Wearable acquisition
- Wrist, ring, band, and force/contact geometry
- Path and wavelength diversity
- Motion removal and signal-quality gating
- Adaptive sampling and power
Optical PPG IP Atlas: Wearables, Chips & Clinical Sensors — v1
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Active · adjudicated context
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Separate research atlas · evidence checked 2026-08-01
How optical pulse sensing moves from skin to signal.
A source-backed map of wearable PPG, Maxim/Analog Devices optical chips, and clinical pulse-oximetry sensors—connected to scientific papers, product documentation, public patent records, and explicit uncertainty.
23curated PPG family groups
31local primary records
3wearable, chip, and clinical systems
2026-08-01status and source check
Read this first: a patent is a technical disclosure, not scientific or clinical validation. Status labels are dated screening results, not legal opinions or freedom-to-operate conclusions. Expired, lapsed, or abandoned records may be useful design history only after family, jurisdiction, restoration, and other rights are checked. Educational or noncommercial use does not automatically clear active patent rights.
Innovation graph · three interacting systems
The signal is shaped before an algorithm sees it.
Optical geometry, electronics, packaging, placement, motion, and patient population interact. The arrows show technical relationships—not commercial lineage or claim coverage.
Chip & reference architecture
- LED drive and photodiode AFE
- Ambient cancellation and conversion
- Synchronized PPG/ECG and sensor hubs
- Reference designs and embedded algorithms
Clinical sensor ecosystem
- Finger, toe, neonatal foot, forehead, ear
- Disposable, reusable, and hybrid designs
- Adhesives, cable torque, fragile skin
- Motion, low perfusion, weight and population
Curated strongest PPG IP
Twelve Tier A families to understand first.
Selected for direct PPG relevance, technical specificity, primary-source quality, ecosystem connection, and defensible science linkage.
Active-screen: landscape/literacyPending-screen: claims can changeHistory: verify surviving rights
Masimo/Cercacor · Poeze family
US 10,912,502 / 10,945,648. Multiple emitters and photodiodes, defined openings/lining, protruding optical interface, and SpO2 processing.
Science: Tamura 2019; Fine 2021; Park 2022; Baker 2021.
Fitbit / Google · multi-path PPG
US 11,051,706 family. Time-multiplexed source-detector paths provide spatial diversity for quality comparison, selection, and motion modeling.
Science: Lee 2020; Zhang 2019; Charlton 2022; Fine 2021.
Garmin · three-wavelength SpO2
US 11,839,490. About 630, 660, and 940 nm support two ratio-of-ratios estimates whose agreement gates validity.
Science: Tamura 2019; Fine 2021; Park 2022; Baker 2021.
Maxim / ADI · integrated optical AFE
US 10,123,711 family. Red/IR LED drivers, photodetection, amplification, ADC, registers/DSP, feedback, and confidence control.
Science: Tamura 2019; Watanabe 2019; Castaneda 2018.
Analog Devices · motion-aware HR
US 9,901,306. Accelerometer-aided adaptive prediction and state-variable filtering track HR through motion.
Science: Jarchi 2019; Mejia-Mejia 2022; Charlton 2022.
WHOOP · learned quality metrics
US 11,986,323. A model trained against concurrent reference measurements estimates the probability a wearable HR result is accurate.
Science: Orphanidou 2015; Elgendi 2016; Sabeti 2019.
Samsung · sensor-derived motion
US 11,633,157. Multiple optical sensors infer movement from positional signal patterns and remove it without requiring separate inertial data.
Science: Lee 2020; Jarchi 2019; Fine 2021.
Oura · adaptive ring sampling
US 12,042,258. Sampling is weighted toward pulse peaks, with DC/ambient information near troughs, to manage power and information.
Science: Silva 2022; Watanabe 2019; Fine 2021.
Apple · force-conditioned PPG
US 10,874,348. Internal-tissue force can condition or disqualify PPG and support contact feedback beyond an accelerometer.
Science: Fine 2021; Pi 2022; Charlton 2022.
Garmin · optical path diversity
US 11,806,119. Different distances and orthogonal optical paths increase diversity against tilt/contact variation and permit SNR gating.
Science: Lee 2020; Zhang 2019; Fine 2021.
Analog Devices · quality classifier
US 2022/0370015. Single/multi-channel features and cross-channel correlation feed a learned PPG quality classifier.
Science: Orphanidou 2015; Elgendi 2016; Sabeti 2019.
Maxim / ADI · matched-filter drive
US 10,736,195. Passive shaping makes LED drive approximate the time mirror of a digital filter impulse response for SNR per unit power.
Science: Watanabe 2019; Castaneda 2018.
Maxim Integrated / Analog Devices
From LED current to an algorithm-ready signal.
Official product documentation supports the ecosystem map. Patent-to-product mapping remains an engineering inference unless a primary record makes it explicit.
Integrated modulesMAX30101/MAX30102 combine red/IR optics and an optical front end.
External-LED AFEsMAX86140/MAX86141 leave optical-board geometry to the system designer.
Multimodal and earMAX86150 synchronizes PPG/ECG; MAXM86161 targets compact ear/wearable sensing.
Hub and referenceMAX32664 pairs with finger, wrist, or ear modules; MAXREFDES117 demonstrates MAX30102 integration.
Source constraint: several official ADI data-sheet PDF downloads failed during local collection. Official URLs are preserved in the archive, and no unavailable file is represented as downloaded.
