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iPhysioMeter: A Smartphone Photoplethysmograph for Measuring Various Physiological Indices

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Mobile Health Technologies

Part of the book series: Methods in Molecular Biology ((MIMB,volume 1256))

Abstract

iPhysioMeter is a new smartphone application (“App”) for the Apple iPhone and iPod touch that allows photoplethysmography (PPG) to be implemented without the need for any additional devices. The resulting signal, the photoplethysmogram, allows the calculation of basic but valuable and frequently used physiological indices such as heart rate (HR) and pulse volume (PV). The design of iPhysioMeter has very much been influenced by a consideration of usability, as is immediately evident from ones first experience with it. However, its apparent simplicity in use should not disguise the need for correct operation, which otherwise might lead to collection of invalid or inaccurate data. There are several unexpected pitfalls that might not only produce inaccurate values, but, under some circumstances, could also damage the device or present a hazard to the user or subject. We therefore describe here, firstly, the core technology that makes it possible to perform PPG and to calculate HR and normalized PV (NPV) from the photoplethysmogram using only a smartphone, secondly, the correct and optimum methods and procedures for using iPhysioMeter that will help to ensure safety and the derivation of valid data under real operational conditions. We hope that these descriptions will help facilitate any activities related to physiological measurement when using only a smartphone.

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Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. School of Mechanical Engineering, College of Science and Engineering, Kanazawa University, Kakuma-machi, Kanazawa, Ishikawa, 920-1192, Japan

    Kenta Matsumura & Takehiro Yamakoshi

  2. Department of Automatic Measurement and Control, Harbin Institute of Technology, Harbin, Heilongjiang, China

    Peter Rolfe

  3. Oxford BioHorizons Ltd., 31-33 Albion Place, Maidstone, ME14 5DZ, UK

    Peter Rolfe

  4. Division of Bioengineering and Bioinformatics, Graduate School of Information Science and Technology, Hokkaido University, Kita 14 Nishi 9, Kita-ku, Sapporo, Hokkaido, 060-0814, Japan

    Kenta Matsumura

  5. Department of Information and Systems Engineering, Faculty of Information Engineering, Fukuoka Institute of Technology, 3-30-1 Wajiro-higashi, Higashi-ku, Fukuoka, 811-0295, Japan

    Takehiro Yamakoshi

  6. Oxford BioHorizons Ltd., 31-33 Albion Place, Maidstone, ME14 5DZ, UK

    Peter Rolfe

Authors
  1. Kenta Matsumura
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  2. Peter Rolfe
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  3. Takehiro Yamakoshi
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Corresponding author

Correspondence to Kenta Matsumura .

Editor information

Editors and Affiliations

  1. National Cancer Institute, Rockville, Maryland, USA

    Avraham Rasooly

  2. Fischell Department of Bioengineering, University of Maryland, College Park, Maryland, USA

    Keith E. Herold

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Matsumura, K., Rolfe, P., Yamakoshi, T. (2015). iPhysioMeter: A Smartphone Photoplethysmograph for Measuring Various Physiological Indices. In: Rasooly, A., Herold, K. (eds) Mobile Health Technologies. Methods in Molecular Biology, vol 1256. Humana Press, New York, NY. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4939-2172-0_21

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4939-2172-0_21

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  • Publisher Name: Humana Press, New York, NY

  • Print ISBN: 978-1-4939-2171-3

  • Online ISBN: 978-1-4939-2172-0

  • eBook Packages: Springer Protocols

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