New Cuffless BP measurement solution meets regulatory accuracy limits

Blood pressure is a key vital sign but has traditionally been difficult to monitor conveniently and accurately. Until now, accurate blood-pressure monitoring could only be achieved with bulky and mechanical cuff-based medical devices. A new cuffless BP measurement solution has been launched that meets regulatory accuracy limits. The optical blood-pressure trending solution can be embedded in smartphones or wearables. It enables users to place their finger on a device for 30-45 seconds while resting to measure blood pressure anywhere and anytime.

Now, Maxim Integrated Products, Inc. (NASDAQ: MXIM) has introduced a solid-state blood-pressure monitoring solution comprising of a complete integrated optical sensor module, a microcontroller sensor hub and a sensing algorithm to more conveniently track this critical health indicator.

The MAX30101 (using two LEDs) and MAX30102 (using three LEDs) pulse-oximeter and heart-rate optical sensor modules combine photodetectors, LEDs and analogue front-end (AFE) electronics with an integrated cover glass. This integrated optical design and lenses-on-top approach enable optimal signal-to-noise ratio (SNR) for a small, lower cost and power-efficient module. It comes in a tiny 5.6mm x 3.3mm 14-pin optical package with an I²C interface to the sensor hub IC.

The MAX32664D sensor hub IC includes firmware which controls the sensor and executes the algorithms which measure cuffless blood pressure, heart rate and blood-oxygen levels. Its ultra-small size (1.6mm x 1.6mm) can easily fit into small devices to seamlessly and effortlessly connect to a device's host microcontroller.

The MAXREFDES220# provides industry-best accuracy that meets Class-II regulatory limits. For example, under resting-only measurement conditions, the solution provides the following accuracies:

• Systolic Error: Mean = 1.7mmHg, Std Dev = 7.4mmHg


• Diastolic Error: Mean = 0.1mmHg, Std Dev = 7.6mmHg


• For reference, Class-II regulatory limits are |Mean Error| ≤ 5mmHg and Std Dev ≤ 8mm Hg

This solution requires calibration every four weeks to maintain above accuracies. This is based on independent testing and a limited number of subjects at the resting condition.

Advantages of the new system are:

• Best Blood-Pressure Measurement Accuracy Without a Cuff: The ready-to-use reference solution measures trending blood pressure without a cuff and meets Class-II regulatory limits.


• Ease of Design: Highly integrated optical modules and ready-to-use algorithms in the sensor hub IC, together with complete optical system design guidance, enable customers to easily embed the finger-based blood-pressure solution into their devices.


• Faster Time to Market: Algorithm code runs on a small, ultra-low-power dedicated sensor hub microcontroller, eliminating the need to integrate new code into an existing application processor.

Provided by Maxim Integrated Products, Inc.