Journal of Sports Sciences, 1998, 16, S3 S7

Heart rate monitors: State of the art

RAIJA M .T. LAUK K ANEN * and PAULA K . VIRTAN EN
Polar E lectro Oy, P rofessor intie 5, FIN-90440 K em pele, Finland

Heart rate is a useful indicator of physiological adaptation and intensity of e ort. Therefore, heart rate m onitoring is an important component of cardiovascular tness assessm ent and training programmes. The electrocardiogram (ECG) and Holter monitoring devices are accurate, but they are not appropriate for use in eld settings due to cost, size and com plexity of operation. Lightweight telem etric heart rate monitors equipped with conventional electrodes have been available since 1983 and have been shown to be accurate and valid tools for heart rate m onitoring and registering in the eld. Polar Electro Oy has been at the forefront of ambulatory heart rate monitor technology for 15 years. This paper reviews the development of Polar heart rate m onitors and their measurement accuracy com pared to Holter ECG devices at rest and during exercise, both in adults and in children.
K eywords : accuracy, ambulatory, heart rate monitor, Polar.

Introduction
Accurate heart rate m onitoring is essential in tness training and testing. M anual pulse palpation provides inaccurate results (Clapp and L ittle, 1994). The use of the electrocardiogram (EC G ) or H olter m onitoring is too costly and com plex for exercisers to use in the eld. T he rst w ireless heart rate m onitor, the portable Polar PE 2000 hear t rate m onitor, was introduced in 1983. It consisted of a transm itter and a receiver. The transm itter could be attached to the chest using either disposable electrodes or an elastic electrode belt. T he receiver was a watch-like m onitor worn on the wrist. T he w ireless Polar heart rate m onitoring m ethod was developed in the D epartm ent of Electronics at the U niversity of O ulu. In the beginning, the heart rate m onitors were targeted for coaches and sportsm en to optim ize the quality and eY ciency of training. Soon, exercise scientists started to research the m onitors and use them in their work. The Polar Research Index (1998) includes 400 physiological and m edical studies on hum ans and anim als involving Polar heart rate m onitors. Today, the selection of heart rate m onitors includes easy-to-use products for everyone interested in wellness, tness and health.

H eart rate monitors and their accuracy

Polar E lectro O y introduced its rst retail m onitor, Tunturi Pulser, in 1978. This was a heart rate m onitor with an optim al cable-connected chest belt. Five years later, in 1983, the rst wireless heart rate m onitor using electric eld data transfer was introduced. T his m icrocom puter was called Sport Tester PE 2000 (Fig. 1). Karvonen et al. (1984) com pared heart rates as m easured by the H olter apparatus and PE 2000. T he results showed that the m ean heart rates m easured by EC G and the PE 2000 di ered from each other by at m ost 5 beats m in - 1 and in single m easurem ents by 0 10 beats m in - 1 at each workload. The di erences were caused m ainly by the di erent m ethods of calculation, using an E CG ruler or m icrocom puter display reading. It was concluded that both m ethods are equally valuable for m easuring heart rate during exercise. In 1984, Polar Electro O y introduced the world s rst hear t rate m onitor equipped w ith a com puter interface and transm ission by m agnetic eld. This was the Sport Tester PE 3000 (Fig. 2). Vogelaere et al. (1986) com pared the heart rate readings of the PE 3000 with Holter EC G reference values in 20 subjects during exercise. T he results showed that the PE 3000 is a valid alternative for m easuring heart rate in the eld and for laboratory research purposes com pared w ith the fragile and unwieldy H olter apparatus.

