MedCam

Remote pulse and respiration monitoring.

Measure the pulse and respiration rate of yourself and others using your camera.

This app can often pick up on the subtle variations in face color caused by a heart beat. To test remote heart rate sensing from your face or others, use this app. A more reliable heart rate measurement can be made from the finger using apps such as "Instant Heart Rate".

To use:

- Steady the camera by resting it on a table (for example).

- Position your face in the top box and shoulders in the bottom box.

- Push 'Start' and keep still while the measurement is in progress.

- Your pulse and respiration rate will be displayed.

How it works:

- Movement of your chest is used to measure respiration rate.

- Small changes in reflectivity from your face are used to measure pulse. Each heart beat our faces pulsate - changing in reflectivity by about 1%, if these changes were 2% then we would be able to see them with our eyes, at 1% they are just detectable with a smartphone camera (after a few seconds of measurement).

Disclaimer: This remote sensing software is fallible and so it is not recommended for important measurements.