Beat-to-beat heart rate detection by smartphone's accelerometers: Validation with ECG

Mobile phones offer the possibility to monitor and track health parameters. Our aim was to test the feasibility and accuracy of measuring beat-to-beat heart rate using smartphone accelerometers by recording the vibrations generated by the heart during its function and transmitted to the chest wall, i.e. the so-called seismocardiographic signal (SCG). Methods: 9 healthy male volunteers were studied in supine (SUP) and in standing (ST) posture. A smartphone (iPhone6, Apple) was positioned on the thorax (POS1) to acquire SCG signal. While supine, a second smartphone was positioned on the navel (POS2). The SCG signal was recorded for 3 minutes during spontaneous respiration, synchronous with 3-leads ECG. Using a fully automated algorithm based on amplitude thresholding after rectification, the characteristic peak of the SCG signal (IVC) was detected and used to compute beat-to-beat heart duration, to be compared with the corresponding RR intervals extracted from the ECG. Results: A 100% feasibility of the approach resulted for POS1 in SUP, while 89% in POS2, and 78% for POS1 in ST. In supine, for each smartphones' position, the automated algorithm correctly identified the cardiac beats with >98% accuracy. Linear correlation (r2) with RR was very high (>0.98) in each posture and position, with no bias and narrow limits of agreement. Conclusions: The obtained results proved the feasibility of the proposed approach and the robustness of the applied algorithm in measuring the beat-to-beat heart rate from smartphone-derived SCG, with high accuracy compared to conventional ECG-derived measure.