Effective PPG sensor placement for reflected red and green light, and infrared wristband-type photoplethysmography

Abstract

Using a wristband-type Photoplethymography (PPG) sensor, useful biomedical information such as heart rate and oxygen saturation can be acquired. Most of commercially-used wrist-type PPG sensors use green light reflections for its greater absorptivity of hemoglobin compared to other lights; this is important because wrists have comparably low concentration of blood flow. For reliable biomedical signal processing, we propose measurement sites for reflected red, green, infrared light PPG sensors on wrist. Amplitude, detection rate, and accuracy of heart rate are compared to determine the signal quality on measurement sites. Traditionally, wrist-type PPG sensors are implemented in measurement site 2, 3 or between 2 and 3 (between the distal Radius and the head of Ulna). Experiments show that all three reflected light PPG sensors generate good quality of PPG signals on measurement sites 4 and 11 (around the distal of Radius of left hand) in test subjects.