Cardiac Arrhythmia Detection While Driving

Abstract

The heart is the most important organ in the human body; it’s a muscular pump that supplies oxygen to the whole body through the blood. Disturbances in the rhythm of the heart are known as cardiac arrhythmia. The faster the rate, the more severe the symptoms tend to be. A large percentage of sudden death outside the hospital is due to cardiac arrhythmias. Consequences of patients with cardiac arrhythmias while driving are fatal especially when there are passengers on board. This project aimed to detect the cardiac arrhythmia, alerts the patient, stop the car and then alert an emergency contact. This was done by placing a heart beat sensor on the earlobe to measure the heart rate. The heart rate values were recorded. When the value exceeded the normal range which is 60-100beat per minute (BPM), the buzzer was turned on to alert the patient. The patient then used a push button indicating that everything was fine, stopping further actions from happening. If the push button was not pressed for 10 seconds a list of actions would happen to stop the car and send help to the patient’s location. The heart rate of the patient was detected, and the patient was informed when their heartbeat was abnormal. The car was stopped and a message with a location of the car was sent. Therefore, a large percentage of the sudden death due to cardiac arrhythmias while driving will be reduced with this system.