* Author to whom all correspondence should be addressed. 0264 0414 /98

1998 E & FN Spon

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Laukkanen and Virtanen

Leger and T hivierge (1988) com pared the validity, stability and functionality of 13 heart rate m onitors. The m onitors were divided into three categories based on the correlation of heart rate readings with those of the H olter. The m onitors were regarded as excellent if the correlation coeY cient (r) was > 0.93 and the standard error of the estim ate (s x) was less than 6.8% ; good if 0.93 > r > 0.65 (s x = 6.8 15% ); or inadequate if r < 0.65 (s x > 15% ). Based on this classi cation, the heart rate m onitors using conventional chest electrodes to m easure electrical activity of the heart nam ely, the E xersentr y (Respironics Ltd, H ong Kong), PE 3000 (Polar E lectro, Finland), Pacer 2000 H (Sportronic AG , Switzerland) and M onark 1 (M onark-Crescent, Sweden) resulted in excellent readings. Seiko 1 (Seiko, Japan) achieved good validity, w hereas the others, using di erent types of electrodes or an earlobe photocell to m easure the opacity of blood ow, were inadequate. In a study by Seaward et al. (1990), the precision and accuracy of a portable PE 3000 proved to be equal to that of EC G. T he 250 data sets obtained at rest and during variable-intensity exercise resulted in a correlation coeY cient of 0.9979 over a range in hear t rate of 55 177 beats m in - 1. T hivierge and Leger (1989) also reviewed the principles of operation, validity, stability and functional characteristics of heart rate m onitors. As previously (L eger and Thivierge, 1988), they found heart rate m onitors with conventional electrodes to be m ore valid than m onitors using non-conventional electrodes or photo-electric sensors placed either on the nger or ear. Treiber et al. (1989) studied heart rate m onitoring w ith children in the laboratory and in eld settings during six di erent exercise activities and during recovery. T hey reported correlation coeY cients of at least 0.93 (s x = 1.1 4.3 beats m in - 1 ) between the Sport Tester PE 3000 and E CG -derived heart rates. The interface and software package (Sport Tester Training System ) proved to be an eY cient tool for heart rate analysis. T his was the rst com puterized training system for m easuring, registering and printing heart rate inform ation. Polar Sport Tester, also known as Polar Vantage X L , was introduced in 1989 (Fig. 3). T his watch-size waterresistant heart rate m onitor had a contactless (m agnetic eld) com puter interface and a large m emory. The accuracy of this m onitor was studied by Godsen et al. (1991). T hey com pared 2633 hear t rate readings during treadm ill running, row ing, arm leg cycle ergom etry and weight training. As a result, the Sport Tester yielded heart rate values w ithin 6 beats m in - 1 of ECG values ~ 95% of the tim e. They concluded that arrhythm ias, anticipator y rises in heart rate and rapid adaptation to, or recovery from , exercise could explain m ost of the errors. Wajciechow ski et al. (1991) com pared the

F igure 1 The Sport Tester PE 2000, the rst wireless heart rate m onitor.

F igure 2 The world s rst heart rate monitor using m agnetic eld data transfer was the Sport Tester PE 3000.

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accuracy of two Polar heart rate m onitors (m ost probably Polar Vantage X L ) with EC G readings during walking, jogging and aerobic dance in wom en. W hen the values were averaged for 10-s readings (400 cases), the correlation coeY cient between the m onitor and E CG values was 0.99. N inety percent of all m easured errors were w ithin 8 beats m in - 1 . D uring 1990 93, Polar Electro introduced m any new innovations. T he Polar C ycloVantage was the world s rst cycle-com puter with a com puter interface m easuring speed, tim e, distance and pedalling rate. T he Polar Accurex II TM heart rate m onitor had sport watch functions and average heart rate, W indows -base d analysis software and an integrated, lightweight, water-resistant, one-piece transm itter (T40, Fig. 4). Easy-to-use, consum er-friendly products, including the buttonless Favor TM and Beat TM heart rate m onitors, were introduced between 1991 and 1993. Lewis (1992) com pared the Polar Favor and E dge heart rate m onitors in 24 subjects during light to m axim al intensity endurance activities. T he correlation coeY cient ( standard deviation, s) of the heart rates registered by the m onitors was 0.97 ( 3 4 beats m in - 1 ) when com pared w ith ECG m easurem ents. In 1995, Polar introduced the Vantage N V TM heart rate m onitor (Fig. 5), w hich, for the rst tim e, included coded transm ission (one signal from each transm itter to receiver) and an R R recording (beat-to-beat) and analysis system (Polar Advantage Interface System TM and Precision Perform ance Software TM for W indows ). T his innovative m onitor was used by Kaikkonen et al. (1997) to study recover y and overtraining in m ale orienteers. T hey reported that the m easurem ents were

F igure 3 The Polar Sport Tester was a watch-size, waterresistant heart rate m onitor with a large m em ory.

F igure 4 unit.

The transmitter belt used with wireless Polar heart rate monitors to transmit the heart rate to the watch-like receiver

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F igure 5 The Polar Vantage NV heart rate monitor includes coded transmission and beat-to-beat analysis features.

TM

F igure 6 The Polar Sm artEdge heart rate m onitor is the very latest innovation with a modern design.

TM

easy to perform and analyse by the sportsm en at hom e and during a training cam p with the Vantage N V TM and Precision Perform ance Software TM . K innunen and H eikkil (abstract, this issue) evaluated the tim ing accuracy of the Polar Vantage N V TM heart rate m onitor in the m easurem ent of R R intervals. T heir results showed that, in 99.9% of the R R intervals, the di erence between the Polar Vantage N V TM and Polar R R Recorder TM (Ruha et al., 1997) was within 5 m s. In 1997, Polar launched the Xtrainer Plus TM , which is a heart rate m onitor and a cycle-com puter in one unit. T his device is able to m easure heart rate, distance, tim e, speed, cadence and altitude during perform ance. T he very latest innovation, Polar Sm artEdge TM (Fig. 6), is a heart rate m onitor w ith an autom atic intensity guidance feature (called the `Ow nZone ), and is also capable of estim ating energy expenditure during exercise (the `Ow nC al ). Both features are based on R R recording and equations derived from extensive physiological research conducted in several research units.

