Content uploaded by Haslina Jaafar
Author content
All content in this area was uploaded by Haslina Jaafar on Jan 29, 2019
Content may be subject to copyright.
Intelligent Massage Chair Based On
Blood Pressure and Heart Rate
Haslina Jaafar1, Ahmad Fariz2, Siti Anom Ahmad3 and Nurul Amziah Md. Yunus4
Department of Electrical and Electronics Engineering,
Faculty of Engineering, Universiti Putra Malaysia
43400 Selangor, Malaysia
1jhaslina@eng.upm.edu.my, 2fariz.alitermizi@gmail.com, 3sanom@eng.upm.edu.my
Abstract— Massage is one of the effective techniques used to
relieve pain, reduce stress, and increase relaxation. Nowadays,
massage methods have varied to an easier way by electronic
massage chair massage which is able to control the massage
mode according to specifications. Commercial massage chair
can only be used on normal healthy people with no health
complication, such as diabetes, heart problem or blood
pressure problem. The purpose of this study is to develop a
system of more advanced massage chair where it can have an
impact on user health based on blood pressure and heart rate.
The proposed massage chair equipped with blood pressure and
heart rate sensors, where the therapy will automatically
configured according to individual’s blood pressure and heart
rate readings. The proposed control system developed using
the artificial intelligent of fuzzy logic for data classification.
The complete model of this massage control system is then
developed using SIMULINK software to simulate the whole
system operation and verify the function as programmed.
Upon the success of the investigation, the findings will be useful
for rapid advances in the existing technology.
Keywords: massage chair, blood pressure, heart rate, deep tissue
massage, fuzzy logic.
I. INTRODUCTION
People use many different types of massage therapy for a
variety of health-related purposes such as to reduce pain and
injuries, reduce stress, address anxiety and depression, aid
general wellness and many more. There are several of
massage chair brand in the market that produced various
types of massage chair that provided different specifications
based on the user desirable. Brands like Ogawa, Osim,
Gintell has provided latest technologies in massage chair
development. The technology of massage chair nowadays
uses control system by moving a treatment element to a
specific part to be treated instead of full body treatment. The
basic massage chairs system uses a series of vibrating
surfaces to provide a massage by using small devices that
contain a weighted wheel or gear [1]. Massage is effective
in alleviating psychological and physiological strain, as
made evident by reduced blood pressure, decreased urinary
and salivary cortisol levels, and lowered catecholamine
levels as well as through decreases in self-reported
perceived stress [2-5]. Based on the current inventions, the
need of new technologies in massage chair treatment are
required. The combination between the massage technique
and the reducing of heart rate and blood pressure is a new
sight of inventions that are actually needed to ensure that
symptoms such as stress can be reduced and to ensure a
healthy life is assured.
II. LITERATURE REVIEW
There is a relationship between massage therapy and
the blood pressure with the heart beat. The rate of increase
in blood pressure and heart rate caused by stress can be
overcomed with a proper massage techniques and
treatments. Research by University of Miami which
involved a sample of 36 healthy adults randomly assigned to
moderate, light and vibratory massage reported that the
participants feel less anxious and stress during the light
pressure massage but the moderate massage procedure
resulted in the greatest in self-reported stress [6]. Few
researches also have indicated a significant reduction in high
blood pressure and associated symptoms through massage
therapy treatments [3, 7-8]. For example, a seated 30-minute
massage once per week significantly decreased sitting
diastolic blood pressure after the first and last massage
therapy sessions [3]. Similarly, a 15-minute seated massage
sessions at work reduced both systolic and diastolic blood
pressure in employees [6].
