In this modern world, mobile phones have become an essential daily tool in the running of day to day lives. From staying connected to relatives and friends to taking pictures for memories’ sake to accessing information and to actually storing information, mobile phones are central to productive and fulfilling human existence. In addition to that, they can be helpful in daily health and wellness thanks to sensors that are already built into these smart phones. The sensors can be utilized to check vitals and much more. Such sensors include microphones, camera and accelerometer among others.
Screening of heart rate (HR) is helpful in the prevention of cardiovascular disease. Among the innovative methods of HR testing is the use of a smartphone and applications that are specially designed for this purpose. A key factor to note is the need to validate and check for the feasibility of health-related applications like those used in HR testing before approval for use in the society. This is due to the possibility of inaccurate results and misdiagnosis.
Heart rate is an important vital sign that is commonly used in health and wellness assessment. With the new Daily+ Heart Rate monitor, a person is able to measure their heart rate using their phone’s camera. To measure your heart rate, you simply place your face in view of your phone’s front camera and breathe normally.
Although these heart rate measurements are not meant for medical diagnosis or in the evaluation of medical conditions, they are a useful tool for regular tracking of your health in order to improve day to day wellness.
Measurement of heart rate is done upon the generation of the report on the status of your heart rate, one can either choose to save them in the app in order to monitor trends over time. Best results are achieved when monitoring is done alongside other wellness information.
How does the self-testing Heart Rate monitor work?
Heart rate is measured by detecting changes in blood volume below the surface of the skin. This is also known as photoplethysmography. Every time the heart beats, the amount of blood that reaches the capillaries in the fingers and face swells and then recedes.
Because blood absorbs light, apps are able to capture this ebb and flow by using the flash of a phone’s camera to illuminate the skin and create a reflection. The heart rate readings generated by the apps are usually off by about 20 beats per minute.
The fact that heart rate apps don’t consistently perform as well as clinical-grade equipment makes them not ideal for use in a clinical setup. The bottom line is that App readings should always be taken with a grain of salt, but if one is just looking for a high-level overview of their heart rate over time, it’s hard to beat the convenience of a smartphone app.
To use the heart rate checker app, you just have to follow simple instructions as follows
- Stabilize your phone and measure under ambient lighting.
- Remove facial accessories and keep the whole face visible to the selfie camera.
- Position face until the green frame is steadily shown and please stay still.
To get an accurate reading of your heart rate, make sure you also observe the following guidelines.
- Please be still, like a statue.
- If wearing a mask, lower your mask to the nose to reveal detection regions.
- Please avoid blinking.
- Use Selfie mode. You really look great.
- Look at the camera, keep your eyes open.
- Relax and breathe normally.
Features of the daily+ Heart rate monitor
The main features of the heart rate monitor include the following:
Non-contact & non-invasive
The heartbeat checker app monitors heart rate just like taking a selfie.
Fast results
In just a few seconds, you can see your result and use this information for pulse rate self-monitoring.
Easy-to-use
The app does not require additional hardware to monitor your heart rate. It has an intuitive design that allows you to easily navigate through the app. It’s a user-friendly heart rate monitor.
Advantages and limitations of self-testing of Heart Rate
Self-testing of HR using smartphones can be helpful for patients in various circumstances. Starting from fitness level monitoring and ending at detection of developing heart problems. The limitations of using this method of HR measurement include: testing of patient’s pulse in traditional palpitation gives physicians much more information about the state of the patient’s cardiovascular system than just the heart rate. Only traditional pulse testing can provide information like rhythm, volume, force, tension, form, or equality of pulse. Moreover, measurement conditions established by the app manufacturer could be difficult or even impossible to follow during the testing procedure for some users as, fulfillment of warm hand condition can be challenging in many circumstances like winter outdoor measurement, measurement in the group of people suffering from some diseases such as Raynaud’s phenomenon among others.
