Compact Pulse Oximeter Designed for Blood Oxygen Saturation and Heart Rate Monitoring

Regular monitoring of vital signs is an effective way to prevent life threatening health hazards. In this regard, wearable healthcare devices can play a significant role in the pervasive monitoring of vital signs. In this context, we propose a compact fingertip reflective type pulse oximeter prototype using low cost integrated circuit as a wearable healthcare device for monitoring vital signs. In addition, this device is not only easy to monitor but also suitable for long time monitoring. In this prototype, blood oxygen saturation (SpO2) and heart rate (HR) are measured for home and mobile applications. A complete system design and its evaluation with detailed real time processing scenario are demonstrated in this paper. The test platform is completed by PC based online and offline data analysis. Android interface is also presented for smartphone based online healthcare monitoring.