DEPARTMENT OF ELECTRONICS AND

COMMUNICATION ENGINEERING, BENGALURU- 560 064

A Report on
“Monitoring Heart Rate using LabVIEW“

Ability Enhancement Course

Subject: Circuit Simulation using LabVIEW

Submitted in partial fulfilment of the requirements for the award of the degree of

Bachelor of Engineering
in
Electronics and Communication Engineering
for the Academic Year: 2024-25

Submitted by
Siddharth Maddur (1NT22EC160)

Under the Guidance of

Dr. Murthy M
Assistant Professor
Dept. of Electronics and Communication Engineering
 DEPARTMENT OF ELECTRONICS AND COMMUNICATION ENGINEERING
BENGALURU- 560 064

Certificate
Certified that the work titled “Monitoring Heart Rate using LabVIEW” is carried out by Siddharth Maddur
(1NT22EC160) bonafide student of Nitte Meenakshi Institute of Technology in partial fulfilment for the award of
Bachelor of Engineering in Electronics and Communication Engineering of Visvesvaraya Technological
University, Belagavi during the academic year 2023-2024. The project report has been approved as it satisfies the
academic requirement in respect of the project work prescribed as per the autonomous scheme of Nitte Meenakshi
Institute of Technology for the said degree.

Name of the examiners Signature with date

1……………….. ………………

2………………... ………………..
 Abstract

This project focuses on the design and implementation of a heart rate monitor using LabVIEW. This
system works to provide a cost-effective solution for the monitoring of heart rate in various fields like
healthcare, sports, etc.
The project encompasses the development of algorithms for peak detection, and heart rate calculation,
ensuring accurate and reliable monitoring. The hardware components include a heart rate sensor
interfaced with a Arduino Uno microcontroller for data acquisition. LabVIEW is then employed for
processing the acquired data within its graphical programming environment, and providing a user-
friendly interface for the real-time display of the heart rate and Beats-Per-Minute (BPM).
Using the heart rate sensor, the pulse signals are collected using IDE code and is transferred to
LabVIEW via the use of NI-VISA instrument driver. This is then processed through a peak detector and
then used for BPM calculation. The final graph and BPM are displayed.
This report provides insight into the integration of LabVIEW with hardware such as Arduino Uno
microcontroller and ability of LabVIEW to be used for signal processing and latency-free display of the
collected data.
 Contents

Abstract

Sl No. Topic Page No.

1 Introduction 1
2 Literature Survey 2
3 Proposed System Methodology 3
4 Result and Analysis 5
Conclusion and Future Scope 6

References
Chapter 1
Introduction

Heart Rate Monitoring is an important part of healthcare diagnostics, psychological research and various
other fields. But traditionally, heart rate has often been measured using big equipment, multiple patches,
etc which are limited in their ability to provide continuous monitoring. Eyeing a solution, this project
looks into the development of a heart rate monitoring system using LabVIEW software.

LabVIEW is a graphical programming environment widely utilized in engineering and scientific

applications. It offers a versatile platform for signal processing, data visualization, and user interface
development. By using LabVIEW's capabilities, it becomes possible to create a cost-effective, user-
friendly, and customizable heart rate monitoring system.

The hardware includes a pulse rate sensor or heart rate sensor and an Arduino Uno Microcontroller. The
sensor works on the principles of Polyplethysmography(PPG). When a finger is placed on the heart rate
sensor, the IR LEDs on the sensor emit light into the finger. This light is then absorbed by the oxygen
flowing through the veins in the skin. With each heartbeat, there is variation caused in the amount of
light absorbed. The light is then reflected back to a photodetector present on the sensor. This entire
process is then made into a plot by an Arduino IDE code.

When it comes to integrating Arduino successfully with LabVIEW, there are many options, in this case
it’s with the use of NI-VISA driver. NI-VISA is an instrument driver and is an implementation of the
Virtual Instrument Software Architecture (VISA) I/O standard. It is used for configuring and
programming instrumentation systems comprising of various serial interfaces. This is made possible as
it itself is a high-level API that simply calls upon low-level drivers like Serian, GPIB etc.