Research done by Louisiana State University that
involved 263 volunteers showed that an average systolic,
diastolic and a mean arterial pressure reduction of 10.4
mmHg, 5.3 mmHg, and 7.0 mmHg respectively [8].The type
of massage involved in this research is deep tissue massage
(DTM). The present study demonstrates a high correlation
between DTM and reduction in blood pressure and heart
rate. The findings suggest that even single session of
massage therapy had an effect on blood pressure and the
clinical significance of these findings is enhanced by the use
of minimal intervention (i.e., 20 minute massage per week)
978-1-4673-1666-8/12/$31.00 ©2012 IEEE
2012 IEEE EMBS International Conference on Biomedical Engineering and Sciences | Langkawi | 17th - 19th December 2012
514
and that is easily accommodated in a working day. These
data are encouraging and positive, representing optimism
and a hopeful outlook for future research [8]. The study
shows that the moderate pressure massage are able to give a
pleasant and relaxing condition and the deep tissue massage
are good for the reduction of blood pressure that are
basically happened from stress.
III. METHODOLOGY
The project methodology is divided into two parts. The
first part is to design the massage control system with input
data classification using fuzzy logic. The second part is to
build and simulate the whole model of the control system
using SIMULINK. Design of the controller system is based
on the blood pressure and heart rate sensors readings. The
controller will classify the input data with combination of
blood pressure, heart rate and massage according to certain
specification of a certain group of blood pressure and heart
rate by fuzzy logic. The group of normal and abnormal was
taken from the established medical data of blood pressure
and heart rate which being used by medical term to date.
Table 1 shows the type of massage which are
divided based on the three main ranges of blood pressure
(BP) that is low blood pressure (LBP), normal blood
pressure (NBP), and high blood pressure (HBP). Based on
this three criteria’s, there are other distributions of ranges
that is stated in the chart. The charts are categorized under
the range of systolic and diastolic reading. Based on the
chart that has been developed, the LBP were gathered into
single group, hypotension. There is relaxation method for
the hypotension group. In the NBP grouping, this category
are divided into two main range that are under normal and
high normal. For the normal, the massage chair will
automatically turn on to the moderate pressure massage so
to the high normal condition. For the HBP, they are
separated in two groups that contained of mild and severe.
For the mild stage 1, the massage chair will automatically
turn on to deep tissue. For severe, light pressure method will
be provided.
TABLE I. BLOOD PRESSURE AND HEART RATE GROUP
Blood Pressure (mmHg)
LBP NBP HBP
Heart
rate
(BPM)
Hypotension Normal High Normal Mild Severe
SYS DIA SYS DIA SYS DIA SYS DIA SYS DIA
(0-
90)
(0-
60)
(91-
120)
(61-
80)
(121-
140)
(81-
90)
(161-
230)
(91-
100)
(161-
230)
(101-
140)
Children
<10 y.o
(60-140)
LIGHT MODERATE DEEP
TISSUE
DEEP
TISSUE LIGHT
Adults
>10 y.o
(60-100)
LIGHT MODERATE DEEP
TISSUE
DEEP
TISSUE LIGHT
Athletes
(40–60) LIGHT MODERATE DEEP
TISSUE
DEEP
TISSUE LIGHT
SYS – Systolic, DIA - Diastolic
Fuzzy logic is one of the reliable methods in
solving problems that required artificial intelligent element
in it. It is multi valued that deals with degrees of
membership and degree of truth. Fuzzy logic uses the
continuum of logical values between 0 (completely false)
and 1 (completely true) [9]. Problems are described in
terms of knowledge engineering to determine problem input
and output variables and their ranges. The range of the
systolic, diastolic and the heart rate are based on the Table
1.
A) Development of Control System Using Fuzzy
Logic Rules by MATLAB
The fuzzy logic rules are developed by inserting
three inputs data membership that produce a single output
data. The first input data is the systolic reading of user in
range from 0-230 with five types of reading that are systolic
hypotension (SH), systolic normal (SN), systolic high
normal (SHN), systolic mild (SM), and systolic severe (SS)
as shown in Figure 1. The second input is the diastolic
reading in range from 0-140 also with five types of reading
that are diastolic hypotension (DH), diastolic normal (DN),
diastolic high normal (DHN), diastolic mild (DM), and
diastolic severe (DS) as shown in Figure 2. The range taken
from Table 1 and it has been compressed to make the fuzzy
rule easier to understand.
