Safety lockout for photoplethysmogram sensor

Abstract

A photoplethysmography (PPG) sensor and methods for safely operating a PPG sensor are described. The sensor includes a PPG light source (e.g., a light emitting diode (LED), a laser), a photo detector, a memory, and a processor in electronic communication with the memory. The memory stores instructions that when executed by the processor cause the processor to detect a light level via the photo detector, determine an ambient light level based on the detected light level, determine that the photo detector is obstructed when the ambient level satisfies a first threshold, operate the PPG light source at a first level when the photo detector is unobstructed, and operate the PPG light source at a second level when the photo detector is obstructed.

Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.