PPG signal analysis to find out the heat beat rate

Abstract

Heart rate is a significant indicator to reveal the physical condition of the cardiopulmonary function of human beings. The measuring approaches of heart rate are generally divided into two categories. The first one is using electrocardiography (ECG) and another is using photoplethysmogram (PPG). The measuring devices using photoplethysmogram are more user-friendly and convenient, but the accuracy of heart rate measurement is usually concerned as photoplethysmogram signal is easily corrupted by motion artifact. The objective of this Final Year Project is to find out the heart rate from photoplethysmogram signals taking the effect of motion artifact into consideration. The process of PPG signal analysis is divided into two stages, and computed by Matlab. The first stage is to transform the signal into useful information using fast Fourier transform. In second stage, the relationship between PPG signal, double frequency and the signals acquired from the accelerometer is analysed. An algorithm is established to track the heart rate. The results would be optimized with fewer errors, in contrast to the actual heart rate. The algorithm is minimized to reduce the operation time of the program.