Wearable PPG heart rate monitors: only of limited use for scientific studies? – PETER GAMMA (Director & Physiologist), MEDITATION RESEARCH INSTITUTE SWITZERLAND (MRIS)

Last Updated on June 3, 2024 by pg@petergamma.org

Peter Gamma from www.petergamma.org has intensively studied this subject in a review:

090. Review of Accuracy Studies of Consumer Grade Heart Rate Monitors: Methods, Testing Protocols, Reference Devices

But has anything changes since this review?
Did any new major validation paper came out since Peter Gamma’s review? We know of none.
And where are accuracy validation papers of the latest Apple watches? We do not know of none either.

Are Rob ter Horst:

And Peter H. Charlton:

The only scientists who are still interested in PPG heart rate monitor accuracy? An issue seems to be reproducability of the results. Is there a single PPG accuracy valdiation paper out there, which was reproduced with the same protocol in a second paper? We do not know of none.

Is this the end of the accuracy discussion of scientists about PPG heart rate monitors? Yes, as far as Peter Gamma from www.petergamma.org is concerned.

He will use 3 channel ECG devices instead which are gold standard for heart rate measurements if intense activities with strong body movements are not investigated, for instance for runs on a treadmill up to about 15 km/h. And intense activities with strong body movements do not matter for meditators anyway.