Fully integrated modular phantom validation platform for repeatable physiological simulation and wearable device testing.
The Optical Bio-Sensing Laboratory (OBSL), in collaboration with the Center for Remote Health Technologies and Systems (CRHTS), has developed a fully modular in vitro validation platform designed to accelerate the development, characterization, and commercialization of next-generation wearable and medical sensing technologies. This advanced phantom-based system enables rapid, repeatable evaluation of noninvasive biosensing devices across multiple anatomical form factors, including wrist-based wearables, chest patches, ring sensors, optical probes, and surgical instrumentation interfaces. By combining physiologically accurate tissue phantoms, programmable hemodynamic simulation, and automated motion control, the platform provides a highly controlled environment for validating device performance under realistic physiological and biomechanical conditions.
Arm phantom test configuration enabling controlled evaluation of wrist-based wearable sensors under realistic biomechanical conditions.
The system incorporates mechanically and optically representative tissue structures, including layered skin models, vascular networks, and dynamically controlled pulsatile flow. These features allow researchers and industry partners to test sensing technologies across a range of physiological states, skin tones, tissue compositions, and motion conditions without reliance on animal or human subject testing. A key component of the platform is the finger phantom module, which replicates the structural and vascular properties of the human digit. This system enables high-fidelity evaluation of ring-based wearables and optical sensing technologies by simulating pulsatile blood pressure dynamics within anatomically representative digital arteries.
Finger phantom module designed for high-fidelity testing of ring-based and optical biosensing technologies.
The phantom’s multi-layer construction reproduces realistic tissue elasticity and optical scattering behavior, supporting validation of photoplethysmography, force-based sensing, and multimodal biosensing architectures. The modular architecture of the test system enables rapid integration of custom fixtures to evaluate new device geometries, including smartwatches, health bands, implantable interfaces, and emerging surgical technologies. Automated actuation and programmable physiological simulation enable repeatable stress testing across dynamic conditions such as motion, pressure variation, and vascular response. By providing a standardized, repeatable validation environment, this platform reduces development risk, shortens design cycles, and lowers costs associated with early-stage human testing. Industry collaborators can leverage the system for performance benchmarking, regulatory validation studies, algorithm development, and commercialization readiness assessments. This capability positions OBSL and CRHTS as a translational hub for wearable and biomedical device innovation, supporting partners from early prototype evaluation through final commercial validation.