Objective. Current generation smartphones' video camera technologies enable photoplethysmographic (PPG) acquisition and heart rate (HR) measurement. The study objective was to develop an Android application and compare HRs derived from a Motorola Droid to electrocardiograph (ECG) and Nonin 9560BT pulse oximeter readings during various movement-free tasks. Materials and Methods. HRs were collected simultaneously from 14 subjects, ages 20 to 58, healthy or with clinical conditions, using the 3 devices during 5-minute periods while at rest, reading aloud under observation, and playing a video game. Correlation between the 3 devices was determined, and Bland-Altman plots for all possible pairs of devices across all conditions assessed agreement. Results. Across conditions, all device pairs showed high correlations. Bland-Altman plots further revealed the Droid as a valid measure for HR acquisition. Across all conditions, the Droid compared to ECG, 95% of the data points (differences between devices) fell within the limits of agreement. Conclusion. The Android application provides valid HRs at varying levels of movement free mental/perceptual motor exertion. Lack of electrode patches or wireless sensor telemetric straps make it advantageous for use in mobile-cell-phone-delivered health promotion and wellness programs. Further validation is needed to determine its applicability while engaging in physical movement-related activities. 1. Introduction Many cellular phones now possess high-speed data transmission capabilities (e.g., 3G, 4G) and have embedded microprocessors (e.g., Bluetooth, ANT) with the capability to wirelessly connect to external devices. As a result, cell phones offer several advantages over desktop or laptop computers in telemonitoring-related applications such as higher population penetration, increased privacy, lower cost to purchase, easier ability to transport, and overall increased personal convenience of use [1, 2]. Cell phones are widely used in telemonitoring serving as a conduit for receiving biohealth information from portable medical devices (e.g., blood pressure, glucose and pulse oximeter monitors, weight scales) and mobile sensors (e.g., physical activity; accelerometer counts, heart rate, respiration rate, pulse pressure via chest- or armbands, and wireless electrodes). Once cell phones have received the pertinent information, it is microprocessed, encrypted, and the data packets are transferred to some form of localized or web-based server for secondary processing. At the server level, the data packets are organized into a
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