Evaluation board for heart-rate and pulse oximetry monitor applications

Stocked by Digi-Key, Maxim Integrated's MAXREFDES117# reference design is a low-power, PPG-based heart-rate and pulse oximetry monitor subsystem. The circuit utilises the MAX30102 heart-rate/SpO2 sensor with integrated red and IR LEDs. The low-power step-down converter (MAX1921) converts the 2V to 5.5V supply input and generates the 1.8V rail for the heart-rate sensor. The MAX14595 level translator provides an interface between the heart-rate/SpO2 sensor and the controller board which uses a different logic level. This tiny board (0.5” x 0.5”) is perfect for wearable projects and may be placed on a finger, earlobe, or other fleshy extremity to accurately detect heart rate. Users will need to provide a 2V to 5.5V power input and it operates at less than 5.5mW. This versatile module works with many types of microcontrollers that have I2C interfaces. The Arduino and mbed platforms are available for quick testing, development, and system integration. A basic, open source heart-rate and SpO2 algorithm is included in the example firmware.