Heart rate monitor using 8051

AT89S51 is the microcontroller used here. The device senses the heart rate from
the finger tip using IR reflection method and displays it on a three digit seven
segment display in beats per minute. The circuit has an accuracy of 4 beats per
minute and it is very easy to use. In medical terms, the technique used here for
sensing heart rate is called photoplethysmography.

Photoplethysmography.
Photoplethysmography is the process of optically estimating the volumetric measurement of an
organ. Pulse oximetry, cardiovascular monitoring, respiration detection, heart rate monitoring etc
are few common applications of photoplethysmography. Let us have a look at the application of
photoplethysmography in heart rate monitoring from the figer tip. When the heart expands (diastole)
the volume of blood inside the finger tip increases and when the heart contrcats (systole) the volume
of blood inside the finger tip decreases. The resultant pulsing of blood volume inside the finger tip
is directly proportional to the heart rate and if you could some how count the number of pulses in
one minute, thats the heart rate in beats per minute (bpm). For this an IR transmitter/receiver
pair placed in close contact with the finger tip. When the heart beats, the volume of blood cells
under the sensor increases and this reflects more IR waves to sensor and when there is no beat the
intensity of the reflected beam decreases. The pulsating reflection is converted to a suitable current
or voltage pulse by the sensor. The sensor output is processed by suitable electronic circuits to
obtain a visible indication (digital display or graph).
Heart rate monitor using 8051.

Circuit diagram.

Working of the heart rate monitor

LTH1550-01 photo interrupter forms the photoplethysmographic sensor here. LTH1550-01 is simply
a IR diode photo transistor pair in single package. The front side of the IR diode and photo
transistor are exposed and the remaining parts are well isolated. When the finger tip is placed over
the sensor the volumetric pulsing of the blood volume inside the finger tip due to heart beat varies
the intensity of the reflected beam and this variation in intensity is according to the heart beat.

When more light falls on the photo transistor it conducts more, its collector current increases and so
its collector voltage decreases. When less light falls on the photo transistor it conducts less, its
collector current decreases and so its collector voltage decreases. This variation in the collector
voltage will be proportional to the heart rate. Any way this voltage variation is so feeble and additional
signal conditioning stages are necessary to convert it into a microcontroller recognizable form.

The next part of the circuit consists of a two active low pass filters using opamp LM324. The LM324
is a quad opamp that can be operated from a single rail supply. Resistor R23, R17 and capacitor
C5 sets the gain and cut off frequency of the first filter. With the given component values, gain will
be 11 and cut off frequency will be 2.5Hz. The gain and cut off frequency are determined using the
following equations. Capacitor C15 is used to by-pass noise if any may cause false triggering of the
comparator.

Voltage gain Av =1 + (R17 / R23)

Cut off frequency Fc= 1/(2 *R17*C5)

The second low pass filter also have same gain and cut off frequency. The two low pass filters form
a very critical part of the circuit as any noise or false signals passing to the microcontroller stage will
produce disastrous results. The output of the filter stage will be a voltage level fluctuating between
0 and 0.35 volts and this fluctuation is converted into a 0 to 5V swing using the comparator based
on the third opamp (IC1c). The reference voltage of the comparator is set to 0.3V. When ever the
output voltage of the filter stage goes above 0.3V, the output of the comparator goes to zero and
whenever the output voltage of the filter stage goes below 0.3V, the output of the comparator goes
to positive saturation. The result will be a neat pulse fluctuating between 0 and 5V at a rate equal to
the heart rate. This pulse is fed to the microcontroller for counting

is article is about a simple heart rate monitor using 8051 microcontroller. Like the previous 8051
projects, AT89S51 is the microcontroller used here. The device senses the heart rate from the finger
tip using IR reflection method and displays it on a three digit seven segment display in beats per
minute. The circuit has an accuracy of 4 beats per minute and it is very easy to use. In medical
terms, the technique used here for sensi).

Working of the heart rate monitor

LTH1550-01 photo interrupter forms the photoplethysmographic sensor here. LTH1550-01 is simply
a IR diode photo transistor pair in single package. The front side of the IR diode and photo
transistor are exposed and the remaining parts are well isolated. When the finger tip is placed over
the sensor the volumetric pulsing of the blood volume inside the finger tip due to heart beat varies
the intensity of the reflected beam and this variation in intensity is according to the heart beat.

When more light falls on the photo transistor it conducts more, its collector current increases and so
its collector voltage decreases. When less light falls on the photo transistor it conducts less, its
collector current decreases and so its collector voltage decreases. This variation in the collector
voltage will be proportional to the heart rate. Any way this voltage variation is so feeble and additional
signal conditioning stages are necessary to convert it into a microcontroller recognizable form.

The next part of the circuit consists of a two active low pass filters using opamp LM324. The LM324
is a quad opamp that can be operated from a single rail supply. Resistor R23, R17 and capacitor
C5 sets the gain and cut off frequency of the first filter. With the given component values, gain will
be 11 and cut off frequency will be 2.5Hz. The gain and cut off frequency are determined using the
following equations. Capacitor C15 is used to by-pass noise if any may cause false triggering of the
comparator.

