The idea of measuring a person’s heart rate using an optical pulse sensor is certainly not a new concept. Shine a light source through a fingertip or an ear lobe and the light either bounces back to the light sensor or it is absorbed by the blood. The number of times that the light is bounced back is the sensor is the number of time that your heart is beating or your pulse rate. It is pretty simple, so why are we still using heart rate monitors with straps that wrap around our torsos? Why can’t the average athlete clip on an optical sensor to an ear lobe, have their heart rate taken using an optical sensor and have that information transmitted (maybe via BlueTooth) to a recording devise with a digital display? That may all change with a new open-source optical heart-rate pulse sensor from two Physical Computing professors at the Parsons the New School for Design.
Yury Gitman and Joel Murphy have recently achieved, and far exceeded, their fund raising goal of $3000 using KickStarter.com to mass produce their new optical heart-rate pulse sensor, the Pulse Sensor. The new Pulse Sensor, along with the processing software, plugs right into another open-source item – the Arduino platform. Their new sensor is currently being marketed to students, artists, athletes, developers or anyone else looking to develop a device to record a heart rate.
Video after the jump
httpv://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xu4lg4AdRnk
The design was a long road, according to Yury Gitman on the Pulse Sensor KickStarter ‘About’ page. “Over a few months we tested a gaggle of optical sensors and LED colors and found that it was not as easy as many suspect to get reliable heart-rate data through optical means.” writes Yury, “ We could get basic, gross, short-term data, but reliable readings assuming real-world scenarios and real-world user interaction is key. After more experimentation and development, we started to assemble a reliable heart-rate pulse sensor. We fabricated a few test boards and continued to iterate the design.”
The Pulse Sensor optical heart-rate sensor is ½-inch in diameter or about the size of a button. It is currently designed to clip onto an ear lobe or attach to a fingertip using Velcro to measure a person‘s heart rate. As Yury further acknowledges that future designs of the Pulse Sensor could have “button holes” added so that it could easily be attached to garments.
Pre-orders are being taken now for the Pulse Sensor; it is listed on KickStarter for $25. The current incarnation of the Pulse Sensor has the look of a prototype, because in reality it is designed for experimentation. The hope is that since it is an open-source item, others can freely take Yury and Joel’s design and possibly develop a better heart rate monitor for athletes…one that won’t slide down during use or take false readings from your fellow gym member on the treadmill next to you.