Exercise with appropriate levels of stress is an indispensable element of good physical training. Heart rate is used as an objective indicator of exercise stress. Heart rate sensors equipped with wireless communication function offer a wider range of applications than simple heart rate monitoring. For example, wireless communication function makes it possible to log exercise stress on a PC or mobile phone for convenient monitoring of daily exercise. Figure 1 gives a schematic of how such healthcare equipment can be used. In addition to physical training, this technology opens possibilities for other applications, such as everyday health control and remote diagnosis. The prototype ring pulse meter was developed to help customers understand how Murata technology makes such applications possible.
Figure 2 is a block diagram of the prototype ring pulse meter. It consists of three main sections ? a photoplethysmographic (PPG) sensor, a small rechargeable battery module, and a wireless communication module. The CPU in the wireless communication module not only performs the wireless communication process, but also controls communication with the PPG sensor and even the entire system. To facilitate linkage with the mobile phone network, the ring pulse meter employs Bluetooth® low energy technology, which will most likely be widespread in future mobile phones.