The document describes the development of a portable wireless ECG monitoring system. The system uses a Bluetooth module to transmit ECG data wirelessly from sensor electrodes to an Android smartphone. This allows patients to monitor their ECG remotely without being tethered to large medical equipment. The system samples ECG signals with a microcontroller and transmits the digital data to a smartphone app for display. Testing showed the prototype was able to reliably transmit ECG recordings and provide patients with greater mobility for health monitoring compared to traditional wired systems.

1. Android Based Portable Wireless ECG System
Supervisors
Assist. Prof. Abeer Twakol Khalil
Computer Engineering Department - College of Computer_ Qassim Private Colleges
Assist. Prof. Abeer Twakol Khalil
College of Computer-Qassim Private Colleges
Email: atwakol2013@ gmail.com
Website: www.qc.edu.sa
Phone: 00966567864136
Contact
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References
The Electrocardiogram (ECG) is an essential
diagnostic tool that measures and records the
electrical activity of the human heart. A wide range
of heart conditions can be detected when
interpreting the recorded ECG signals. These
qualities make the ECG a perfect instrument for
patient monitoring and supervision. The commonly
used ECG-machine used for diagnosis and
supervision at the present is expensive and
stationary. The aim of this project is to develop a
small wireless monitoring system to improve the
patient mobility without losing the reliability of the
ECG sensor. Wireless patient monitoring systems
have become a more established technology and a
natural step in this progress is to develop a reliable
ECG system that contributes to the cable reduction
in medical and physiotherapy environments. The
main focus of this project is to create a reliable
small wireless ECG monitoring system at low cost.
This project investigates the possibilities to create a
small sized ECG monitoring system that can be
wirelessly connected to a handheld device that
can graphically presents an indication to the ECG-
signals. A small wireless embedded ECG monitoring
system prototype has been developed. Using
Bluetooth technology the ECG sensor system can
connect to a personal Android Smartphone with the
use of a Microcontroller the analogue signal is
digitally converted at a specific sample rate that
based on the resolution of the ECG-signals. The
prototype is well suited for patient monitoring were
a low noise and power efficient system has been
created to be powered by a cellular phone battery.
Abstract
In a clinical environment, heart rate is measured
under controlled conditions like heart beat and
ECG. However, there is a great need that patients
are able to measure the heart rate in the home
environment as well. A heart rate monitor (HRM) is
a simple device that takes a sample of the
heartbeat signal and computes the bpm so that the
information can easily be used to track heart
conditions. The HRM devices employ electrical
and optical methods as means of detecting and
acquiring heart signals. Microcontroller based
wireless heart beat read out suitable for operation
in a small office/home environment. This system is
easy to operate, with Visual LCD. Many individuals
and organizations may, for various reasons, wish
to use electronic surveillance techniques at some
time or another. Some people have even made it
their profession; Fig.3.
Introduction
During diastole, while the heart is at rest, all of the cells
are polarized so that the potential inside each cell is
negative with respect to the outside. Normally,
depolarization occurs first at the SA node, making the
outside of the tissue negative w.r.t. the inside of the
cell, and also, making it negative w.r.t the tissue not yet
depolarized. This imbalance results in an ionic current,
I, causing the left arm (LA) to measure positive w.r.t. the
right arm (RA). The resulting voltage is called the P
wave. Then, the depolarization passes into the right
ventricular muscle, depolarizing it and making it
negative relative to the still polarized left ventricular
muscle. Again the direction of the ionic current (I)
causes a plus-to-minus voltage from LA to RA called the
R wave. The complete waveform in Fig.2 is called
electrocardiogram, with labels P, Q, R, S, and T
indicating its distinctive features. The P wave arises
from depolarization of the atrium. The QRS complex
arises from depolarization of the ventricles.
ECG Signal: Overview
- Hear Beat Sensor: Heart beat sensor is
designed to give digital output of heat beat when
a finger is placed on it. When the heart beat
detector is working, the beat LED flashes in
unison with each heart beat. This digital output
can be connected to microcontroller directly to
measure the Beats Per Minute (BPM) rate. It
works on the principle of light modulation by
blood flow through finger at each pulse, Fig.4.
- ATML Microcontroller: In this project ATMEL
microcontroller was used. Which is high
performance, Low Power and 8-bits.
- Bluetooth: HC-05 embedded Bluetooth serial
communication module was used for the wireless
communication stage, it has two work modes:
order-response work mode and automatic
connection work mode. And there are three work
roles (Master, Slave and Loopback) at the
automatic connection work mode. When the
module is at the automatic connection work
mode, it will follow the default way set lastly to
transmit the data automatically.
Hardware Specifications
The main objective of this project was to develop a
small portable wireless ECG monitoring system.
The basic idea was to develop a system that helps
the patient to measure the ECG signal easily at
home with more flexibility without losing the
reliability of the ECG sensor, and transfer the
measured signal to his Smartphone via Bluetooth
in order to send it to his doctor for checking and
telling him what he should do in case of finding a
problem with the patient's recorded signal. The
problem with the ECG measuring; where it needs
at least three sensors to be correctly measured
(under lead standard measurement: Lead-I; Lead-
II, and Lead-III).
Conclusions
Recently, a wireless monitoring system, has drawn
a great deal of attention as a non-contact
monitoring system for human healthcare and vital-
sign monitoring, such as in cardiopulmonary
monitoring for sleep apnea syndrome detection. To
measure heartbeat and respiration signals, direct
contact measurement using electrodes attached to
the skin is generally practiced. The direct contact
measurement has difficulties in measuring bio-
signals continuously and in being applied to an
infant or a patient with severe burns. In addition,
problems of infection are inherent in the direct
contact measurement. Therefore, a wireless
monitoring system needs to be designed in order
to measure heartbeat and respiration signals
without direct contact.
- Aims of the work: The first part of the project will
be to create an electrocardiograph (ECG-sensor)
with three channels that can be wirelessly
connected using Bluetooth that will act as a data
acquisition system (DAQ). The ECG-sensor will be
an embedded sensor system that contains a
sensor, digital-to-analog processor and a Bluetooth
module. This will be powered by a small battery.
After the signal is measured by the sensor and
processed by the microcontroller; it will be
transmitted wireless via a Bluetooth module to a
personal Smartphone, as shown in Fig.1.
Wireless ECG System
Fig. 1 A block diagram for wireless monitoring system
Fig.2 ECG definitions (Typical ECG Beat).
Fig.3 Wireless ECG Mentoring System
Fig.4 Heart Beat Sensor Fig.5 HC-05 Bluetooth
Implemented System
- PCB Layout of the implemented system; Fig.6.
- The implemented system; Fig.7.
- The recorded signal using smartphone; Fig.8.
- The implemented system connected to
smartphone using Android application built
specially for this purpose; Fig.9.
Fig.6 PCB of the System
Fig.7 View of the System
Fig.9 Testing the System
Fig.8 Recorded Signal
Team Work
Alaa Mosaad Alyahya Afrah Ebrahim Alamer. Amnah Saleh Alzaben Aroob Hassan Alfrhan
Eman Alrasheedy Wijdan Alqahtani Ghadeer Naser Hala Alkredes Ruba Almazroua.