Heart Monitor

Hi All,
Has anyone used a heart monitor while exercising? I am going to work on the treadmill in the am..................Could it interfere with PM?
Thanks,
-Philman

5 Comments

Heart Rate Monitors

by Garry - 2008-12-18 05:12:16

What I have found is that chest sensors that are digital (e.g.. Garmin & latest Polar 800 series using Polar WearLink® transmitter W.I.N.D) suffer from interfrence by my pacemaker (Medtronic) but analogue chest sensors devices used my most Polar monitors (in my case I have a 400 series) work without a problem.

what Frank said!

by Tracey_E - 2008-12-18 06:12:11

I think I've been through every brand on the market now! They don't affect my pm, but my pm affects the monitors. I can't get a reading on any of them, they all say zero! I'm pretty sure my rate's a little higher than that ;o) There are a few members here who have been able to use some brands, it depends on your type of pm.

Frank, I stumbled into a high end running store when I was out of town on business last month. Very educational! The manager said there are really only three brands making new technology- Polar and I'm blanking on the other two, never heard of either of them. The other brands, such as Timex, all buy the 2-3 yr old Polar technology when Polar comes up with something new. I already knew Polar wouldn't work so they let me try the other two in the dressing room. While I was trying them, they were online looking for more ideas. End result, I still don't have a hrm, but it nice of them to try so hard.

Pacemaker and Heart Monitor.

by ElectricFrank - 2008-12-18 12:12:23

The heart monitor on a typical treadmill won't affect the pacemaker. However, the pacemaker may cause the heart monitor to give erratic or erroneous readings. The heart monitor works by measuring the ECG signal between your hands from the handle bars. The electronics in the monitor expects a normal ECG wave where there is one major wave peak/heart beat. With a pacer there is one or two pacing pulse followed by the heart beat. Some monitors will read this as a high HR. Others will reject all or some of the signals.

The bottom line is to take your pulse manually and compare it with the monitor until you are confident you are getting a good reading. Take the reading over a range of HR.

frank

Good information

by ElectricFrank - 2008-12-19 12:12:20

Gary,
Thanks. Good info.

By the way the ones that have the most problems use the hand to hand sensing. The watches that you touch with the opposite hand work this way also. One sensor is the watch body and the other is the one you touch.
The problem with hand to hand can also occur without a pacemaker if you have bundle or AV block. This changes the orientation of the ECG vectors such that there is very little signal between the arms. I have my own ECG and can see this quite well. I modified my exercise bike to allow me to tap into the electrode circuit and use a couple of electrodes on my chest. It seem to work OK with that setup. Without electronic equipment it is hard to figure out though.

frank

which brand of HR monitors work best?

by honoluludon - 2008-12-24 05:12:02

so far, the ones i've tried give me no readings whatsoever. even before i got my ICD i often got inaccurate readings.

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