Last Updated on September 17, 2022 by pg@petergamma.org
US Army Research Institute of Medicine Environemental Medicine
TECHNICAL REPORT NR. T22-06, November 2021
Looney, David P. Vangala, Sai V. Lavoie, Elizabeth M. Holden, Lucas D. Hancock, Jason W. Tharion, William J. Santee, William R. McClung, Holly L. Potter, Adam W.
«We evaluated the efficacy of the EQ02 for measuring heart rate HR iWn military personnel during intermittent tests of physiological limits. Twenty-seven US Army personnel age, 24 or – 6 years height, 174 or – 7 cm body mass, 77 or – 14 kg were continuously monitored during two laboratory visits that included five activities supine rest, incremental walk, incremental run, verification run, and load carriage. Heart rates recorded by the EQ02 were compared against measurements from the chest-strap Polar H10 heart rate sensor. We examined the agreement between systems in the capability to measure continuous minute-by-minute, resting, and maximal HR. Heart rates continuously monitored by the EQ02 and H10 systems over the laboratory visits were in close agreement 95 limits of agreement LoA, -7.5, 7.0 bpm. The EQ02 and H10 systems provided similar measurements of resting HR 95 LoA, -2.7, 3.7 bpm and maximal HR 95 LoA, -7.9, 5.3 bpm. The EQ02 is an accurate body sensor for continuous HR monitoring of workrest cycles across the physiological limits of cardiovascular function».
https://apps.dtic.mil/sti/citations/AD1154187
The authors of the study compared the accuracy of a Polar H10 chest strap to the accuracy of an Equivital devie. According to the figures in the paper, the two HR sensors agreed roughly in the range of 95 % as far as accuracy is concerned.
In a similar study in which Firsbeat tested the accuracy of the Firstbeat Body Guard, they used a Embla Titanum Clinical ECG device as reference device:
https://assets.firstbeat.com/firstbeat/uploads/2015/10/white_paper_bodyguard2_final.pdf
In one paper about the Eqivital, a Holter ECG device was used to compare the accuracy, in the study of the US army, a Polar H10 chest strap. In a previous study about the Equivital, a Holter ECGmonitor was used as a reference device for the Equivital. It is not clear, why in one study a Polar H10 chest strap was used to compare the accuracy, and in the other a Holter ECG.
In other accuracy studies of consumer grade heart rate monitors of the group of the Cardiologist Milind Desai from Cleveland Clinic in Ohio and others, they used ECG devices as reference devices which costs around 7000 – 8000 USD.
According to the figures of the paper the two devices agree roughly 95 % as far as accuracy is concerned. Devices like the Equivital offer many options to analyse heart rate data. If necessary, every single ECG peak can be studied in great detail, as shown here in the example of an ECG toolbox of another manufacturer (iWorx):
Also there are novel algorithms available to remove noise in very noisy ECG signals:
https://scholar.google.com/citations?user=OOhuA6gAAAAJ&hl=de&oi=sra
Where these toolboxes also tested by the US Army? No. We could also not find any information about the use of Adinstruments LabChart software in the technical report.
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