Investigating the Design of a Photoplethysmography Device for Vital Sign Monitoring

There exists a distinct lack of publicly available literature addressing the most effective hardware design for photoplethysmography (PPG) devices for clinical and domestic applications. In this article, this problem was addressed by investigating the hardware design configuration of a PPG device, w...

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Main Authors: Anneri Appel, Rensu P. Theart
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: MDPI AG 2025-03-01
Series:Sensors
Subjects:
Online Access:https://www.mdpi.com/1424-8220/25/6/1875
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author Anneri Appel
Rensu P. Theart
author_facet Anneri Appel
Rensu P. Theart
author_sort Anneri Appel
collection DOAJ
description There exists a distinct lack of publicly available literature addressing the most effective hardware design for photoplethysmography (PPG) devices for clinical and domestic applications. In this article, this problem was addressed by investigating the hardware design configuration of a PPG device, with particular emphasis on the light source wavelength, light source brightness, number of light sources, photodetector lens shape, and sensor-to-skin contact pressure. A participant study was conducted to collect cardiovascular metric data from 110 participants with varying skin tones, which was used to determine the most promising hardware configuration of the PPG device. It was concluded that the device had little bias to skin tone, with only a 3.82 dB variance over all the skin tones tested.
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series Sensors
spelling doaj-art-7b73c911d738415ebe2338fe8d111d922025-08-20T03:43:56ZengMDPI AGSensors1424-82202025-03-01256187510.3390/s25061875Investigating the Design of a Photoplethysmography Device for Vital Sign MonitoringAnneri Appel0Rensu P. Theart1Institute of Biomedical Engineering, Stellenbosch University, Matieland 7600, South AfricaDepartment of Electrical and Electronic Engineering, Stellenbosch University, Matieland 7600, South AfricaThere exists a distinct lack of publicly available literature addressing the most effective hardware design for photoplethysmography (PPG) devices for clinical and domestic applications. In this article, this problem was addressed by investigating the hardware design configuration of a PPG device, with particular emphasis on the light source wavelength, light source brightness, number of light sources, photodetector lens shape, and sensor-to-skin contact pressure. A participant study was conducted to collect cardiovascular metric data from 110 participants with varying skin tones, which was used to determine the most promising hardware configuration of the PPG device. It was concluded that the device had little bias to skin tone, with only a 3.82 dB variance over all the skin tones tested.https://www.mdpi.com/1424-8220/25/6/1875photoplethysmography (PPG)PPG sensoroptical sensorwearablessignal processing
spellingShingle Anneri Appel
Rensu P. Theart
Investigating the Design of a Photoplethysmography Device for Vital Sign Monitoring
Sensors
photoplethysmography (PPG)
PPG sensor
optical sensor
wearables
signal processing
title Investigating the Design of a Photoplethysmography Device for Vital Sign Monitoring
title_full Investigating the Design of a Photoplethysmography Device for Vital Sign Monitoring
title_fullStr Investigating the Design of a Photoplethysmography Device for Vital Sign Monitoring
title_full_unstemmed Investigating the Design of a Photoplethysmography Device for Vital Sign Monitoring
title_short Investigating the Design of a Photoplethysmography Device for Vital Sign Monitoring
title_sort investigating the design of a photoplethysmography device for vital sign monitoring
topic photoplethysmography (PPG)
PPG sensor
optical sensor
wearables
signal processing
url https://www.mdpi.com/1424-8220/25/6/1875
work_keys_str_mv AT anneriappel investigatingthedesignofaphotoplethysmographydeviceforvitalsignmonitoring
AT rensuptheart investigatingthedesignofaphotoplethysmographydeviceforvitalsignmonitoring