Fingertip Based Estimation Of Heart Rate Using Photoplethysmography

Photoplethysmograph (PPG) is low cost, portable and simple optical technique used to monitor cardiovascular related parameters such as heart rate, blood pressure, cardiac output, oxygen saturation of blood, respiratory rate and many such parameters. In recent times, PPG has gained popularity due to its ease of measuring from the user’s fingertips and its wearable nature. The measurements are taken preferably on the fingertips of the skin surface which has maximum nerve endings. In this paper, the PPG signal is obtained from the human subjects with the data acquisition system using Arduino board and Maxim Integrated sensor. Then signal processing is performed for removing baseline wander, motion artifacts and filtering of the signal for peak detection using the algorithm developed in MATLAB. The heart rate is calculated for 5 subjects using the maxim sensor kept on the finger tip. The capnobase database of various subjects of different ages is obtained for estimation of Heart Rate Variability and Signal to Noise Ratio. The peak detection algorithm shows maximum accuracy which is validated with capnobase labels.