Self biofeedback control of oxygen consumption (Vo2) during cycling exercise: based on its real time estimate

The aim of this paper is to develop the self biofeedback (SBF) control of oxygen consumption (Vo2) during cycling exercise. The developed system uses an estimator that can predict Vo2 in real time by using the measurements of heart rate (HR), respiratory rate (RespR) and frequency of exercising activity, this terms is known as Exercise Rate (ER). The biofeedback command is given to the exercising subject in terms of the desired action required by the subject to achieve the targeted Vo2 (Vo2target) profile. The desired action is determined by the SBF system based on the current estimates of Vo2 and is communicated to the exercising subject by flashing an indicator on the computer screen. The results obtained in this study demonstrate that the estimator developed for cycling exercise is capable of estimating Vo2 in real time. The developed system is tested on six healthy male subjects. The obtained results show that the SBF system performs well with the average steady state error in terms of Root Mean Square Error (RMSE) of 1 ml/min/Kg during low intensity exercise and with RMSE of 1.6426 ml/min/Kg during high intensity exercise.