Voltage gain Av =1 + (R17 / R23)

Cut off frequency Fc= 1/(2 *R17*C5)

The second low pass filter also have same gain and cut off frequency. The two low pass filters form
a very critical part of the circuit as any noise or false signals passing to the microcontroller stage will
produce disastrous results. The output of the filter stage will be a voltage level fluctuating between
0 and 0.35 volts and this fluctuation is converted into a 0 to 5V swing using the comparator based
on the third opamp (IC1c). The reference voltage of the comparator is set to 0.3V. When ever the
output voltage of the filter stage goes above 0.3V, the output of the comparator goes to zero and
whenever the output voltage of the filter stage goes below 0.3V, the output of the comparator goes
to positive saturation. The result will be a neat pulse fluctuating between 0 and 5V at a rate equal to
the heart rate. This pulse is fed to the microcontroller for counting.

Program.

ORG 000H // origin

MOV DPTR,#LUT // moves starting address of LUT to DPTR

MOV P1,#00000000B // sets P1 as output port

MOV P0,#00000000B // sets P0 as output port

MAIN: MOV R6,#230D // loads register R6 with 230D

SETB P3.5 // sets P3.5 as input port

MOV TMOD,#01100001B // Sets Timer1 as Mode2 counter & Timer0 as Mode1 timer

MOV TL1,#00000000B // loads TL1 with initial value

MOV TH1,#00000000B // loads TH1 with initial value

SETB TR1 // starts timer(counter) 1

BACK: MOV TH0,#00000000B // loads initial value to TH0

 MOV TL0,#00000000B // loads initial value to TL0

SETB TR0 // starts timer 0

HERE: JNB TF0,HERE // checks for Timer 0 roll over

CLR TR0 // stops Timer0

CLR TF0 // clears Timer Flag 0

DJNZ R6,BACK

CLR TR1 // stops Timer(counter)1

CLR TF0 // clears Timer Flag 0

CLR TF1 // clears Timer Flag 1

ACALL DLOOP // Calls subroutine DLOOP for displaying the count

SJMP MAIN // jumps back to the main loop

DLOOP: MOV R5,#252D

BACK1: MOV A,TL1 // loads the current count to the accumulator

MOV B,#4D // loads register B with 4D

MUL AB // Multiplies the TL1 count with 4

MOV B,#100D // loads register B with 100D

DIV AB // isolates first digit of the count

SETB P1.0 // display driver transistor Q1 ON

ACALL DISPLAY // converts 1st digit to 7seg pattern

MOV P0,A // puts the pattern to port 0

ACALL DELAY

ACALL DELAY
 MOV A,B

MOV B,#10D

DIV AB // isolates the second digit of the count

CLR P1.0 // display driver transistor Q1 OFF

SETB P1.1 // display driver transistor Q2 ON

ACALL DISPLAY // converts the 2nd digit to 7seg pattern

MOV P0,A

ACALL DELAY

ACALL DELAY

MOV A,B // moves the last digit of the count to accumulator

CLR P1.1 // display driver transistor Q2 OFF

SETB P1.2 // display driver transistor Q3 ON

ACALL DISPLAY // converts 3rd digit to 7seg pattern

MOV P0,A // puts the pattern to port 0

ACALL DELAY // calls 1ms delay

ACALL DELAY

CLR P1.2

DJNZ R5,BACK1 // repeats the subroutine DLOOP 100 times

MOV P0,#11111111B

RET

DELAY: MOV R7,#250D // 1ms delay

 DEL1: DJNZ R7,DEL1

RET

DISPLAY: MOVC A,@A+DPTR // gets 7seg digit drive pattern for current value in A

CPL A

RET

LUT: DB 3FH // LUT starts here

DB 06H

DB 5BH

DB 4FH

DB 66H

DB 6DH

DB 7DH

DB 07H

DB 7FH

DB 6FH

END

About the program.

For the counting purpose both the timers of 8051 (Timer0 and Timer1) are used. Timer 1 is
configured as an 8 bit auto reload counter for registering the number of incoming zero going pulses
and Timer0 is configured as a 16 bit timer which generate the necessary 1 second time span for the
Timer1 to count.For counting the number of beats Timer0 and Timer1 are used. Timer1 is set as an
8 bit auto reload counter for counting the the number of pulses (indicating the heart beat) and Timer0
is set as a 16 bit timer which generates a 65536uS delay. When looped 230 times it will produce a
15 second time span (230 x 65536uS =15S) for the Timer 1 to count. The number of counts
obtained in 15 seconds is multiplied by 4 to obtain the heart rate in beats per minute.
 The Timer 0 which generates the 1 second time span is configured in Mode 1 (16 bit timer). So the
maximum it can count is 2^16 and it is 65536. In 8051 the crystal frequency is divided by 12 using
an internal frequency divider network before applying it as a clock for the timer. That means the
timer will increment by one for every 1/12th of the crystal frequency. For an 8051 based system
clocked by a 12MHz crystal, the time taken for one timer increment will be 1S (ie; 1/12MHz). So
the maximum time delay that can be obtained using one session of the timer will be 65536S

Setting up the circuit.

