Dynamic response of Bluetooth wearable heart rate monitors during rapid changes in heart rate

Objectives. To quantify and evaluate the dynamic response of RR intervals (RRI) and heart rate (HR) measurements of commercially available Bluetooth chest-worn HR monitors during induced rapid changes in HR. Approach. An arbitrary function generator created synthetic electrocardiogram signals simulating the heart activity. Different scenarios of rapid changes in HR were simulated several times using: (1) step responses; (2) exercise data (EX); and (3) intermittent EX data. RRI and HR were recorded using the standard Bluetooth HR service for four wearable monitors: Garmin HRM-Dual, Movesense active, Polar H10, and Wahoo TRACKR. RRI latency, HR latency, and agreement were evaluated from the reference signal. Main results. RRI latency (median and interquartile range) was 0.7(0.5,0.7) s for Garmin, 0.4(0.2,0.5) s for Movesense, 2.6(2.2,2.8) s for Polar, and 2.1(1.9,2.4) s for Wahoo, where results did not differ greatly between tests. HR response latency was different between devices and tests. During intermittent EX tests, HR latency was 3.3(3.0, 3.3) s for Garmin, 1.0(1.0,1.0) s for Movesense, 2.3(2.3,2.3) s for Polar, and 2.2(2.2,2.3) s for Wahoo, where all devices consistently underestimated HR peaks and overestimated HR valleys, with a greater discrepancy in HR valleys. Significance. Most validation protocols of RRI and HR measured by wearable monitors neglect their dynamic characteristics. The present study demonstrated that manufacturers implemented different digital filters to compute the HR values, limiting the devices’ ability to capture rapid HR changes. Open documentation of the processing steps is advised, and use cases involving sharp HR changes—such as intermittent high-intensity training—should rely on beat-to-beat RRI recordings.