International Research Journal of Engineering and Technology (IRJET) e-ISSN: 2395-0056 Volume: 08 Issue: 06 | June 2021 www.irjet.net p-ISSN: 2395-0072 © 2021, IRJET | Impact Factor value: 7.529 | ISO 9001:2008 Certified Journal | Page 265 MICROCONTROLLER BASED DESIGN AND DEVELOPMENT OF A REAL TIME BODY TEMPERATURE AND HEART RATE MONITORING SYSTEM Ayieko Benson Onyagi 1 , Ominde Calvine Fundi 2 , Kiroe Anthony Joseph 3 1 Master student, Department of Physics, JKUAT, Nairobi, Kenya 2 Senior lecturer, Department of Physics, JKUAT, Nairobi, Kenya 3 Senior lecturer, Department of Physics, JKUAT, Nairobi, Kenya ---------------------------------------------------------------------------***--------------------------------------------------------------------------- Abstract - Body temperature and heart rate are some of the vital signs routinely measured in medical facilities. The ability to effectively monitor these parameters is key to ensure proper healthcare is delivered. Most health monitoring systems work in offline mode but it is of great need that a system be developed to enable remote monitoring of the patient in real time. In addition, numerous challenges still exist in healthcare services. They include medical professionals taking a long time to examine patients, patient data retrieval is still conventional, equipment and technology in use has become obsolete and the challenges posed by the novel covid-19 pandemic. To solve the problem, we design an autonomous prototype based on Arduino technology, to alert medical professionals when these parameters are abnormal. The study relieves the burden of medical practitioners in monitoring the patient, shortens the time in taking patient data and minimizes the risk of misdiagnosis. It also enables real time remote monitoring. The prototype readings are then compared with those of the electronic thermometer and sphygmomanometer using correlation, regression and the Bland-Altman method comparison technics to ascertain agreement. Key Words: Agreement, Bland-Altman plot, Body temperature, Health monitoring, Heart rate, Photoplethysmography, Prototype. 1 INTRODUCTION Health is one of the global challenges for humanity [1]. The World Health Organization outlines that the highest attainable standard of health is a fundamental right for a human. Body temperature and heart rate, are some of the vital signs that are routinely monitored remotely [2]. They give some important indicator of the body’s health condition. Normal body temperature varies from person to person and changes throughout the day. The normal range for body temperature is 36.1℃ to 37.8℃. The physiological damages and fatality will occur when there is a difference for more than ±3.5°C from the normal temperature [3]. The most common places for measuring temperature are in the armpit, mouth, ear, and rectum [3]. According to [4], temperature readings for various parts of the body might be shown to be different. Intrinsic factors affecting temperature include ovulation, circadian rhythm, age, exercise and thyroid hormones. For skin temperature, the measurement is also affected by the ambient conditions. A normal resting heart rate varies from person to person, depending on several factors [5]. A normal resting heart rate for adults’ ranges from 60 to 100 BPM [5]. If the heart rate is higher than the normal, the condition is known as tachycardia while if it is lower than the normal, it is known as bradycardia. This paper describes the design of an autonomous patient monitoring prototype based on Arduino to monitor the body temperature and heart rate of a patient and send the data to a remote end where it is displayed and the physician able to examine them.