Real-time Monitoring of Heart Rate using Wellness Belt Equipped with Electrocardiogram Sensors

This paper presents the development of a wellness wear system for monitoring heart rate in real-time. A belt equipped with on-body circuit module and low power sensors enables real-time monitoring of heart situations through wireless syncing between mobile devices and them, and uses digital thread to transmit signals from sensors to the circuit module. The beat detection algorithm using simultaneously electrocardiogram was developed to detect R waves and estimate heart rate. Test of the algorithm was carried out with 8 subjects walking on a treadmill. This study can be extended to the future attempts in implementing a real-time algorithm into the circuit module and developing healthcare services utilizing smart clothes.