Development of Portable Biofeedback Devices for Sport Applications

Abstract

The purpose of this project was to propose a portable low-cost ECG and EMG devices that play the role of continuous monitoring of the user heart rate and muscle activity. Collecting and analysis of biological signal like Electrocardiography (ECG) and Electromyography (EMG) are important in the field of healthcare and sports which enable to assess the physiological state and training progress of athlete. Heart rate can reflect individual natural fitness, whereas the EMG signal indicates muscle activation and fatigue level, thus determining the performance. However, most of the EMG and heart rate measuring tools are expensive and large in size. The process of data collection also often confined to hospital or biomechanics laboratory. Therefore, this monitoring system is capable to provide an immediate feedback on physiological data due to the small size and portable for outdoor activities especially for athlete and trainers. The monitoring system is merging together between pulse and muscle sensors which function to measure the heartbeat and muscle activity respectively. Arduino Uno acts as microcontroller to analyze the collected signal and then transmits the data via Bluetooth to Android-based smartphone; laptop through Processing software; or LCD screen. Processing software was used to perform an obtained data in the graphical views.The pulse sensor applies photoplethysmography (PPG) technique to measure the heart rate in beats per minute (bpm). On the other hand, the EMG signal will be collected by passive electrode which allows the monitoring of user muscle stress. In order to validated the result, the pulse sensor result collected via Coolterm application was compared to radial pulse and Treadmill. The result showed that the error rate of the device is negligible and promising.