MediaTek's Sensio MT6381 module will let you track health data with your smartphone

MediaTek is well know for making chips for affordable and mid-range smartphone. But now the company is launching a module designed for health monitoring: MediaTek Sensio MT6381.

The MediaTek Sensio MT6381 is a 6-in-1 smartphone biosensor module and can track heart rate, blood pressure trends, pheripherals oxygen saturation levels and more. In other words the module is a hardware and software solution that can be easily embedded into a smartphone to allow users to track the  following health data using their smartphone:

• Heart-rate – measures heart beats per minute.
• Heart-Rate Variability – measures variation in the time between heartbeats.
• Blood Pressure Trends – measures blood pressure trends so users can see a range of data over a period of time.
• Peripheral Oxygen Saturation (SpO2) – measures the amount of oxygen in the blood.
• Electrocardiography (ECG) – measures the electrical activity of the heart over a period of time and displays it in graph form.
• Photoplethysmography (PPG) – measures the change in volume of blood.

The module uses LEDs in conjunction with a light sensitive sensor to measure  the absorption of red and infrared light by the user’s fingertips. Note that light sensitive sensors will be placed in three separate areas on your smartphone (one at the rear and two on the side), and you'll have to place your fingertips on each of them simultaneously to get an accurate reading.

By touching the sensors and electrodes with your fingertips, the module creates a closed loop between your heart and the biosensor to measure ECG and PPG waveforms. MediaTek says that the module can deliver the readings of the six health data to the users  in about 60 seconds, which will be synced to an app.

Samsung already allows heart rate monitoring on their flagship product. It debut in Galaxy S5, and the models after that till Galaxy S8 and Galaxy Note8 also comes with the sensor. But with Sensio module, you'll be able to get more health data with a tap on the sensor.

The Sensio MT6381 will be made available to MediaTek partners in early 2018.

Kaiser Bey

Kaiser is a tech enthusiast who likes to write, read and talk about tech. He dreams of going to Mars and never come back. We hope that you find his posts on AndroGuider helpful and informative