JOURNAL OF APPLIED PHYSICS 99, 08R908 共2006兲

Improvement of pulse diagnostic apparatus with array sensor of magnetic

tunneling junctions
S. W. Kim
Oriental Medicine Institute, Sangji University, Wonju Kangwon-do, Korea
D. G. Hwang, Y. K. Choi, H. S. Lee, D. H. Park, and S. S. Leea兲
Computer and Electronic Physics, Sangji University, Wonju Kangwon-do, Korea
G. W. Kim, S. G. Lee, and S. J. Lee
Oriental Medicine, Sangji University, Wonju Kangwon-do, Korea
共Presented on 3 November 2005; published online 26 April 2006兲
To obtain the spatial feature of arterial pulse, a spatial pulse diagnostic apparatus was designed using
a two-dimensional magnetoresistive sensor array. The magnetic-field distribution for the magnet
array was simulated using the finite-element method. The field distribution of parallel magnet arrays
was observed to be more sensitive and uniform than that of the perpendicular ones. Moreover, the
spatial displacements of the magnet array coincided with the output signal of the magnetic tunneling
junction sensor array. © 2006 American Institute of Physics. 关DOI: 10.1063/1.2177388兴

I. INTRODUCTION shape. The sensing part of the SPDA is composed of 8 ⫻ 5

Traditional Chinese medicine 共TCM兲 is still a broadly
used modality of medical care in some far east countries, and
it is being cited as the alternative or complementary method
of medical care in the west. Its diagnostic methods, however,
particularly pulse diagnosis, the most important diagnostic
method in TCM, still have some defects in terms of objec-
tivity. A pulse diagnostic apparatus 共PDA兲 is necessary be-
cause it can contribute to the standardization of the terms
used in TCM and to the education in its diagnosis. Pulse-
recording systems have so far been able to record only the
time shape of the pulse wave. To convert the subjective feel-
ing at the tip of the doctors’ finger to the objective signal that
can be described in a quantitative manner, a feature in TCM
that is more important than the time shape should be appro-
priately measured. In this study, the important feature that
was measured was the spatial one, consisting of the width,
length, and depth of the arterial pulse, as shown in Fig. 1.
The general measuring system of arterial pulse has used
pressure or a piezoelectric sensor to obtain a vertical dis-
placement of the artery as a function of time.1,2 Therefore, to
obtain the spatial feature of arterial pulse under a contact or
noncontact measuring method, a two-dimensional array 共8
⫻ 5兲 sensor system using magnetoresistive 关giant magnetore-
sistance 共GMR兲 and tunneling magnetoresistance 共TMR兲兴
devices is suggested. The magnetic field of the sensing posi-
tion was varied with the displacement of the permanent mag-
net layer on the skin. In this article, the results of the simu-
lation of the spatial analysis of the spatial pulse diagnostic
apparatus 共SPDA兲 using the permanent magnet array’s finite-
elements method were investigated.
arrays of the magnetoresistive sensor and pad-type perma-
nent magnets. The flexible spacer between the sensors and
the magnets can control the applied pressure of the arterial
tube as the doctors’ three fingers press the arterial tube in
TCM. In the system of traditional Chinese pulse diagnosis,
parameters derived from spatial movement of artery are im-
portant, and most of all, the amplitude change of pulse wave
according to the applied pressure is the essential one. So to
realize the ideal pulse diagnosis system for TCM, it is nec-
essary for the system to have a device to apply certain pres-
sure on the sensors, and both the pressure applied by the
device and the pressure obtained from the artery should be
recorded. The distance between the elements of an array is
3 mm, and all the magnets have an intensity of 200 G. The
magnetoresistive sensors were 1 ⫻ 1 mm2 in size, and their
sensitivity was 0.35% / Oe in the region between 0 and
50 Oe. The pulse detection system, which is composed
of a MR sensor with signal preamplifiers, a filter, and an
analog-digital 共A/D兲 converter, was developed earlier by the
authors. Before making the two-dimensional sensor of 8
⫻ 5 arrays, a simulation of the spatial analysis of the SPDA
was executed using the one-dimensional permanent magnet
array’s finite-element method magnetics. This is based on the
idea that the magnetic tunneling junctions 共MTJ兲 sensor cor-
responds to the vibration of a permanent magnet, and that

II. METHOD AND PROCEDURE

Figure 2 shows a schematic diagram of the SPDA, which
can be used to obtain the spatial feature of the arterial pulse

a兲
Electronic mail: sslee@sangji.ac.kr FIG. 1. Temporal and spatial features of arterial pulse.

