Last Updated on June 24, 2026 by pg@petergamma.org
Streaming physiological multi-sensor data to InfluxDB is highly effective for time-series biometric monitoring (e.g., ECG, EMG, temperature, and brainwaves).

The standard pipeline involves aggregating raw signals through an edge processor, converting them into structured time-series metrics, and continuously writing them to the database. [1, 2]
Recommended Tech Stack & Pipeline
- Edge Device: Microcontrollers like the Raspberry Pi or an ESP32 aggregate signals via serial or Bluetooth.
- Data Stream Processing: Node-RED or Python scripts handle data parsing, filtering, and normalization.
- Messaging Protocol: MQTT (Message Queuing Telemetry Transport) efficiently pushes data from edge devices to your backend.
- Data Ingestion: Telegraf acts as the server-side ingestion agent, subscribing to your MQTT broker and writing streams directly into InfluxDB.
- Database: InfluxDB stores the timestamped biometric data at scale.
- Visualization: Grafana queries the database to build real-time monitoring dashboards. [1, 2, 3, 4, 5]
Step-by-Step Implementation
- Signal Aggregation: Connect your physiological sensors (e.g., a MySignals board or OpenBCI) to a microcontroller.
- Preprocessing: Use a runtime environment like Node-RED running on a local device to filter the raw analog/digital conversions and format them into readable JSON objects.
- Publishing: Transmit the JSON payloads over MQTT to a local or cloud-based MQTT Broker.
- Ingestion: Configure a Telegraf agent to listen to the MQTT topic. Use the Telegraf MQTT consumer plugin to map the physiological metrics to InfluxDB measurement fields.
But Peter Gamma from www.petergamma.org invites you first to start with something which is easier:

And that is:
How to Build an Open Source 3 Channel Gold Standard ECG Device & Spirometer for Medical & Research Applications for around 250 USD:
And let us follow the example of Scott W. Harden who worked for around 10 years on his Sound Card ECG:
Peter Gamma from www.petergamma.org will have this 3 channel Gold Standard ECG device with Spirometer probably in less than 10 years from now. And what do meditators need more than this? Write it in the comments below.