Photoplethysmography in Wearable Devices: A Comprehensive Review of Technological Advances, Current Challenges, and Future Directions

Photoplethysmography (PPG) is an affordable and straightforward optical technique used to detect changes in blood volume within tissue microvascular beds. PPG technology has found widespread application in commercial medical devices, enabling measurements of oxygen saturation, blood pressure, and cardiac output; the assessment of autonomic nerve function; and the diagnosis of peripheral vascular disease. Recently, the growing demand for non-invasive, portable, cost-effective technology, along with advancements in small semiconductor components, has led to the integration of PPG into various wrist-worn wearable devices. Multiple sensor structures have been proposed and, through appropriate signal processing and algorithmic application, these wearable devices can measure a range of health indicators during daily life. This paper begins by addressing the market status of wrist-worn wearable devices, followed by an explanation of the fundamental principles underlying light operation and its interaction with living tissue for PPG measurements. Moving on to technological advancements, the paper addresses the analog front end for the measurement of the PPG signal, sensor configurations with multiple light emitters and receivers, the minimum sampling rate required for low-power systems, and the measurement of stress, sleep, blood pressure, blood glucose, and activity using PPG signals. Several challenges in the field are also identified, including selecting the appropriate wavelength for the PPG sensor’s light source, developing low-power interpolation methods to extract high-resolution inter-beat intervals at a low sampling rate, and exploring the measurement of physiological phenomena using multi-wavelength PPG signals simultaneously collected at the same location. Lastly, the paper presents future research directions, which encompass the development of new, reliable parameters specific to wearable PPG devices and conducting studies in real-world scenarios, such as 24-h long-term measurements.