Figure 1: Fuzzy set of systolic membership input
Figure 2: Fuzzy set of diastolic membership input
Figure 3 shows the membership graph for heart rate
inputs. However, extra fuzzy set is added to the heart rate
which determines the user age and the criteria. The set of
input are classified as adult (A) with a range of 60-100 bpm,
children (C) with a range of 60-140 bpm and athlete (S)
with a range of 40-60 bpm are shown in Figure 4-6.
Figure 3: Fuzzy set of the heart rate reading input
2012 IEEE EMBS International Conference on Biomedical Engineering and Sciences | Langkawi | 17th - 19th December 2012
515
Figure 4: Fuzzy set of adult reading input
Figure 5: Fuzzy set of children reading input
Figure 6: Fuzzy set of athelete reading input
The output is set to be either ‘1’ or N as shown in
Figure 7. The output of the heart rate must be equal to ‘1’ to
set the output of the massage treatment, so it can generate
the fuzzy output to the system. It will be like a switch and it
will base on the user age and condition as in Figure 9.
Figure 7: Fuzzy set of the rate reading output
The output is basically based on the input of blood
pressure reading. As in Table 1, the treatments are actually
the output of this fuzzy set. The massage therapy treatment
programmed are based on the best treatment for various
kind of blood pressure reading are light pressure massage,
moderate pressure massage and deep tissue massage and the
output is set to L, M and D respectively as shown in Figure
8.
Figure 8: Fuzzy set of the type of massage output
There are 3 inputs and one output variables in this fuzzy
system. It is often convenient to represent fuzzy rules in a
matrix form.
By referring to Figure 9 the fuzzy logic rules have been
developed using MATLAB Fuzzy Logic Toolbox. The
green fuzzy toolbox is the fuzzy set for the heart rate input
that will be connected to the multiplexer with another two
inputs of systolic and diastolic readings. The heart rate input
consisted of three types of user age and physical conditions.
Switches are added to the inputs to ensure that the output of
the heart rate fuzzy set will be consistent without correlation
of another heart rate inputs. The output will always be ‘1’
and it will be displayed on the display block. The red fuzzy
toolbox is the combination of the three inputs that will
generate signal and are connected to the motor as shown
Figure 10. The values of the outputs are stated in Table 2.
Figure 9: Fuzzy Logic controller set
B) Model of Control System
The motor model consists of five dc motors connected
together to create a massage chair model that contains five
different parts of body that will treated during massage
treatment as shown in Figure 10. The dark blue blocks are
the dc motor block that represented five different body parts
that are the shoulder, back, waist, tight and feet. The signal
will be converted into load and will drive the motor
accordingly to the input of the type of massage. The signals
are gained by 500 as shown in Table 2. The loads are set to
250 N, 750 N and 1250 N for light pressure, moderate
pressure and deep tissue massage respectively. The greater
the load, the higher the pressure will be imposed to the user.
2012 IEEE EMBS International Conference on Biomedical Engineering and Sciences | Langkawi | 17th - 19th December 2012
516
Figure 10: Model of Control System in SIMULINK
The speed (rpm) scope will displayed the speed
signal of each motors. The speed of the motors had
been set into four different speeds based on the fuzzy
logic input. The speeds are not an accurate
measurement of the massage treatment given but it
will able to distinguish the treatment given to the
user.
TABLE 2: THE OUTPUTS VALUES FOR THE FUZZY LOGIC SETS
IV. RESULT AND DISCUSSION
Table 3 shows the motors’ speed at different massage
condition and also during no load condition while
figures 11-14 shows the fuzzy logic rule viewer for
each cases depended on the blood pressure and heart
rate inputs.
TABLE 3. MOTOR SPEED AT DIFFERENT MASSAGE CONDITION
Massage type Motor speed (rpm)
Light pressure 1853.5
Moderate pressure 2270.13
Deep tissue 2686.27
No load 1647.67
The light pressure massage is the massage treatment
for the hypotension and severe blood pressure groups.
