ROHM has recently announced the availability of an optical heart rate sensor for smart bands and watches capable of measuring blood pressure, stress and vascular age at a high-speed 1024Hz sampling rate. The BH1792GLC, which is ROHM's 2nd generation optical heart rate sensor, features its high accuracy and low power consumption. A current consumption of only 0.44mA (during heart rate measurement), the lowest in the industry, contributes to longer operating time. And the 1024Hz sampling rate makes it possible to measure heart rate up to 32 times faster than conventional solutions while also supporting vital sign sensing such as vascular age and stress measurement demanded by the latest wearable and fitness devices.
In recent years there has been a growing demand for wearables that can measure not only heart rate, but other vital signs as well such as stress and vascular age to monitor and manage health. However, measuring complicated vital signs requires an increased sampling frequency, which can lead to higher power consumption and decreased battery life.
In response, ROHM leveraged original infrared filtering technology and optical sensor expertise cultivated over many years to develop a low power heart rate sensor that provides high accuracy measurement even under strong IR environments such as direct sunlight or during intense motion activities. And the high-speed sampling rate meets the continuously evolving needs of the IoT and wearable markets.
A heart rate sensor evaluation board (BH1792GLC-EVK-001) for use with ROHM sensor shields that connect to open platform MCU boards (e.g. Arduino Uno) is also available for purchase from online distributors. Moving forward, ROHM will continue to develop solutions that achieve greater safety and convenience in wearable and other portable applications.
