KYOCERA Optical Blood-Flow Sensor Is Among World's Smallest for Wearable Devices, Smartphones
December 14 2016 - 8:07AM
Business Wire
Potential mHealth applications utilize earbuds
and other devices to sense stress levels, help prevent dehydration
and avoid altitude sickness
Kyocera Corporation (NYSE:KYO)(TOKYO:6971) announced that it has
developed one of the smallest known optical blood-flow sensors,
which measures the volume of blood flow in subcutaneous tissue.
With the sensor, Kyocera is researching a variety of mobile health
(mHealth) applications such as monitoring stress levels or
preventing dehydration, heatstroke and altitude sickness by
studying trends or changes in blood-flow volume as alerts for these
conditions and developing algorithms for detection.
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Kyocera's optical blood-flow sensor
(Photo: Business Wire)
Leveraging Kyocera’s expertise in miniaturization, the sensor —
only 1mm high, 1.6mm long and 3.2mm wide — is designed for use in
small devices such as mobile phones and wearable devices. The
company will offer sensor module samples starting April 2017, and
aims to commercialize the technology as a device by March 2018.
Potential mHealth Applications in Research &
Development
- Blood-flow sensing earbuds: Check
stress levels or orthostatic hypotension while music plays by
analyzing blood flow
- Wearable device for heatstroke
prevention: Help prevent dehydration or heatstroke by detecting
changes in blood flow
- Wearable device for mountain climbers:
Help avoid dehydration or altitude sickness by monitoring blood
flow and sending notifications to rehydrate when there are
potential risks
Development Background
The wearable device market has expanded substantially in recent
years, focused primarily on health and fitness. New mHealth
applications are being developed for a wide range of healthcare
applications including chronic diseases, eldercare and wellness.
Global shipments of healthcare wearables are expected to rise from
2.5 million units in 2016 to 97.6 million units in 2021*1.
Kyocera, which provides a wide range of components for
smartphones and wearables, has been developing slimmer, smaller
products to support higher functionality in more compact devices.
The company developed this sensor as an integrated module,
incorporating the laser diode and photodiode into a single ceramic
package, based on its established expertise in miniaturization
technologies.
Basic Principle and Main Features
Devices equipped with this new sensor will be able to measure
blood-flow volume in subcutaneous tissue by placing the device in
contact with an ear, finger or forehead*2. When light is reflected
on blood within a blood vessel, the frequency of light varies —
called a frequency or Doppler shift — according to the blood-flow
velocity. The new sensor utilizes the relative shift in frequency
(which increases as blood flow accelerates) and the strength of the
reflected light (which grows stronger when reflected off a greater
volume of red blood cells) to measure blood-flow volume.
Featuring a high signal-to-noise ratio (S/N), small size and low
power consumption (output: 0.5mW), the sensor can be easily
integrated into a smartphone or wearable device for mHealth
applications.
*1 Based on information issued by Tractica LLC in April 2016*2
The sensor targets capillaries for measurement and cannot be
utilized on all parts of the body; measurement site may depend on
monitoring applications.
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About KYOCERA
Kyocera Corporation (NYSE:KYO)(TOKYO:6971)
(http://global.kyocera.com/), the parent and global headquarters of
the Kyocera Group, was founded in 1959 as a producer of fine
ceramics (also known as “advanced ceramics”). By combining these
engineered materials with metals and integrating them with other
technologies, Kyocera has become a leading supplier of electronic
components, semiconductor packages, mobile phones, printers,
copiers, solar power generating systems, cutting tools and
industrial ceramics. During the year ended March 31, 2016, the
company’s consolidated net sales totaled 1.48 trillion yen (approx.
USD13.1 billion). Kyocera appears on the Thomson Reuters list of
the “Top 100 Global Innovators” and is ranked #531 on Forbes
magazine’s 2016 “Global 2000” listing of the world’s largest
publicly traded companies.
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KYOCERA Corporation (Japan)Hina Morioka,
+81-(0)75-604-3416Corporate
Communicationswebmaster.pressgl@kyocera.jpFax:
+81-(0)75-604-3516
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