MediaTek Announces Smartphone Biosensor Module

MediaTek has announced the MediaTek Sensio MT6381. It is the company’s first so-called biosensor module, which can register six health characteristics of a smartphone user.

The MediaTek Sensio MT6381 can track the number of beats per minute, the variation of the heart rate over a period of time and the electrical activity of the heart muscle to create an electrocardiogram. Furthermore, the module is able to monitor the amount of oxygen in the blood, the blood pressure and changes in the amount of blood with sensors. The MT6381 could measure these properties within sixty seconds, claims MediaTek.

To determine blood pressure, the module uses red and infrared LEDs and a light-sensitive sensor. This allows the absorption of the red and infrared light to be measured by the user’s fingertips. An image shows that the user must, for example, hold his fingertips in certain places on the smartphone.

The dimensions of the module are 6.8×4.93×1.2mm and it communicates via an i2c/spi interface. MediaTek positions it as a 6-in-1 part, software included, for smartphones, not wearables. From the beginning of 2018, manufacturers can build the Sensio MT6381 into their smartphones.