Pulse watch

A pulse watch, also known as a pulsometer or pulsograph, is an individual monitoring and measuring device with the ability to measure heart or pulse rate. Detection can occur in real time or can be saved and stored for later review. The pulse watch measures electrocardiography (ECG or EKG) data while the user is performing tasks, whether it be simple daily tasks or intense physical activity. The pulse watch functions without the use of wires and multiple sensors. This makes it useful in health and medical settings where wires and sensors may be an inconvenience. Use of the device is also common in sport and exercise environments where individuals are required to measure and monitor their biometric data.

In the 17th century, physicians would diagnose diseases by observing external features like breathing patterns, feeling pulse and indications of pain and fevers.

The pulse watch was first made commercially available in 1701 by Sir John Floyer, who was an English physician. Floyer wanted to develop a watch to measure the accurate pulse rates of his patients. Floyer created a watch that counted a user's heart beat for sixty seconds, it created an easier way to count and measure the heart rate of patients. Floyers' designs were physically made by Samuel Watson, who was involved in horology in the late seventeenth century.

From this point onwards, physicians started to make medical observations based on the number of heart beats in a minute (bpm). The functions and mechanisms of the pulse watch were updated and redeveloped by many professionals throughout history. The use of pulse detecting devices have been implemented consistently by medical schools and facilities, as a form of medical technology, to accurately time the pulse and respiration of patients.

Since its commercial availability in 1707, the pulse watch gained the interest of many medical professionals. In the early 1920s, manufacturers from Switzerland incorporated scales, to improve the speed, accuracy and reliability of the device measuring a patient's pulse. Today, there is greater interest in smartwatch wearable devices due to their ability to perform many other biometric and technological functions aside from measuring pulse. Despite this, brands like Longines, Blancpain, Montblanc, and Vacheron Constantin still produce traditional pulse watches.

A typical pulse watch device will use photoplethysmography (PPG), this methodology uses light and optical detectors to measure heart rate. Light emitting diodes (LEDs) and photodiodes, which are sensitive to light, measuring changes in light absorption in the body.

The four main technical mechanisms of pulse watches, used to measure heart rate include:

1.  Optical emitters — LEDs send coloured light waves into the skin. Due to the differences in users skin colour and thickness most modern pulse watches will include multiple light waves of different lengths to interact with different skin tones and thickness.