Noninvasive Heart Rate and Blood Glucose Level Estimation Using Photoplethysmography

Heart rate (HR) and blood glucose level (BGL) are two important indicators of fitness of human health and it is imperative to measure these parameters regularly to avoid severe damages. At present, we need at least two devices such as electrocardiography (ECG) device and invasive BGL measuring devices to measure heart rate and blood glucose level accurately which are costly. In this paper, an easy method has been described to measure both HR and BGL values simultaneously without pricking a finger and without a trained person using a single device only based on photoplethysmography (PPG). In this research work, a pulse sensor is used for PPG signal collection. Then this PPG signal is passed through a bandpass filter for noise removal and amplification to the microcontroller unit (MCU). Then the data obtained from MCU are analyzed using MATLAB for finding HR and BGL values. The peak finding technique is used for finding HR value. For determining BGL values, the dominant feature of the PPG signal is extracted which has the highest correlation with BGL, and then using regression analysis a relationship is established from which we can measure the BGL values without pricking blood. Finally, correlation analysis is also done to analyze the relationship between HR and BGL. As PPG signal acquisition is less costly than ECG and other BGL measuring methods, it will be very helpful for determining HR and BGL values simultaneously at ease. Thus this research work will provide opportunities for early diagnosis of problems related to heart rate and blood glucose level.