Low cost solar ECG with Bluetooth transmitter

Abstract

Cardiovascular disease is the world's leading killer, accounting for 16.7 million or 29.2 per cent of total global deaths every year. The World Health Organization estimates that 60 per cent of the world's cardiac patients will be Indian by 2010. The reported prevalence of coronary heart disease (CHD) in adult surveys has risen 4-fold over the last 40 years and even in rural areas the prevalence has doubled over the past 30 years. The Electrocardiograph (ECG) is a diagnostic instrument which measures the electrical activity of the heart, providing valuable information of cardiac disorders like infarction, Atherosclerosis, etc. ECG instruments used in hospitals are bulky, work on line voltage which makes the ECG waveform distorted and an isolation amplifier is needed for patient’s safety making it expensive thus cannot be used in underdeveloped areas. We have developed an inexpensive portable solar powered ECG. 63% of all rural households in India do not have electricity and use fuel for lighting. Thus, being solar powered will eliminate its dependence on electricity and can easily be used in areas either with no electricity or with lots of load shedding. The electrocardiogram will be free from the line frequency noise. Advantage of this equipment is the backup option of charging the batteries using a simple mobile charger. The device is capable of acquiring up to 34 hours of continuous electrocardiogram data at a sample rate of 500 Hz. The ECG is also transmitted to the patient’s cell phone or a computer with the help of a Bluetooth transmitter.