Development Of Athlete Monitoring System For Effective And Safety Training

We have developed athlete monitoring system composed of the flexible patch type sensor module and the monitoring station. The sensor module can measure heart rate, 3 axial acceleration, temperature and relative humidity. The measured signal is wirelessly transmitted to the monitoring system where the trainer or coach can review the each athlete's performance on a real-time basis. PURPOSE: To develop the athlete monitoring system for the scientific training to enhance the safety and the effectiveness of the training. METHODS: We developed sensing module (6 cm by 9 cm, 41g) to measure heart during exercise and the measured heart rate confirmed on the relation test with widely used commercial stress ECG equipment, that the error rate did not exceed 10%. The motion analysis algorithm which can evaluate agility and endurance was developed through the analysis of 3 axial acceleration and heart rate variability. Moreover, the solution in which it secured the communication distance more than 400 m, a trainer or a coach can monitor the state of athletes more than 8 people on a real time basis was developed. For the verification we applied the monitoring system to the professional soccer team in 1st division of Korea. RESULTS: In pre-season we checked the basic level of performance indicators what we can measure in the modified shuttle run test. And then 24 players have completed the 8 weeks of specific training with a ball for the improvement of soccer specific endurance power. It is very difficult to control the intensity of the program with a ball in limited areas but this system may help the trainer or coach directly controlled it from the responses of the players who were participated in. We confirmed the significant improvement of the endurance capacity such as heart rate recovery and maximum repetition from the same test. CONCLUSIONS: By monitoring the heart rate and the acceleration of the athlete, the characteristics of the athlete like the endurance and the agility can be evaluated by trainer which enables the effective training. And the system can estimate the amount heat stress during training section. Heat stress related diseases can be prevented more effectively by this system for it offers personalized guidelines to the user.