When power is switched ON, the indicator LED D4 will glow an continues in that state. Now place
your finger tip over the sensor and adjust preset R14 so that the LED D4 starts blinking. After you
got the LED blinking, reset the power and wait for 15 seconds. The display will show your heart
rate in beats per minute.

LCD version of the heart rate monitor.

A simple LCD version of the heart rate monitor is shown below. This is just a modification of the
above circuit.LCD displays are very popular now a most of the embedded system designers prefer
them over multiplexed seven segment LED displays. Using LCD displays you can display text,
custom characters, graphics and a lot of other stuff and it is a great advantage over the LED
counterparts. JHD162 is the LCD display used here. It is a 16X2 LCD display based on the HD44780
driver IC. Go through the following link for knowing more about JHD162 and its interfacing to the
8051 microcontroller. Interfacing LCD display to 8051. The circuit diagram of the LCD version of the
heart rate monitor is shown below.
Data/command input pin DB0 to DB7 of the display is interfaced to Port0 of the microcontroller.
Resistor network R17 is used for pulling up thePort0. Port0 needs external pull up for proper
functioning. Preset resistor R1 is used for adjusting the contrast of the display. R2 limits the current
through the back light LED. Other parts of the circuit are similar to the LED version.

Program.

RS EQU P2.7

RW EQU P2.6

EN EQU P2.5

ORG 000H

ACALL INIT
ACALL TEXT1

ACALL LINE2

ACALL TEXT3

MOV DPTR,#LUT

MOV P1,#00000000B

MOV P0,#00000000B

MAIN: MOV R6,#230D

SETB P3.5

MOV TMOD,#01100001B

MOV TL1,#00000000B

MOV TH1,#00000000B

SETB TR1

BACK: MOV TH0,#00000000B

MOV TL0,#00000000B

SETB TR0

HERE: JNB TF0,HERE

CLR TR0

CLR TF0

DJNZ R6,BACK

CLR TR1

CLR TF0

CLR TF1
MOV A,TL1

MOV B,#4D

MUL AB

ACALL SPLIT

ACALL INIT

ACALL TEXT1

ACALL LINE2

ACALL TEXT2

ACALL BPM

SJMP MAIN

INIT:

ACALL CMD

MOV A,#0FH

ACALL CMD

MOV A,#01H

ACALL CMD

MOV A,#06H
ACALL CMD

MOV A,#83H

ACALL CMD

MOV A,#3CH

ACALL CMD

RET

TEXT1:

MOV A,#48H

ACALL DISPLAY

MOV A,#65H

ACALL DISPLAY

MOV A,#61H

ACALL DISPLAY

MOV A,#72H

ACALL DISPLAY

MOV A,#74H

ACALL DISPLAY

MOV A,#20H

ACALL DISPLAY

MOV A,#52H

ACALL DISPLAY
MOV A,#61H

ACALL DISPLAY

MOV A,#74H

ACALL DISPLAY

MOV A,#65H

ACALL DISPLAY

RET

LINE2:

MOV A,#0C0H

ACALL CMD

RET

TEXT2:

MOV A,#62H

ACALL DISPLAY

MOV A,#70H

ACALL DISPLAY

MOV A,#6DH

ACALL DISPLAY

MOV A,#20H

ACALL DISPLAY
RET

TEXT3:

MOV A,#63H

ACALL DISPLAY

MOV A,#6FH

ACALL DISPLAY

MOV A,#75H

ACALL DISPLAY

MOV A,#6EH

ACALL DISPLAY

MOV A,#74H

ACALL DISPLAY

MOV A,#69H

ACALL DISPLAY

MOV A,#6EH

ACALL DISPLAY

MOV A,#67H

ACALL DISPLAY

MOV A,#2EH

ACALL DISPLAY

MOV A,#2EH

ACALL DISPLAY
MOV A,#2EH

ACALL DISPLAY

RET

BPM:

MOV A,R1

ACALL ASCII

ACALL DISPLAY

MOV A,R2

ACALL ASCII

ACALL DISPLAY

MOV A,R3

ACALL ASCII

ACALL DISPLAY

RET

CMD: MOV P0,A

CLR RS

CLR RW
SETB EN

CLR EN

ACALL DELAY

RET

DISPLAY:MOV P0,A

SETB RS

CLR RW

SETB EN

CLR EN

ACALL DELAY

RET

DELAY: CLR EN

CLR RS

SETB RW

MOV P0,#0FFh

SETB EN

MOV A,P0

JB ACC.7,DELAY

CLR EN
CLR RW

RET

DELAY1:MOV R5,#255D

HERE2:DJNZ R5,HERE2

RET

SPLIT: MOV B,#10D

DIV AB

MOV R3,B

MOV B,#10D

DIV AB

MOV R2,B

MOV R1,A

RET

ASCII: MOVC A,@A+DPTR

RET

LUT: DB 48D

DB 49D

DB 50D

DB 51D
DB 52D

DB 53D

DB 54D

DB 55D

DB 56D

DB 57D

END

CONCLUSION
Heart beat rate is measured using IR reflection method through the
fingertip