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Google researchers recently showcased how headphones with active noise cancellation (ANC) capability can be used to track the heart rate of the wearer without using any extra hardware.
In a paper titled “APG: Audioplethysmography for cardiac monitoring with hearable devices” presented at Mobicom 2023, the researchers introduced a new active in-ear health sensing modality that enabled ANC headphones to monitor various physiological signals like heart rate without adding extra sensors.
The study also suggests that APG does not affect battery life and is unaffected by seal conditions, works with all skin tones and is resilient to motion artefacts.
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(Image Source: Google)
It works by sending a low-intensity ultrasound wave using the ANC headphone’s speakers and gets information from the receiving wave using the built-in microphones. Google says the “APG signal is a pulse-like waveform that synchronises with the heartbeat and reveals rich cardiac information, such as dicrotic notches.”
The study was conducted over a period of 8 months with 153 participants and suggests that APG is better than the existing light-based photoplethysmograms (PPG) and electrocardiograms (ECG) sensors which add extra weight, cost and power consumption.
Google says APG can help transform any headphones with ANC into a heart rate sensor with a simple software update, with the technology working without issues when the user is engaged in different activities like listening to music or working out.
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