Heartrate monitor for computer?

February 2, 2009 5:54 AM

I'm looking USB heartrate monitor

I'm doing a multimedia project and want to feed heart rate data (actually just the beat, not even the numerical rate) into my computer and read it in MAX/MSP.
I'd prefer a finger clip or ear clip model.
I can find all sorts of monitors, buy none that will let me grab the signal from it. They're all stand alone units.
Suggestions?

posted by cccorlew to Computers & Internet (3 answers total)

The googled phrase "DIY Heartbeat Monitor" or "DIY ECG" or "USB ECG" throws up some interesting links.
I liked This one, and This one
posted by seanyboy at 7:30 AM on February 2, 2009

What I did in a similar situation was to buy a cheap fingerclip USB heartrate monitor that beeped everytime it detected a heartbeat. I then soldered wires from the beeper to an audio jack that we plugged into the line input of the PC and digitized the audio signal to detect heartbeats. It worked very well. This is the pulse oximeter I used.

Prior to that I used a stethoscope with an electret mike jammed into the hose and a little amplifier to do the same thing. This also worked, but was sensitive to ambient noise, the person talking, etc. See here and here for a description of this setup.
posted by pombe at 10:05 AM on February 2, 2009

Response by poster: Thanks. Interesting solutions, but not exactly what i was looking for. Still, I may be able to give one a shot.
posted by cccorlew at 11:11 AM on February 2, 2009