FEATURE SPECTROSCOPY
Tiny spectrometers, huge application potential
Keely Portway considers the latest miniature spectrometers for consumer and healthcare devices
S
pectrometers are used in several applications for chemical and biological sensing and material analysis. As these instruments
– which not long ago were confined to labs because of their size, weight and cost – are made smaller and smaller, portable spectroscopy is moving into consumer and healthcare applications, thanks to advances that have made on-chip spectrometers a reality. UK-based Rockley Photonics is one firm hoping to bring spectroscopy to the mass consumer and healthcare markets. The photonics chipset developer
recently announced it is combining with acquisition specialist SC Health to be a publicly traded company on the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE). The deal is designed to accelerate the commercial launch of Rockley’s sensing platform, which it is positioning to enter the consumer health market by making a ‘clinic-on-the-wrist’. This technology could enable the continuous, non-invasive monitoring of multi-modal biomarkers such as lactate, glucose, hydration, blood pressure and core body temperature.
Close collaboration Rockley said that it is working closely with some of the world’s largest consumer electronics and wearables companies to provide them with a full-stack solution, including co-packaged hardware devices, biosensing algorithms, firmware and data analytics to enable these customers to provide meaningful and actionable insights to their users. A recent S-4 form filing by Rockley with the US Securities and Exchange
Commission (SEC) revealed that Apple is the firm’s largest customer. Other brands interested in or already working with the startup include Samsung, Zepp Health, LifeSignals Group and Withings. The form was filed as Rockley prepares for the $1.2bn listing on the NYSE. Beyond consumer electronics, Rockley
is partnering with clinicians and medical technology companies to expand the application of its monitoring platform to medical devices, to improve disease detection and prevention. Its sensing platform is designed to support cost- effective, high-volume manufacturing. Speaking about the proposed
transaction during an investor conference call in March, Andrew Rickman, founder, chairman and CEO at Rockley, said: ‘Our module compresses the sensing capabilities of a tabletop clinical spectrometer into a wearable chip that could be carried on your wrist. This enables continuous monitoring of numerous biomarkers, some of which are life critical, such as hydration, blood
Optical design and simulation of the University of Stuttgart’s miniature spectrometer 18 Electro Optics July 2021 @electrooptics |
www.electrooptics.com
A. Toulouse et al., Light: Advanced Manufacturing/University of Stuttgart
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