SCHOOL OF COMPUTER SCIENCES

SEMESTER I- 2017/2018

CAT301 ~ Research Methods and Special Topic

Study

Title: Existing Technologies to Detect Heart Rate and

Suitable for Aging People

Coordinator : Dr. Sukumar Letchmunan,

: Dr. Siti Khaotijah Mohammad
Supervisor : Dr. Sharifah Mashita Syed Mohamad
Group Number : 40

Group Members:

Name Matric Number

Cham Chee Yin 128303

Chan Jun Yi 128304
Alvin Lai Yang Shan 128296
 Division of Tasks

Team Leader Role of Team leader

CHAM CHEE YIN 1.Assign task to each member
2.Make appointment with supervisor to discuss assignment
3.Responsible on overall assignment tasks and progressions

Group Member 1 Role of Group Member 1

CHAN JUN YI 1.Responsible on literature review, reference and declaration
2.Complete own task on given time
3.Assist other group member if needed

Group Member 2 Role of Group Member 2

ALVIN LAI YANG1.Responsible on abstract, keywords, and introduction
SHAN 2.Complete own task on given time
3.Assist other group member if needed
 Existing Technologies to Detect Heart Rate and
Suitable for Aging People
Cham Chee Yin#1, Chan Jun Yi*2, Alvin Lai Yang Shan#3, Sharifah Mashita Syed Mohamad#4
#
School of Computer Sciences, Universiti Sains Malaysia,
11800, Penang, Malaysia
1jimmyccy95@student.usm.my; 2raymond_3833@student.usm.my; 3alvin30595@student.usm.my;
4mashita@usm.my

Abstract — The population of aging people has been increased

and causes heart disease of aging people has become an issue.
Therefore, there exist several existing technologies to detect heart
rate. This paper discusses on the methods used in
Electrocardiogram, fingertip Photoplethysmography and facial
motion video for heart rate detection. After the information
analyzing, one of the technology will be selected as the most
suitable heart rate detection technology for the aging people
based on specific criteria such as convenience level and accuracy
of results. Finally, the method of that technology will be further
explained to know how could this technology helps the aging
people.

Keywords — heart rate detection, aging people, PPG, ECG, facial

motion video

I. INTRODUCTION

The number of people nowadays that aged 60 years
old and older has doubled since year 1980. From the statistics
had shown that the world population is rapidly aging since
then. Based on mathematical assumptions, the proportion of
the world’s population that aged over 60 years old will double
from about 11% to 22% between year 2000 and year 2050.
Moreover, the absolute number of people that aged 60 years
old and older is expected to drastically increase from 605
million people to 2 billion people in the same time. As the
population of aging people increases, this brought an
important issue of the health care services for them. In fact,
the aging people often have several health problems, such as
diabetes, heart disease, etc. Hence, getting know about the
heart rate is said to be crucial to dealing with such diseases
[1].
Fig. 1 Multiple palpitate Pulse Location [2]
Moreover, there are many usages of heart rate
detection, such usage is to helps human to detect illness, for
example, stress [3], tachycardia, bradycardia and more.
Moreover, heart rate monitoring during physical exercising
does allows to avoid health hazards and to estimate the extent
of one’s physical training [4].
Back to the 90s century, aging people had to go to
nearby hospital regularly to get their heart rate results for
monitoring purpose. Nevertheless, this was very
inconvenience for those aging people whom staying alone,
and far from the hospital. Otherwise, they spent a lot of
money to purchase a heart rate monitor at their home.

