A Simple Device for Closed Loop Heart Rate Control During Cardiac Rehabilitation

During unsupervised exercise for cardiac rehabilitation or conditioning, it is desirable to reach and maintain a predetermined heart rate (without overshooting) selected according to age, health, and cardiac status of the patient. Because there is no simple and inexpensive heart rate controller, most exercise protocols are specified in terms of patient work load-often speed and torque of a stationary bicycle. In these protocols the actual heart rate achieved will depend on the patients physical condition and fatigue as the exercise progresses.