The Adinstruments Equivital as a Generally Accepted Highly Accurate Reference Device for Testing of the Accuracy of Consumer Grade HRMs? – PETER GAMMA (Director & Physiologist), MEDITATION RESEARCH INSTITUTE SWITZERLAND (MRIS)

Last Updated on September 18, 2022 by pg@petergamma.org

1. A paper of the group of Cardiologist Milind Y. Desai from Cleveland Clinic Ohio:

https://journals.lww.com/acsm-msse/Fulltext/2017/08000/Variable_Accuracy_of_Wearable_Heart_Rate_Monitors.22.aspx

compared the accuracy of the Polar H7 chest strap to a Quinton Q-tel RMS ECG reference device:

90.02 Research & medical grade ECG devices which some of those were used to study the accuracy of consumer grade HRMs in different papers

The authors found, that the accuracy of the Polar H7 was 99.6 compared to the ECG reference device:

90.05 Table of the accuracy of HRMs compared to research & medical grade ECG devices

2. A second paper of the group of Cardiologist Milind Y. Desai:

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC6732081/

compared again the accuracy of the Polar H7 to a Quinton Q-tel RMS ECG reference device. In this second study, the

Polar H7 had an accuracy of 98 compared to the ECG reference device.

3. A paper of the Swiss Federal Institute of Sports in Magglingen:

https://www.google.com/url?sa=t&rct=j&q=&esrc=s&source=web&cd=&cad=rja&uact=8&ved=2ahUKEwiKos3IhuH4AhWF_bsIHfGlD2kQFnoECAIQAQ&url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.ppdb.ehsm.ch%2Finf2%2Frm%2Ff.php%3Ff%3D20200416162130_5e9869eab833b.pdf%26n%3DGilgenAmmann_RRIntervalSignalQuality_2019.pdf&usg=AOvVaw23MOAobT8so8HFGAdgdcPo

studied the signal quality of a Polar H10 chest strap and a AR12plus Holter monitor ECG during rest and exercise.

The signal quality in the study of the AR12plus Holter monitor ECG was 94.6 %

And the signal quality of the Polar H10 was 99.63 %

90.07 Table of the signal quality of heart rate monitors

4. In the data sheet of the Adinstruments Equivital it says, the device has noise and motion artifact free EEG:

https://m-cdn.adinstruments.com/brochures/ADINSTRUMENTS_EQUIVITAL_BROCHURE.pdf

And is therefore eventually a candidate device which could be used as a generally accepted ECG reference device to test the accuracy of consumer grade HRMs, if tests show that the Equivital is the most accurate device which is available.

5. A Technical Report of the US Army Research Institute of Medicine Environemental Medicine compared the accuracy of a Adinstruments Equivial to a Polar H10 chest strap.

https://apps.dtic.mil/sti/pdfs/AD1154187.pdf

The authors of the technical report concluded, that:

«The Equivital EQ02+ LifeMonitor is an acceptable body sensor for continuous heart rate monitoring of work/rest cycles across the physiological limits of cardiovascular function. Users can be confident in the accuracy of resting and maximal heart rates measured by the EQ02+ during standardized laboratory testing«.

In the Technical Report of the US Army Research Institute of Environemental Medicine there is no evidence that the Equivital is a highly accurate reference device for testing of the accuracy of consumer grade heart rate monitors. We could also not find any information about if Adinstruments products where used or not.

see also here:

Validation of the Equivital (TM) EQO2+ Life Monitor for Continuous Heart Rate Monitoring During Intermittent Military Relevant Tests of Physiological Limits

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