Clinical pulse-oximetry branch
Geometry, packaging, and patient are part of the instrument.
Clinical sensor design must account for fragile skin, site perfusion, motion, alignment, adhesive, cable loading, cleaning/reuse, and patient/site ranges.
| Family / maker | Site & geometry | Disposable / reusable | Motion, optics & packaging | Science and uncertainty |
|---|---|---|---|---|
|
Masimo US 6,377,829 Expired-screen |
Tissue-site attachment; reusable optics | Hybrid “resposable” emitter/detector/cable plus disposable adhesive/information element | Separates durable electronics from patient-contact consumable | Fine 2021; Allen 2007. Check continuations and non-patent packaging rights. |
|
Masimo US 6,470,199 Fee-expired screen |
Opposing optics on toe, foot, or finger in an elastic sock | Reusable, disposable, or sterilizable embodiments | Limits rotation, clip pressure, and ambient light; cable routing disclosed | Fine 2021; Park 2022. Check restoration and related families. |
|
Nellcor US 5,842,982 Expired-screen |
Infant/neonatal foot and heel; transmittance optics | Nonadhesive or light-adhesive construction | Foot-conforming pad and upward lead routing | General PPG science only; no neonatal-foot-specific paper was located. |
|
Nellcor US 5,209,230 Ceased-screen |
Finger, toe, or foot with opposing optics | Reusable housing plus disposable adhesive emitter web | Hybrid packaging and cable-to-monitor architecture | Allen 2007; Fine 2021. Read current products from current IFUs. |
|
Nellcor US 6,018,673 / Covidien US 9,351,674 Expired-screen |
Transmittance or reflectance sites | Algorithm rather than package focus | Wavelength relationships and weighted differences suppress correlated artifacts | Jarchi 2019; Lee 2020; Pimentel 2017. Later families not exhausted. |
|
Nonin US 5,800,349 Expired-screen |
Offset emitter/detector for thin finger or toe tissue | Reusable or disposable contexts | Offset increases effective arterial optical path | Allen 2007; Fine 2021; Tamura 2019. Do not equate to current 6000C claims. |
Masimo RD SET
Official materials list adult/pediatric finger, infant thumb, and neonatal-foot applications, weight ranges, and adhesive/non-adhesive newborn options.
Nellcor / Medtronic
Resources distinguish single-use and reusable sensors and include adult, pediatric, infant, neonatal, and premature-neonatal guides.
Philips & Nonin
Philips lists an adhesive-free reusable neonatal hand/foot wrap for 1–4 kg; Nonin lists disposable cloth finger/toe/foot sensors.
Clinical boundary: the FDA says readings can be affected by poor circulation, skin pigmentation, skin thickness, temperature, tobacco use, and nail polish, and advises not relying on pulse oximetry alone. FDA source →
Masimo–Apple · primary-record timeline
One record, three necessary dates.
Reporting only the 2023 result is now incomplete. Reporting only the later redesign result would also be incomplete.
USITC violation and orders
The Commission found a Section 337 violation as to claims 22/28 of US 10,912,502 and 12/24/30 of US 10,945,648, then issued orders for covered Apple devices.
Official notice →Federal Circuit affirmance
The Federal Circuit affirmed the Commission judgment in Apple Inc. v. ITC and described the representative wearable optical claim context.
Official opinion →Redesigned products not excluded
The Commission left in place the finding that the accused second redesigned products did not infringe the asserted claims and should not be excluded.
Official notice →
Narrow conclusion: these are claim- and product-specific findings in a particular US proceeding. No broader infringement claim is made.
Buildable history · after verification
Public disclosure can teach without being current clearance.
These records are useful design history only with family and other-rights checks.
Apple US 2016/0296173 A1 · screened abandoned
Two co-located optical channels scale and subtract common motion effects. Papers: Lee 2020, Jarchi 2019, Fine 2021. Related rights may survive. USPTO PDF →
Samsung US 10,939,835 B2 · screened fee-expired
Learned PPG quality plus motion can drive band tension/orientation. Papers: Fine 2021, Pi 2022, Orphanidou 2015. Check restoration/family rights. USPTO PDF →
Maxim US 2015/0335293 A1 · screened abandoned
Red/IR correlation detects periodic biological signal and reasons about finger pressure. Papers: Fine 2021, Pi 2022, Tamura 2019. USPTO PDF →
Science archive connections
Patents sit beside evidence, not above it.
Each link is a technical relationship, not proof that the paper validates the patent or that a product implements either.
Motion & quality
Optics, site & contact
Power & sampling
Watanabe 2019 and Silva 2022.
Clinical limits
Full bibliography
Continue to Dr. Doyle’s Annotated Bibliography. No neonatal-foot-specific paper was located in the current archive.
Method and replication boundary
How to use the atlas responsibly.
The archive is larger than the Page. Selection favors relevance and evidence quality over bulk downloading.
1 · Read primary recordsAbstract, claims, technical passages, status, and official proceedings.
2 · Separate evidencePaper, patent, product document, adjudicated finding, inference, and uncertainty.
3 · Reproduce carefullyRecord raw signal, site, contact, motion, ambient, reference, exclusions, and failures.
4 · RefreshRecheck claims, status, family, jurisdiction, product documents, and appeal posture.
Education boundary: classroom experiments can compare principles, but should not present an educational sensor as medical equipment or claim SpO2 accuracy without an appropriate reference and study.