Development of a Digital Heart Rate Measuring Device Using Fingertip Through Microcontroller

Abstract

This paper presents development of a digital measuring heart rate device through a fingertip and Arduino software. It is based on the principal of Photoplethysmography (PPG) which is non-invasive method of measuring the variation in blood volume in tissue using a light source and detector. When the heart is beating, it is pumping blood throughout the body, and that makes the blood volume inside the finger artery to change at same rate of time. This fluctuation of blood can be discovered through an optical sensing mechanism placed around the fingertip. The bio signal from the fingertip can be amplified and then sent to arduino with the assist of serial port communication. Using processing software application for heart rate monitoring and counting is performed and therefore, displays the number of heart beats obtained per minute on the liquid crystal display (LCD), and providing a serial interface to communicate with a personal computer.

Keywords: Heart rate sensor, photoplethysmography (PPG), heart rate monitor