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Chapter 2
Literature Survey

 Vishal N. Autade and M. S. Panse, “Photoplethysmographic Heart-rate estimation using

LabVIEW”, Mumbai, Maharashtra, India: VJTI, 2018
Accurate heart rate (HR) estimation using photoplethysmogram is a challenging task due to
motion artifacts.
This article provides a heart rate estimation from the PPG signals which is interfaced with
Arduino and LabVIEW.

 R.D. Manoj, G. Bagyalakshmi, V. Gomathi, V. Valarmathi, “VI Based Hemodynamic

Monitor Using Labview”, 2023
To identify and categories the patient's anomalies and abnormalities, this system was designed to
collect data from the patient's ECG, PPG, and body temperature.

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Chapter 3
Proposed System Methodology

This project consists of four parts: Arduino code, integration of Arduino with LabVIEW, display of the
heart rate graph and calculation of Beats-Per-Minute (BPM).

Arduino Code
First the heart rate sensor is connected to the Arduino Uno microcontroller board. Then a simple code is
written to read the analog pin the sensor is connected to and plot the same on the serial plotter.

Integration of Arduino with LabVIEW

The integration of Arduino with LabVIEW is done with the help of NI-VISA, an instrument driver. This
driver essentially connects to the serial port of the computer and retrieves data from the Arduino board
using VISA Read component. The COM port is to be mentioned.

Display of the heart rate graph

The analog values being measured by the heart rate sensor is plotted onto LabVIEW using a Waveform
Chart component but since the source from VISA Read is of string type and the type of sink for the
Waveform Chart is

Calculation of Beats-Per-Minute (BPM)

The data provided by VISA Read is then passed through a Peak Detector VI where the threshold and
width of the peaks is determined. This threshold can be changed according to convenience. The output is
then given as the input to a case structure.
Case 1 – True:
 When there is a peak found, the time is noted at that moment. The time period between peaks is
the difference between time at which peak is found and number of peaks in certain amount of
time.
∆t = (time at which peak is found) – (peaks gotten in certain time)
 Next we divide the time period by 1000 to convert time period from milliseconds to seconds.
 Frequency is given by f=1/t. Hence we take the reciprocal of the time.
 And finally, we multiply the resultant frequency with 60 to convert it to minutes giving us Beats
Per-Minute.

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Case 2 – False
When a peak is not detected, no calculation takes place. But to prevent the previous calculation of BPM
from failing or running into an error, it is put through a feedback node to retain its display.

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Chapter 4
Results and Analysis

Upon connecting, the waveform is plotted continuously on the Waveform Chart and the BPM is
calculated. It takes about 10 seconds to properly receive values, but there is no latency issues present.
When a peak is not found, the value remains at the previous output.

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Chapter 5
Conclusion and Future Scope

In conclusion, the implementation of heart rate monitoring using LabVIEW demonstrates its
effectiveness in providing real-time, accurate, and reliable data acquisition and analysis. Through the
integration of physiological sensors and LabVIEW's versatile platform, we have successfully developed
a system capable of monitoring heart rate with precision and efficiency. This technology holds
significant potential for various applications, including healthcare, fitness tracking, and research.
Looking into the future scope and further improvements, LabVIEW’s versatile libraries could be used to
fine tune the waveform plotted by applying signal operation techniques like noise cancellation and other
factors to provide a smoother graph.
Overall, this report highlights the promising prospects of heart rate monitoring utilizing LabVIEW and
underscores LabVIEW’s value in providing dynamic and customizable graphical interfaces and shows
it’s value in the ever advancing healthcare field.

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Chapter 6
References

[1]. R.D. Manoj, G. Bagyalakshmi, V. Gomathi, V. Valarmathi, “VI Based Hemodynamic Monitor
Using Labview”, 2023

[2]. Vishal N. Autade and M. S. Panse, “Photoplethysmographic Heart-rate estimation using

LabVIEW”, Mumbai, Maharashtra, India: VJTI, 2018

[3]. Nidhi R. Chaurasia, Meghana A. Hasamnis, “Development of a Low-Cost Heart Rate

Monitoring and Transmission System using PPG Signal Processing for Wearable Devices”, 2023

[4]. Nalini Singh, Satchidananda Dehuri Dhananjaya Tripathy and Amiya Bhusana Sahoo, “Real Time
Heart Beat Monitoring with LABVIEW”, 2021

[5]. A.R. Krishnan, S. Jayanth and R. Janani, “Patient Pulse Rate Monitoring System Using LabVIEW”,
2020

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