Accuracy of Pulse Rate Estimation Using Hetero-Core Fiber Optics

Health management in daily life is helpful for disease prevention. Pulse rate monitoring in daily life is effective in the prevention of cardiovascular disease. Furthermore, unconstraint measurement of the body is essential to reduce the physical burden. Hetero-core optics fiber sensors detect the change in curvature through the transmission loss. The fiber sensors have a flexible and light property, which is useful in minimally invasive measurements. In this study, we verified the accuracy of pulse rate measurement using a hetero-core optics fiber sensor. The sensor was taped to the radial artery, and the pulsation was acquired slight protrusion on the skin surface. Pulse waveform obtained from the sensor applied a band-pass filter of 0.5 to 5 Hz. The pulse rate per minute was calculated from the time between peaks detected. As a result, it was confirmed that the accuracy was equivalent to that of a commercial device used for reference.