithium-ion batteries. Therefore, maximizing battery life by using low power is an indispensable element for healthcare products that are becoming increasingly miniaturized.

Monitoring technology for biosignal-detecting sensors is in demand to meet the needs of users seeking disease prevention and fitness purposes. Users want to obtain health status information, such as blood pressure and pulse, at any time. In response to these demands, Maxim has launched a product that accurately monitors various biosignals. Designed for an ultra-compact and low-power configuration, it takes into account both extended battery life and user convenience.

The MAX86140/41 measures heart rate, heart rate variability, and pulse oximetry by utilizing PPG signals from the wrist, fingers, and ears. Compared to other solutions, it is about one-third the size and consumes only half the power. The MAX30001 is a sensor that measures electrocardiograms and bioimpedance from the chest and wrist to detect heart rate, respiration, and arrhythmia, and it also focuses on low power consumption and miniaturization. Because it accurately collects heart data in beat units, users can recognize major symptoms at an early stage.

Executive Director Jang stated, “The MAX30001 is an analog front-end product. It receives a person's internal resistance as an analog signal, converts it to digital, and transmits it to the MCU.” He explained, "It plays a key role in obtaining accurate results by filtering and amplifying various input signals to ensure valid output values."

He emphasized, “Accuracy in healthcare solutions can be achieved when characteristics and algorithms—that is, hardware and software—are in an optimal combination.”

Maxim's healthcare-related semiconductor products are being utilized not only domestically but also by global companies that develop, produce, and sell wearable devices. Hillserion, a mobile healthcare startup, developed the 'Sonon 300' portable wireless ultrasound diagnostic device using Maxim's highly integrated transceiver MAX2082 and analog switch MAX4968B.

IDC projected that wearable devices would grow at an average annual rate of 18.4% until 2020. Beyond devices that improve medical accessibility, what direction will wearable devices take in the future? Regarding this, Executive Director Jang replied, “Wearable devices are moving from smartphones and smartwatches to attachable types,” adding, “There is a demand for ultra-small products that are barely noticeable even when attached to the body.”

He added, “Ultimately, ‘second skin’ type products that are mounted on the skin or injected into it will emerge,” stating, “Accordingly, we will continue to invest in high-performance and high-efficiency products, as well as low-power and ultra-compact ones.”