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92 PCB007 MAGAZINE I MAY 2023 and wellness easier than ever. Engineers have designed sensors for smartwatches to mea- sure a wide range of metrics, from basic activ- ity tracking to more advanced biometrics like heart rate, blood oxygen levels, and even elec- trocardiograms (ECG). Let's take a closer look at some of the most common sensors. • e accelerometer is one of the essen- tial sensors found in smartwatches, which measures your body's movement and helps track your steps and distance throughout the day. Other sensors include a gyroscope, which mea- sures your wrist's rota- tion, and a magnetome- ter, which measures the earth's magnetic field and helps determine your ori- entation. Combining these sensors enables a watch to detect your activity, whether it's walking, running, cycling, etc. • e heart rate monitor is another ubiquitous smartwatch feature. ese sensors use pho- toplethysmography (PPG) technology to detect changes in your blood flow, allow- ing them to measure your heart rate. at green light that periodically lights up on your watch? at's a PPG measurement. Keeping track of your heart rate allows your watch to estimate patterns like stress levels, calories burned, and sleep quality. • Blood oxygen sensors are also becoming common in smartwatches. ese sensors use pulse oximetry to measure the oxygen saturation levels in your blood. A smart- watch with a blood-oxygen sensor can pro- vide users a better understanding of how their oxygen levels fluctuate throughout the day and night. Algorithms can then use this data to estimate restfulness and help avoid overtraining. ere are some newer features on the way as well. Some smartwatches can incorporate temperature sensors, which measure the skin's temperature on your wrist. ese sensors can detect changes in your body temperature and are primarily used for tracking women's health. Smartwatches also have apps and digital solutions that act like a one-stop shop for all the health data recorded by your smartwatch. Within these apps, powerful algorithms can combine data from various sensors to provide in-depth analysis and long-term monitoring of health trends. The Future With the introduction of ECG sensor s, smar t- watches began to blur the l i n e s b e t w e e n w e l l n e s s tracking and medical-grade i n s t r u m e n t a t i o n . No w, some watches can detect a r r hy t h m ia s o r r e g u la r heartbeats and notify you to visit a doctor. Building off the successful implementation of ECG, smar twatch designers have circled blood pressure and glu- cose monitoring as the next major innova- tive features, promising critical new tools for patients with diabetes and high blood pres- sure. Who knows? Maybe someday they will analyze our blood (looking at you, eranos) or tell us whether we have contracted COVID- 19. Either way, the future of smartwatches is so bright that it even outshines those green PPG sensors. It's important for users to remember, however, smartwatches are not hospital-grade equip- ment, and tech companies are quick to note their products are not intended to make a medi- cal diagnosis. It doesn't mean the data is useless, but users should know that some doctors might scrunch their noses at smartwatch data. e sophistication of health-tracking fea- tures in smartwatches is evolving rapidly. Smartwatches also have apps and digital solutions that act like a one-stop shop for all the health data recorded by your smartwatch.