Patent ID: 8849365

Claim:
A physiological sensor configured to measure an indication of a physiological characteristic of a living patient, the physiological sensor comprising: a plurality of light emitting sources arranged to impinge light on body tissue of a living patient including at least six light emitting sources, wherein the plurality of light emitting sources emit light of at least three different wavelengths; wherein at least a subset of the plurality of light emitting sources are further arranged in two or more clusters, each cluster comprising at least two light emitting sources that emit light within a wavelength range that is different from and does not overlap with the wavelength range of the at least two light emitting sources of other clusters; wherein for each cluster, light emitting sources that emit light at proximate wavelengths are adjacent to each other, wherein each light emitting source is activated by addressing at least one of a plurality of rows and at least one of a plurality of columns of an electrical grid; a detector responsive to transmitted light after attenuation by body tissue of the living patient, the body tissue including pulsating blood, wherein the detector is configured to generate a signal indicative of a physiological characteristic of the living patient; and a sensor housing configured to position the plurality of light emitting sources and the detector with respect to the body tissue of the living patient.