O ur research group has evaluated the Polar Sm artE dge TM `Ow nZone and `OwnC al features (unpublished observations). The lower heart rate lim its determ ined by the Polar Sm artEdge TM heart rate m onitor correspond to 62 4% and 65 3% and the upper lim its to 80 5% and 84 3% of the m axim um heart rate in m en and wom en, respectively. The energy expenditure predicted by Sm artEdge TM was com pared w ith that m easured by C osm ed (K4, Italy). In twothirds of subjects, the di erence between the values as m easured by the two pieces of apparatus was less than 15% during cycling and walking, which was considered satisfactory.

Sum m ar y
For 15 years, Polar heart rate m onitors have been recognized as the m ost accurate tools for heart rate m onitoring and registering in the eld. E xtensive research and developm ent work has also resulted in high-quality devices for the analysis of heart rate data.

H eart rate monitors: State of the art

Table 1

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`Firsts in heart rate monitoring by Polar Electro Oy 1977 1978 1983 1984 1985 1986 1987 1989 1990 1991 1992 1991 93 1994 1995 1995 1997 1997

Battery-operated ngertip pulse m eter Polar s rst retail m onitor: Tunturi Pulser W ireless heart rate m onitor: Sport Tester PE 2000 Heart rate m onitor with com puter interface: Sport Tester PE 3000 C omputerized Sport Tester Training System Heart rate analysis software for IBM PC Sport Tester PE 300 (target zone time calculation) C ontactless computer interface heart rate monitor: Polar Sport Tester C yclecomputer with wireless heart rate monitor: Polar Cyclovantage W indows -based analysis software Integrated one-piece transmitter: T40 TM TM TM C onsumer product fam ily (e.g. Favor , Edge , Beat ) TM Heart rate m onitor with NightVision: Accurex NV Heart rate m onitor with coded transmission: Vantage NV TM Heart rate m onitor with R R recording and analysis: Vantage NV TM Heart rate m onitor and cyclecomputer in one unit: Polar Xtrainer Plus T M TM Polar SmartEdge heart rate m onitor with `OwnZone and `OwnCal

Table 1 sum m arizes the m ost notable innovations of Polar Electro O y since 1977. In the future, heart rate m onitors and analysis tools will continue to develop in the direction of the interpretation of heart rate inform ation.

References
Clapp III, J. and Little, K. (1994). The physiological response of instructors and participants to three aerobics regimens. M edicine and Science in Sports and E xercise , 26 , 1041 1046. Godsen, R., Carroll, T. and Stone, S. (1991). How well does Polar Vantage XL Heart Rate M onitor estimate actual heart rate? M edicine and Science in Sports and Exercise , 23 (suppl.), S14. Kaikkonen, H., Karppinen, T. and Laukkanen, R. (1997). Recovery and overtraining detection in m ale orienteers before, during and after intensive training period. Communication to the 6th Inter nationa l Scienti c Sym posium on O rienteer ing , Oslo, Norway, 18 19 August. Karvonen, J., Chwalbinska-M oneta, J. and S yn j kangas, S. (1984). Com parison of heart rates m easured by EC G and microcom puter. Physician and Sportsm edicin e , 12 , 65 69. Leger, L. and Thivierge, M . (1988). Heart rate monitors: Validity, stability and functionality. Physician and Sportsm edicine , 16 , 143 151.

Lewis, D. (1992). An investigation into the accuracy of the Polar Favor and the Polar Edge heart rate monitors compared with direct ECG measurements. Masters thesis, Newcastle Polytechnic, U K. Polar Research Index (1998). Polar Electro Oy, Kempele, Finland. Ruha, A., Sallinen, S. and Nissil, S. (1997). A real-time microprocessor QRS detector system with a 1 ms tim ing accuracy for the measurement of ambulatory HRV. IEEE Transactions on B iom edical Engineering , 44 , 159 167. Seaward, B., Sleamaker, R., McAuli e, T. and Clapp, J. (1990). The precision and accuracy of a portable heart rate monitor. B iom edical Instr um entation and Technology , 24 , 37 41. Thivierge, M . and Leger, L. (1989). Critical review of heart rate m onitors. C anadian Association for H ealth , P hysical E ducatio n and Recreation Jour na l , 55 , 26 31. Trieber, F., M usante, L., Hartdagan, S., Davis, H., Levy, M . and Strong, W. (1989). Validation of a heart rate monitor with children in laboratory and eld settings. M edicine and Science in Sports and E xercise , 21 , 338 342. Vogelaere, P., De M eyer, F., Duquet, W. and Vandevelde, P. (1986). Vergleich zwischen `Sport Tester PE 3000 und Holter-EKG zur M essung der Herzfrequenz (Sport Tester PE 3000 vs Holter ECG for the m easurement of heart frequency). Science and Spor ts , 1 , 321 329. Wajciechowski, J., Gayle, R., Andrews, R. and Dintiman, G. (1991). The accuracy of radio telemetry heart rate monitor during exercise. Clinical K inesiology , 45 , 9 12.