Double junction photodiodes for multiwavelength photoplethysmography

Oxygen saturation levels in blood are usually measured with photoplethysmography (PPG) using two LEDs, one in the red and the other in the near infrared region of the spectrum. A number of studies have increased the number of wavelengths, not only to improve the accuracy of SpO2 measurements, but also to provide real-time measurements of other substances in blood, such as methemoglobin and carboxyhemoglobin. In addition, analysis of PPG signals at different wavelengths could provide information about skin pathologies at various tissue depths. In this work we study the advantages of using photodetection based on vertically stacked double junction photodiodes. The sensitivity of such photodetectors over a wider wavelength range is of particular interest for PPG. We have implemented a test bed, which includes the control of light sources to emulate the transmitted signals, the analog front-end to recover the time multiplexed PPG signals and post-processing to calculate the hemoglobin fractions. We use this framework to compare results of photodetection obtained using a single silicon junction and the combination of a silicon and indium gallium arsenide junction for photodetection.