The Development of a Microcontroller Based Low-Cost Heart Rate Counter for Health Care Systems

Souvik Das

doi:https://doi.org/10.14445/22315381/IJETT-V4I2P226

Research Article | Open Access | Download PDF

Volume 4 | Issue 2 | Year 2013 | Article Id. IJETT-V4I2P226 | DOI : https://doi.org/10.14445/22315381/IJETT-V4I2P226

The Development of a Microcontroller Based Low-Cost Heart Rate Counter for Health Care Systems

Souvik Das

Citation :

Souvik Das, "The Development of a Microcontroller Based Low-Cost Heart Rate Counter for Health Care Systems," International Journal of Engineering Trends and Technology (IJETT), vol. 4, no. 2, pp. 207-211, 2013. Crossref, https://doi.org/10.14445/22315381/IJETT-V4I2P226

Abstract

The heart rate is one of the significant physiological parameters of the human cardiovascular system. Heart rate is the number of times the heart beats per minute. Heart rate data reflects various physiological states such as biological workload, stress at work and c oncentration on tasks, drowsiness and the active state of the autonomic nervous system. Human cardiac dynamics are driven by the complex nonlinear interactions of two competing forces: sympathetic regulation increases and parasympathetic regulation decreas es the heart rate. Thus, monitoring of heart rate plays a significant role in providing the status of cardiovascular system and clinically correlated information to medical professionals. Heart rate measurement is also regarded as an essential parameter in patient care monitoring system. Heart rate can be measured either by the ECG waveform or by sensing the pulse - the rhythmic expansion and contraction of an artery as blood is forced through it by the regular contractions of the heart. The pulse can be felt from those areas where the artery is close to the skin. This paper highlights on the design of a microcontroller (PIC series) based heart rate counter that is able to capture the pulse from finger tip by sensing the change in blood volume. The heart rates of fifteen healthy normal subjects (students of age 21 - 22 yrs.) both in relaxed and excited states were measured using the designed device and a standard heart rate measuring device. The outputs of the measured device were satisfactory. Also, the designed device, being noninvasive one, can easily find its place in health care monitoring system.

Keywords

Heart rate measurement, cardiovascular system, patient care monitoring, microcontroller, health care systems

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