Reliable health monitoring has traditionally required that we tether ourselves to machines capable of recording our vital signs around the clock. Outside of a clinical setting, however, this is rarely practical. We developed HealthyPi v4 in part to address this challenge. Building upon its predecessor, HealthyPi v4 is a fully open source, standalone vital signs monitor with wireless and wearable capabilities.¹
HealthyPi v4 measures the following parameters in real-time and with high accuracy:
HealthyPi v4 sets a new standard for mobility, wearability, and wireless connectivity. By enabling continuous, real time monitoring of physiological data, it not only provides valuable insight into health and wellness indicators, it opens the door to areas of research that were not previously accessible.
HealthyPi v4 also includes an on-board power management system for use with a rechargeable Lithium Polymer (LiPo) battery, making it a truly wearable development platform. A simple physical switch can be used to toggle between continuous mode, for use as a Raspberry Pi HAT, and wearable mode, which allows HealthyPi v4 to function as a standalone unit.
HealthyPi v4 makes it easy to monitor vitals. Just download the HealthyPi v4 app for Android and connect through BLE. HealthyPi v4 devices will appear on the homepage of the app. After you select a device, heart rate, respiration rate, temperature and SpO₂ levels will be displayed. An additional screen renders the real-time ECG waveform. The HealthyPi v4 is also compatible with several standard heart rate monitor apps.
Activating webserver mode allows you to stream live data over the local network. Simply push a button while starting up the device, and it will enter Wi-Fi Access Point (AP) mode. You can then connect to the "HealthyPi" Wi-Fi network using your computer or mobile device and point your browser to http://Healthypi.local. The HealthyPi home page will display live vitals as well as plots. This page also provides Over-The-Air (OTA) software and firmware updates.
HealthyPi v4 maintains full compatibility with HealthyPi v3 through its continuous mode, which streams real-time data to a Processing-based application that is compatible with Raspberry Pi devices and desktop platforms (including Mac, Windows, and Linux). Upon successful connection, ECG, respiration, and PPG data will be displayed along with computed heart rate, respiration rate, SpO₂, and temperature readings.
HealthyPi v4 ships with firmware that enables all of this funcitonality out-of-the-box. If you want to make changes to the firmware, however, you will find the Arduino IDE – which is compatible with Mac, Windows, and Linux – easy-to-use for beginners but flexible enough for advanced users. In addition to Arduino IDE, HealthyPi v4 also supports Espressif IDF, so you can code in whichever environment you prefer.
We have been working behind the scenes on Arduino C++ helper libraries and will share additional examples sketches and original hardware schematics on our GitHub repo once the campaign has ended.
Below are a few key similarities and differences between the HealthyPi v4 and the HealthyPi v3:
HealthyPi v4 | HealthyPi v3 | |
---|---|---|
Code Transparency | Open Source | Open Source |
CPU | ESP32 WROOM32 - dual-core 32-bit Xtensa | Atmel ATSAMD21 (Cortex M0+) |
Program Memory | 4 MB flash | 256 KB flash |
RAM | 520 KB RAM | 32 KB SRAM |
Wireless Capability | On-board Wi-Fi & BLE | None |
Other Connectivity | USB, Qwiic | USB |
On-Board Charging | Present | Not present |
Power Source | Rechargeable LiPo battery with on-board USB charging | No battery support |
Operating Mode | No Raspberry Pi or USB connection required | For use with a Raspberry Pi or a USB connection to a desktop application |
User Interface | Processing-based GUI, Android App, web interface | Processing-based GUI |
Price | $249 | $249 |
You can find up-to-date HealthyPi v4 documentation at healthypi.protocentral.com and the GitHub repository. Please let us know if you can’t find what you’re looking for!
Although HealthyPi v4 has many of the features of a medical-grade patient monitoring system, it does NOT have any certifications (FDA, CE, IEC, etc.) and is NOT officially approved for medical or diagnostic use. It is your responsibility to ensure your safety when using the device. Furthermore, you should never power the device from a non-isolated power source.
"Both the BLE-connected Android app and GUI display can stream continuous readouts of ECG, respiration, and PPG data, as well as computed heart rate, respiration rate, SpO₂, and temperature readings."
Produced by ProtoCentral Electronics Private Limited in Bengaluru, India.
Sold and shipped by Crowd Supply.
A HealthyPi v4 and all of the accessories you will need to use it: a three-electrode ECG "snap connector" cable, a 1000 mAh LiPo battery, 20 single-use ECG electrodes, a finger-clip SpO₂ probe, a Qwiic-based temperature sensor, and a HAT mounting kit with headers and screws for stacking your HealthyPi v4 atop a Raspberry Pi.
Bengaluru, India · Protocentral · protocentral · protocentral@mastodon.social · protocentral.com
ProtoCentral is an open-source hardware design, development, and manufacturing company based in India. We are strongly committed to the development of open source hardware. Most of our products are open source and anyone is free to re-use them for their own projects. We are also working toward open sourcing more hardware, especially for the medical and biotech domains.