Simple and Cost-effective Heart Rate Meter Using PIC Microcontroller.

One of the major and significant physiological parameters of human cardiovascular system is the heart rate. Heart rate is represented by the number of times the heart beats per minute. The heart rate data can reflect various physiological states such as stress at work, concentration on tasks, drowsiness, biological workload, 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 decreases the heart rate. Monitoring of heart rate plays an important role in conveying the status of cardiovascular system and clinically correlated information to medical professionals. Therefore, heart rate measurement is regarded as an essential parameter in patient care monitoring system. Human 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 sensed from those areas where the artery is close to the skin. This research paper highlights on the design of a microcontroller (PIC series) based simple and cost-effective heart rate meter that is able to capture the pulse from human 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 exercised (stressed) states were measured using the designed system. The heart data, measured from the designed system showed satisfactory result while compared to a standard heart rate meter. The Also, the designed meter, being non-invasive one, can easily find its place in health care monitoring system