0021-8979/2006/99共8兲/08R908/3/$23.00 99, 08R908-1 © 2006 American Institute of Physics

08R908-2 Kim et al.
FIG. 2. Schematic diagram of the spatial pulse diagnostic apparatus.
one sensor and one magnet with the same position make up
one element of a pulse signal. The characteristics of each
MTJ sensor that was used were as follows. An MTJ structure
of Ta共50 Å兲 / NiFe共120 Å兲 / FeMn共200 Å兲 / NiFe共40 Å兲 /
CoFe共30 Å兲 / Al2O3共20 Å兲 / CoFe共50 Å兲 / Si共100 Å兲 and a
bottom-to-top tunneling magnetoresistance of 17.5%.3 The
relative magnetic-sensitive change of the patterned MTJ as a
function of the applied-neighbor field obtained through the
flip flopping of the free layer was about 0.35% / Oe at room
temperature. The change in the radial arterial pulse during a
forward pulse without a reflected pulse was analyzed by
height gap in magnetic fields for the measuring procedure
before the secondary pulse. Through these two simulation
steps, an accurate estimate of the spatial arterial pulse was
obtained.
III. RESULTS AND DISCUSSION
Figure 3共a兲 shows the results of the simulation of the
magnetic-field distribution for the permanent magnet ar-
rangement using the finite-element method magnetics
共FEMM兲. The height displacement was slightly moved by
arterial pulse fluctuation. Figure 3共b兲 shows the magnetic-
field intensities for the five-column permanent magnet array,
and Fig. 3共c兲 shows the three-dimensional distribution of the
magnetic field in a sensing surface. To analyze the magnetic-
field distribution of the special wave form, which has maxi-
mum amplitude at the sixth element, as shown in Fig. 3共a兲,
the FEMM simulation for the array detection system of 8
⫻ 5 magnet elements was calculated. The dependence of the
direction of the magnetic pole on field distribution was in-
vestigated for each structure of the perpendicular or parallel
arrays of the magnets. The sensitivity and flattening of the
field distribution in the parallel magnet arrays was higher
than those of the perpendicular array. By varying the contact
pressure height of a permanent magnet on the skin, a method
of characterizing the spatial pulse wave based on the degree
FIG. 4. 共a兲 Height of the permanent magnets, 共b兲 magnetic-field intensity distribution, and 共c兲 displacement of the magnets/TMR sensing voltages along a
spatial length.
J. Appl. Phys. 99, 08R908 共2006兲
FIG. 3. 共a兲 Magnetic-field distribution for a permanent magnet array simu-
lated using the finite-elements method 共FEM兲, 共b兲 magnetic-field intensities
for the five-column permanent magnet array, and 共c兲 three-dimensional dis-
tribution surface.
of floating, the width, and the depth was introduced. These,
unlike the traditional pulse diagnosis, do not involve the
analysis of diastolic blood pressure and pulse wave velocity.
Figure 4 shows 共a兲 the height of the permanent magnets, 共b兲
the magnetic-field distribution, and 共c兲 the displacement of
the magnets and the TMR sensing voltages along a spatial
length. In the simulation, the spatial change of the pulse
height in arterial pulse incurred one permanent magnet
within 1 mm. According to the study of Niu et al., the ver-
tical displacement of radial artery in the distal part of lower
arm is about 1.13 mm in every unit pulse.4 So the maximum
displacement of the magnets could reach the value near the
above displacement. From the field conversion using the fi-
nite elementary method, the varying signals in spatial distri-
bution were calculated, as shown in Fig. 4共b兲. The boundary
limit of the sensing fields was 0–50 Oe. This was enough to
obtain the output signal from the MTJ sensor because the
sensitivity of TMR was above 0.35% / Oe at room tempera-
ture. As stated above, the displacement of the magnets cor-
responded to the output voltage signal with a limited range
of 0–0.5 mV. Figure 4共c兲 shows the agreement between the
spatial signal 共dotted line兲 of Fig. 4共a兲 and the output signal
of the MTJ sensor 共solid line兲. With the use of TMR materi-
als, the trace width can be further obtained while maintaining
an adequate read-back signal. A digital database was devel-
oped through channel coding and error correction. To resolve
the subtle and subconscious arterial pulse, however, a more
08R908-3 Kim et al.
controlled study should be conducted and the real spatial
data should be obtained through future research and devel-
opment.
IV. CONCLUSIONS
In this study, a SPDA was designed using a two-
dimensional magnetoresistive sensor array to obtain the spa-
tial feature of arterial pulse. The magnetic-field distribution
for the magnet array was simulated using the FEMM. It was
observed that the field distribution of the parallel magnet
arrays was more sensitive and uniform than that of the per-
pendicular ones. The simulation of the varying displacement
of the ten-magnet arrangement resulted in changes in the
magnetic-field intensity of 50 Oe and in the output voltage
J. Appl. Phys. 99, 08R908 共2006兲
signal of 0.5 mV. Furthermore, the spatial displacements of
the magnet array coincided with the output signal of the MTJ
sensor array.
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
This study was supported by a grant of the Oriental
Medicine R/D Project, Ministry of Health and Welfare, Re-
public of Korea 共B050055兲.
1
J. D. Cameron, B. P. Mcgrath, and A. M. Dart, J. Am. Coll. Cardiol. 32,
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K. W. Mun and K. S. Soh, J. Korean Phys. Soc. 40, 289 共2000兲.
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S. S. Lee, J. R. Rhee, C. M. Park, S. X. Wang, D. G. Hwang, M. Y. Kim,
and J. Y. Hwang, Phys. Status Solidi A 189, 659 共2002兲.
4
X. Niu, X. Z. Yang, C. Y. Fu, 14, 435 共1994兲.