IoT-Based Heart Rate Monitoring: A Comparative Analysis of Microcontroller Systems for Real-Time Health Monitoring

The evolution of heart rate monitoring technology has immensely contributed to personal healthcare and early disease diagnosis. This paper presents a comparative analysis of three microcontroller-based heart rate monitors: a low-cost PIC16F84-based system, an ATMEGA32-based system with GSM communication, and an IoT-based Node MCU ESP8266 system. The three systems incorporate infrared sensors in pulse detection, signal amplification, and microcontroller-based data processing. The comparison highlights the difference in hardware requirements, signal processing techniques, cost-effectiveness, and communication facilities. Special focus is given to using Fourier Transform for greater signal accuracy and the role of the Internet of Things (IoT) in remote health monitoring. The outcome demonstrates that IoT-based heart rate monitoring systems provide greater real-time data accessibility, which facilitates remote patient monitoring as well as increases the efficiency of healthcare. Future growth can also be in the form of adding AI-driven anomaly detection and cloud-based analytics for predictive healthcare solutions.