Application uses camera lens to track and monitor heart rate
1. I would suggest the app called Instant Heart Rate. It is a well rated application that is estimated at 4.9 stars on apple store with the cost of $1.99 for iPhone and it is free for android devices although they both support in-app purchases. developed by the Azumio Inc who portrays the application most accurate heart rate measurement application, Oliver (2014) which Is the reason to why it has been downloaded by a million users across the world. The application is Photoplethysmography based (PPG) and present the ability to be quicker, faster and reliable. The app allows users to get their heart monitored by simply putting their fingers on the camera lens and they are required to maintain a consistent contact with the camera lens in order to get the expected result.
- Measurement of the Heart rate
- Activity zone calculator of the Heart rate
- Provides graphs of the pulse waveform
- Provides Graphs of Real-time photoplethysmogram (PPG)
- It presents continuous or auto-stop mode
- It comes with unlimited data storage and tags
- The data for registered users are exported.
- It presents standup test related to fatigue and fitness testing.
- It enables sharing to Facebook and Twitter.
- The application complies with Apple health app support.
The application uses the camera lens to track and monitor the heart rate and then displays the outcome in period of less than 10 seconds; the tool is believed to be accurate and it is trusted by many including researchers and cardiologists.
2. The application presents advantages such as: monitoring and displaying the results about the heart rate in time span of less than 10 seconds, it checks for the user ‘stress level, it provides updates on current trends and gives insights as well, the application provides storage and sharing options however it has the disadvantage of presenting a given margin of error. Lee Amber (2013).
3. From the feedbacks available on Appstore, we clearly notice that the app is trustworthy and effective. As indicated earlier this app registered more than 35 millions for the past years and it is continuously to be considered as one of the best applications in the healthcare mobile applications; it is well rated and approved by several cardiologists based at Stanford for clinical experiments and trials. Apple (2022)the image below is a sample of one of the user’s feedback about the app.
4. A number of studies have been done on how accurate smartphone apps are when measuring the heart rate. According to the research presented to the European journal of preventive cardiology (2017), the differences in performance between the four available heart rate measuring apps were substantial; and the remaining two contact PPG-based available apps presented a high number of feasibility and accuracy compared to the other apps which were not displaying the same output based on the PPG’s contact.
According to another research published by the international journal of exercise science, Int J Exerc Sci (2018), involved the Instant Heart Rate application Among other similar apps for the purpose of comparing how accurate it was. The study had a Number of male and female regular students that undertook exercises on a stationary Bike, with the pedal rate estimated between 50 to 60 rpms. After the completion of the Exercise, the results proved that the Photoplethysmography (PPG) based application has a good reputation of being accurate when compared to ECG and other related devices and applications.
Furthermore, the PPG is believed to perform well when the user’s finger is in contact with the camera and the flash present on the phone are consistent; in case the finger does not cover entirely the camera lens, the result may be compromised hence the results may not show up. However, we must note that the application also presents errors especially when the user is undertaking activities outdoor; the outcome may not be accurate due to factors such as the cold weather. Hence, highlighting that the application can be best used when the users are in warm places performing multiple stationary activities and sometimes when they are resting.
Advantages and disadvantages of the application
In conclusion, we believe that with the evolution of the smartphones and internet Applications such has mobile health related; there are going to be a large number of hearts measurement applications in order to satisfy the demand even though they will always be prone to errors. The applications will help in the collection of data related to health, which will also facilitate the improvement of displays needed by the users. However, our findings highlighted that the establishment of getting reliable, clinically digital results are hectic; some users with low quality cameras present on their phone may encounter difficulties while trying to get their heart monitored. Which leaves us with the hope that in the future, developers will focus on reducing the error margin and favor more accurate results.
5. The application is user friendly and according to the terms and conditions provided by the Azumio development company, the data present on the developer’s platform is collected either automatically or it is generated through the usage of the available service or rather from the infrastructure available within the service. Furthermore, according to the legal basis for processing personal data under the General Data Protection Regulation (GPDR) states that “your personal Data may be processed in the country in which it was collected and in other countries, including the United States, where laws regarding processing of Personal Data may be less stringent than the laws in your country. Azumio product features that integrate with the Helix Platform are only available in the US.”
- There is a need of performing a contract with the users.
- They believe that the user has prompted them the permission to deal with the data.
- The data collected are processed for their legitimate interests and that is without tempering with the user’s right.
- The data collected are for the purpose of payment processes
- The data are collected in respect to the compliance with the law.
From the above descriptions it is safe to conclude that the application’s developer are the ones who collect, uses and store the data provided through the application by us in order to correct or provide accurate data upon the user’s requests.
6. The main feature of the app is to monitor the heart rate by the usage of the camera lens Which facilitates the tracking and the results display. As for now there are no reward system however, the reputation of the application is the reason to why people adhere to it.
7. I would recommend this application to anyone who is willing to know his heart condition regardless of the state in which it is; The application is affordable, easily accessible and it is time saving because it spares the user from long queues present at hospitals, especially when the user performs quick testing such heart rate related issues and it is costing saving compared to the fare cost that the user might spend; but we should note that this application does not replace the cardiologist or any facilities that deal with the heart disease.
References
App store. (2022). Instant Heart Rate: HR Monitor retrieved from
https://apps.apple.com/us/app/instant-heart-rate-hr-monitor/id4096250682
Amber Lee. (2013, August). Instant rate app by Azumio. retrieved from
https://breakingmuscle.com/tech-review-instant-heart-rate-app-by-azumio/
Azumio Inc. (2019) privacy policy retrieved from:
https://www.azumio.com/privacy-policy-and-terms-of-use.
European Journal of Preventive Cardiology. (2017), Vol. 24(12) 1287–1293 retrieved from https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/pdf/10.1177/2047487317702044
International Journal of Exercise Science (2018). 11(7): 533–540. Published online 2018 Jan 2. Retrieved from https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC584168
Oliver McGurk. (2014). Nursing Standard. London vol.29. Iss.4, (Sep 24, 2014):31. Retrieved from https://www.proquest.com/openview/df4dc8b19cbf9c00118736a21718e593/1?pq-origsite=gscholar&cbl=2042228