ADI Announces Latest Low-Power BioZ AFEs

Analog Devices, Inc. (ADI) has introduced the low-power, high-performance bioimpedance (BioZ) analogue front end (AFE) MAX30009. designed to help reduce the size and extend the life of BioZ remote patient monitoring (RPM) devices. Designed for the development of small-sized, battery-powered wearable continuous monitoring devices, this on-chip AFE provides clinical-grade vital sign measurements with bioimpedance analysis for assessing a patient's health in applications such as wearables and medical-grade patches for monitoring health conditions.

Many vital signs monitors, chest patches, pressure monitors, BioZ and wearable medical and healthcare devices must be powered by small-sized batteries for the purpose of small, compact, convenient and comfortable designs.The MAX30009 is a low-power device with multiple power optimisation options to reduce miniature battery consumption, which in turn prolongs the lifespan of BioZ wearable devices. Its power consumption is 62% lower than the competition at the same level, effectively extending the measurement cycles of wearable patches and vital signs monitoring devices. The highly integrated AFE is also 30% smaller in size than the competition, helping designers to reduce the size of vital signs measurement devices and bring a more comfortable and convenient experience to consumers and patients.

Bioimpedance analysis devices are commonly used by healthcare professionals as a convenient way to measure body fat percentage and physical conditions (e.g., respiration and impedance cardiograms.) The MAX30009 integrates monitoring of BioZ information through simultaneous I and Q measurements, as well as 2-electrode (bipolar) and 4-electrode (quadrupolar) configurations. This provides flexible input modes in BioZ measurements and allows the use of different sampling rates to support BioZ measurements for different medical procedures. By extending the range of measurements, respiratory rate, galvanic response and galvanic activity, bioelectrical impedance, impedance cardiography, for body composition and fluid analysis, or for volume tracing, it is possible to gain a deeper understanding of the patient's health.

MAX30009 BioZ AFE Key Features:

- Smaller size: High level of integration allows for a 30% smaller design solution, resulting in a smaller system size and improved patient comfort

- Lower power consumption: 62% lower power consumption

- High performance: I- and Q-channel measurements, bipolar and quadrupolar configurations, sampling rates from 16sps to 4ksps and broadband measurements from 16Hz to 891KHz

Medical wearables save lives by measuring the health of millions of patients with different diseases,’ said Dr Benjamin Sanchez, Assistant Professor of Medicine and Bioimpedance Specialist at the University of Utah. Through bioimpedance (BioZ) monitoring, healthcare professionals and scientists are able to access a range of new and highly clinically significant physiological parameters, data that is having a meaningful impact on patients, including stress, hydration levels, and early cancer detection. I use devices such as the MAX30009 AFE in my research, and they are playing an important role in the proliferation of BioZ monitoring devices, enabling more medical device developers and fitness consumers to benefit from them.’