Heartbeat analysis
Firstbeat Technologies Ltd. has developed a revolutionary analysis technology that provides comprehensive information about various functions and states of the human body on the basis of heartbeat measurement.
Download research papers or see list of publications from here.
The heart can provide a vast amount of information about our body because heart rate is constantly adjusting, from beat to beat, to meet the demands of our everyday life. For this reason, heart rate is never constant - the time difference between two consecutive heartbeats changes from beat to beat. This variation is called heart rate variability, HRV.
Firstbeat's analysis technology is based on recognition of different bodily reactions from heart rate and heart rate variability. For example, the following essential bodily functions affect the heartbeat:
- Inhalation and exhalation, control of breathing
- Hormonal reactions
- Metabolic processes and energy expenditure
- Autonomic nervous system adjustment
- Physical activity, exercise and recovery from physical activity
- Movement and changes in posture
- Cognitive processess and mental load
- Stress reactions, relaxation and emotional reactions
The solution can be compared to a graphics engine that performs calculations on the basis of Newtonian physics: Starting from heartbeat data, the Firstbeat engine computes and creates a digital model of the human body by performing realistic calculations about bodily states according to general physiological principles of the body's functions.
Emphasis on research
Firstbeat products are convergent with accepted scientific background on human physiology, in particular in the fields of cardiovascular function and autonomic nervous system (ANS), exercise physiology, and psychophysiology.
We participate in research projects and support the use of our heartbeat analysis products in both basic and applied research with specific targets. Firstbeat co-works with several University research partners and research institutions to further develop our products and gain validation information on their use.
As a company, Firstbeat Technologies Ltd. has a strong research background. Firstbeat is an R&D spin-off from KIHU - Research Institute for Olympic Sports, located in Jyväskylä, Finland.
The development of scientific understanding for our products covers more than 20 years of research, during which professor Heikki Rusko has supervised research on the measurement of autonomic nervous system (ANS) function and applied use in exercise physiology and worksite measurements. In particular, research has covered the following fields:
- Indirect heartbeat based measurement of autonomic nervous system function: quantitative methods, laboratory validation of ANS markers
- Endurance (aerobic) training: Training, performance and recovery from exercise
- Athlete overtraining: physiology, measurement and prediction
- Laboratory stress measurement: Psychophysiology of stress and burn-out
- Worksite heartbeat based stress measurement methods: Applied field studies
- Mathematical modeling of complex physiological signals