Furthermore, the definition of heart rate is the
number of human heart beats in a unit of time. Metrically, it is
expressed as beats per minute (bpm). In old days, human tend
to calculate their heartbeat in a manual method, they place any
2 fingers on the carotid pulse, which located at the side of
Adam’s apple and count the number of pulse palpitate in a
minute. In fact, there are many locations of pulpable pulse
such as knees, arms, wrists, groin and head that allow such
method to use as shown in Fig. 1[2].
Moreover, conventional heart rate monitors can be
only used to detect and monitor heart rate and no other extra
features such as detect blood oxygen, calories and more. The
cost to own a heart rate monitor can be varied, depends on the
brands, the type and the quality of the sensor used but mostly
are expensive [5]. Most of the aging people who wants to
monitor their heart rate might unable to afford the price of the
expensive heart rate monitor.
Nowadays, technologies are advancing rapidly and
exist such devices, for example, electrocardiographs, heart
rate monitors and pulse oximeters, are used to measure heart
rate [6]. In addition, there are also another two heart rate
detection systems that was invented which are fingertip
photoplethysmography and facial motion video ([7], [8]).
However, the reliability of those technology remains
unknown as the theories, methods and algorithms applied are
difficult to be understood by layman without the knowledge of
that specialization [3]. Especially for the aging people whom
they do not grown up in an environment with these
technologies, they are more difficult to understand about the
latest technology [9]. Even though, they know there are
alternative technologies available for heart rate detection, they
might still unable to choose the suitable technology for them
to detect heart rate as they know nothing about those
technologies.
The objectives of this research are:
i) To identify the method of electrocardiogram (ECG),
fingertip photoplethysmography (PPG) and facial motion
video to detect heart rate
ii) To determine the most suitable technology among
electrocardiogram (ECG), fingertip photoplethysmography
(PPG) and facial motion video to detect heart rate for aging
people
iii) To identify the method of the most suitable heart rate
detection technology for aging people
The expected contributions for this research are:
i) Provide the brief explanation for each heart rate detection
technology (ECG, fingertip PPG and facial motion video).
ii) Allows the aging people knows about heart rate detection
technology and choose the most suitable for them.
iii) Provide the information and facts about the most suitable
heart rate detection technology for the aging people.
This research paper consists of several sections.
Section II shows the literature review for the overall research
paper. Section III proposes the methodology about the process
to complete this research paper. Section IV discusses the
analysis and findings. Lastly, Section V draws the conclusion
of this research paper.
II. RELATED WORK
There are three different heart rate detection technologies that
this paper has chosen to compare in this research paper, which
are electrocardiogram (ECG), fingertip photoplethysmography
(PPG) and facial motion video.
A. Electrocardiogram (ECG)
Electrocardiogram, ECG represent the electrical
activity of human heart. Due to depolarization (heart receives
an electrical impulse) and repolarization (heart is recharging
itself of human heart), it can measure the human heart rate
frequency by using ECG signal generated [10]. It is composite
from five waves, there are valley labelled by the letter P, Q, R,
S, T and each wave has their own functionality. For P-wave, it
represents the contraction of atria. It also determines the
activation of the upper chambers of heart [11]. QRS complex
is represents contraction and excitation of the ventricles. QRS
complex can identify a more detailed examination of ECG
signal including the heart rate to make sure the change of ST
segment can be performed. The T-wave is representing lower
chamber of the heart and it recovery of the ventricles. Fig. 2
shows the example of commercial ECG chest belts that used
ECG method to detect heart rate.
Fig. 2 ECG Chest Belts
B. Fingertip Photoplethysmography (PPG)
Fingertip PPG was implemented by an application is
downloaded and installed on any mobile phone that equipped
with a camera with optional flashlight. The user only need to
place his index finger on the camera lens for few seconds and
the algorithms will run the heart rate detection meanwhile the
flashlight will provide a more brighter background for the
ease of detection. Fig. 3 shows the example of a user placing
his index finger on the camera for heart rate detection while
the flashlight is on. The application detects the heart rate by
variation of red color intensity caused by the blood flow
through the capillary tissue on the tip of index finger [12].
Fig. 3 Fingertip PPG with camera and LED flashlight [13]
Literally, the fingertip image intensity-based
detection which are first captures number of frames depend on
the sampling rate of the device. Then, portion of the image is
grayscale and determine the average brightness value for each
individual frame. When the blood flow to capillaries, it will
absorb the light resulting in low brightness value, thus the of the user. Each heart beat produces a bulge in the walls of
algorithm able to calculate the change of brightness value the arteries. This motion is invisible to the human eye, but
each time the heart pump [14]. Improvement of the algorithm special algorithms can amplify the changes between
will be improvised the reading by implementing moving successive frames [14]. Fig. 5 shows the overview of the
average filter, which it eliminates some random noise when process of heart rate detection with facial motion video.
detecting heart rate, and sample of frames will be up-sampling
just to increase the sampling rate for more easier detection.
Fig. 4 shows the flowchart of the algorithm to detect heart
rate.

Fig. 5 Overview of Facial Motion Video Heart Rate Detection [12]

III. METHODOLOGY

As shown in Fig. 6, the research began with

identifying research problems and question. In this research,
the research problems and questions are about the methods
used in ECG, fingertip PPG and facial motion video and
which technology is the most suitable heart rate detection
Fig. 4 Processing pipeline comprised of six stages [14] technology for the aging people. Next, literature survey was
conducted to help to get the information needed. Related
C. Facial Motion Video works from various sources are searched and studied to
provide better understanding. The information retrieved from
It is a video-based and completely contact-free the literature review will be filtered and regrouped into several
method to detect heart rate on the user’s facial and cardiac categories. Lastly, analysis is carried out on those information
pulse leads the subtle color change of the user’s facial, thus as the last phase of this research paper.
allow the algorithm to detect heart rate. The process starts
with the user’s facial videos were recorded and face region of
each frame then detected as region of interest (ROI) using face
detection algorithm. This ROI is divided into 3 parts: Identify research problems
forehead, the area around eye and nose, and a mouth area. For and questions
all frames in the video each of the sub-regions of a frame is
separated into its three RGB components, and each
component is reduced to a unique value by calculating the
arithmetic average over all pixel values for the specific color
component. Conducting a literature
survey
Then, the raw trace signal is yielded from the green
channel of the image. To extract more accurate cardiac pulse
signal, independent component analysis (ICA) is applied to
the raw trace signal. The heart rate was extracted using
frequency analysis of the raw trace signal and the analyzed
signal from ICA [15]. ICA assumes that the number of source Regroup the information
signals is no more than the number of observed signals. ICA
assumes the observed mixed signals are a linear combination
of these source signals. Although this assumption may not be
valid as changes in blood volume and the intensity of reflected
light in skin tissue over distance may be nonlinear, for the 30-
second time window it should be a reasonable approximation Analysis the information
[16].
This category includes applications that use the video Fig. 6 Flowchart of Methodology
camera to record invisible physiological changes on the face

