Altronics to stock Silicon Chip Arduino Heart ECG Shield
Altronics will be selling the Heart electrocardiogram sampling shield for Arduino UNO as published in the October issue of Silicon Chip Magazine. We hope to have the kits available for purchase early November for $59.95 RRP. The kit will include all components, PCB and H 0453 diecast box.
Should you wish to make a pre-order, please do so by placing a web order for K 2523 or phone 1300 797 007 and we will backorder a unit against your account.
Overview
Here's an easy-to-build Arduino project which will let you take your own electrocardiogram (ECG) and display it on a laptop PC. The software lets you read, display, save and print the electrical waveform generated by your heart - or anyone else's. It connects to your laptop via a USB cable, which also provides the low power it needs to operate.
An electrocardiogram or "ECG" is a piece of medical equipment used to measure and record the voltages produced as a result of heart muscle activity. By attaching a pair of electrodes (or "leads" as they are known in the trade) to the skin of your wrists, ankle or chest, this PC-Driven ECG project can display, record or print out the same kind of ECG waveform via your personal computer.
Just looking at the waveforms generated by your heart can be both fun and educational. You can monitor changes to your heart under various conditions, as your heart is affected by many things including emotions and mental and physical activity ? even breathing. All of these factors have a demonstrable effect on the heart?s ECG waveform. Being able to show this easily, safely and at low cost is an added bonus. Professional ECG machines can cost anything from $5000 up and while this project is not intended to be used as a diagnostic device, the displayed, recorded and printed waveforms are of a quality approaching that of professional machines.
In many ways, this new ECG Sampler is as a much improved Mk2 version of the project described in the February 2005 issue of SILICON CHIP.