Last Updated on July 31, 2023 by pg@petergamma.org
We can find the answer at the end of the video. COROS Heart Rate Monitor is not as accurate as a Polar H10 chest strap. But Robs data have to be seen relatively. We have no numerical and statistical data about this device, for instance how big the difference numerically is to a Polar H10 chest strap.
Will optical heart rate monitors ever be as accurate as a Polar H10 chest strap? Is this technically possible? Would not the sports device sellers be the first to announce this news, if they had such a device?
According to the following paper written by cardiologists from the Cleveland Clinic in Ohio, 3 lead ECG devices are gold standard for HR measurement:
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC6732081/
But is the Polar H10 not only a single lead ECG device? If the Polar H10 chest strap was as 3 lead ECG chest strap, would Polar not be the first to announce i?
According to the following paper of sports scientists from the Swiss Federal Institute of Sports in Magglingen:
https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/31004219/
«a simple chest strap such as the Polar H10 might be recommended as the gold standard for RR interval assessments if intense activities with strong body movements are investigated»
Will optical heart rate monitors replace 3 lead ECG devices soon? Are they accurate enough and is this technologically possible? According the above paper of the Cleveland Clinic in Ohio, the Apple watch 3 (the latest Apple watch they tested) has an accuracy of 96 % compared to a clinical grade 3 lead ECG device for runs on a treadmill up to 15 km/h. We do not know of any newer papers with newer data.
If optical heart rate monitors would be able to compete with 3 lead ECG devices, would not Biopac, Adinstruments, iWorx and g.tec medical be the first sellers to offer such devices? What is missing are scientific studies which are generally accepted which proof the accuracy of these heart rate monitors. The first step to solve this problem would be to develop a highly accurate 3 lead ECG device which can handle with noisy ECG signals which can be used as a reference device for heart rate monitor studies to make such studies easier:
Or to make scientific signal quality studies of the heart rate monitors.