IV. ANALYSIS AND FINDINGS
A. Most Suitable Technology to Detect Heart Rate for Aging
People
To compare three existing technologies discussed in
this paper and find the most suitable heart rate detection
technology for aging people, ECG, fingertip PPG and facial
motion video are reviewed. In ECG, user need to wear the
heart rate sensor that strap over user’s body for a few hours
was uncomfortable and not suitable for the aging people [10].
Moreover, it requires direct skin-to-skin contact and it may
cause skin irritation and the inconvenience of long-term
wearing for the user [17].
In fingertip PPG, there are some factors that obstruct
the user readings such as, low light condition, and low
performance hardware. These applications may not be suitable
for clinical use, but they may compete with the currently
available personal health and fitness devices [14].
In facial motion video, it provides the greatest
convenience among the three heart rate detection technologies
as it is a totally contact-free video-based method. But, the
motion of object, the noise of the video and the light condition
when the video is recording might affect the accuracy of the
results. The challenges and uncertainties faced during video
recording lead to yield of less accurate result or failure to
estimate heart rate. Another drawback for the facial motion
video is the result might also affect by the hair and beards.
Thus, this method is not suitable for aging people as they have
to keep still during the recording and considerable motion
might lead to inaccurate results [18]. Camera based systems
give a precise and promising identification on positioning due
to the use of stereo vision. However, there are several
deficiencies, they are expensive to install since multiple
cameras are needed to cover a single room and considerably
space is required. Furthermore, such systems are susceptible
to shadows, and reflections, also require more computing
power. Furthermore, they also face the line-off sight issue. A
major disadvantage is the issue of privacy [19].
With all such comparison, fingertip PPG is said to be
the most suitable heart rate detection technology for the aging
people. This was because, it gives aging people an ability to
carry an accurate physiological monitor everywhere, without
additional hardware beyond what’s already included in
consumer mobile phones [20].
B. Method of the Most Suitable Heart Rate Detection
Technology for Aging People
The method used in fingertip PPG produces accurate
results even with low-end video cameras, like the ones
integrated in personal computers and mobile devices. Beat-to-
beat intervals are extracted reliably by passing the color
intensity average through a six-stage pipeline. The filters used
in the pipeline are computationally lightweight, making our
method suitable for devices with low resources. Experimental
results indicate that the method can be trusted to produce
reliable measurements within an average error below three
bpm. The aging people can conveniently run the application
when they are relaxed at home, in the park, or during the daily
routine [14]. The system can also detect whether the finger is
placed properly over the camera and if required, guides the
aging people to properly place it over the camera of the phone
[21].
V. CONCLUSION
Although ECG can yield the highest accuracy
reading of heart rate detection, but it put the aging people into
a very uncomfortable and inconvenience condition. Contact-
free facial motion video heart rate detection is more
convenient but is less accurate than fingertip PPG due to body
motion. Hence, fingertip PPG is the most suitable heart rate
detection technology for the aging people as it provides more
comfort for them by only requires the aging people to put their
fingertips onto the smartphone’s camera for a few seconds and
yields high accuracy results ([7], [22]).
VI. REFERENCE
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Declaration

This is to declare that this work under the supervision of Dr. Sharifah Mashita Syed Mohamad
having title “Existing Technologies to Detect Heart Rate and Suitable for Aging People” carried
out in partial fulfilment of the requirements of CAT301~Research Methods and Special Topic Study
is the sole property of the Universiti Sains Malaysia and the respective supervisor and is protected
under the intellectual property right laws and conventions. It can only be considered/ used for
purposes like extension for further enhancement, product development, adoption for
commercial/organizational usage, etc., with the permission of the University and respective
supervisor.

This is to declare that the above publication is the sole contribution of the author(s) and no part hereof
has been reproduced illegally (cut and paste) which can be considered as Plagiarism. All referenced
parts have been used to argue the idea and have been cited properly. We will be responsible and liable
for any consequence if violation of this declaration is proven.

…………………………
Name : Cham Chee Yin
Matric No. : 128303

…………………………
Name : Chan Jun Yi
Matric No. : 128304

…………………………
Name : Alvin Lai Yang Shan
Matric No. : 128296
Appendix