The systolic and diastolic are set to 90 mmHg and 60
mmHg respectively. And the output at the type is 0.5
and the load entering the motor system is 250 N. The
speeds of the five motors indicated the light pressure
massage with the speeds of 1853.5 rpm.
Figure 11: Fuzzy logic rule viewer for the light pressure massage
The moderate pressure massage is the massage
treatment for the normal blood pressure group. The
systolic and diastolic are set to 120 mmHg and 80
mmHg respectively. And the output at the type is 1.5
and the load entering the motor system is 750 N. The
speeds of the five motors indicated the moderate
pressure massage with the speeds of 2270.13 rpm.
Figure 12: Fuzzy logic rule viewer for the medium pressure
massage
Types of massage treatment Output Load (N)
Light pressure 0.5 250
Moderate pressure 1.5 750
Deep tissue 2.5 1250
No treatment 0 0
2012 IEEE EMBS International Conference on Biomedical Engineering and Sciences | Langkawi | 17th - 19th December 2012
517
The deep tissue massage is the massage
treatment for the high normal and mild blood pressure
groups. The systolic and diastolic are set to 160
mmHg and 100 mmHg respectively. The output at the
type is 2.5 and the load entering the motor system is
1250 N. The speed of the five motors indicated the
deep tissue pressure massage with the speeds of
2686.27 rpm.
Figure 13: Fuzzy logic rule viewer for the deep tissue pressure
massage
The no load condition is a situation where there is
no output from the fuzzy sets. It is also a condition
readings of systolic, diastolic and heart rate. The
systolic input are set to be 160 mmHg in the mild
blood pressure range but the diastolic input are set to
be 90 mmHg in the high normal blood pressure range.
Because there is a conflict from the inputs, the type of
the massage will straight away goes to the type 0. It
also can occur when the heart rate of the user is
outside the range where the heart rate of the children
is set to be 45 bpm. The heart rate for children is 60-
140 bpm and it is outside the range. The speeds of the
motors are on the lowest speeds of 1647.67 rpm. This
speed condition is to indicate that there is a problem
occurred to the blood pressure and heart rate sensor
and also to declared that the user in poor health
condition and the treatment need to be stopped
immediately. Figure 14 and 15 show the fuzzy logic
rule viewer for these cases.
Figure 14: Fuzzy logic rule viewer for no load condition with a
conflict of blood pressure reading
Figure 15: Fuzzy logic rule viewer for no load condition with the
heart rate reading is outside the range
V. CONCLUSION
From the results obtained from the motors which
based on the speed performance, it shows that there
are four types of speeds obtained from the speed
scopes. Several different speeds prove that the system
works according to the treatment mode. The higher
speed indicates the deep tissues massage and no load
condition mode has the lowest speed. The use of
artificial intelligence methods allows the blood
pressure and heart rate converted to signal output that
served to the motors accordingly to the treatment that
is programmed.
In conclusion, this study has led to a new
discovery of massage chair control system technology
that could help to increase the health of the user.
REFERENCES
[1] Strickland, J. How Stuff Work. Retrieved March
20, 2012, from Electronic How Stuff Work:
http://electronics.howstuffworks.com/gadgets/ho
me/massage-chair1.htm
[2] Diego, M. A., Field, T., Sanders, C., &
Hernandez-Reif, M. Massage Therapy of
Moderate and Light Pressure and Vibrator Effects
on EEG and Heart Rate. Taylor & Francis Health
Sciences , 2004, pp 31-45.
[3] Hernandez-Reif M, Field T, Krasnegor J,
Theakston H, Hossain Z, Burman I. High blood
pressure and associated symptoms reduced by
massage therapy. J Bodyw Mov Ther 2000; 4(1):
pp 31-38.
[4] Hodge M, Robinson C, Boehmer J, Klein S.
Employee outcomes following work-site
acupressure and massage. Massage Therapy
Journal 2000; 39(3): pp 48-64.
[5] Kaye, A. D., Kaye, A. J., Swinford, J., Amir
Baluch, B. A., Lambert, T. J., & Hoover, J. M.
(2008). The Effect of Deep Tissue Massage
Therapy on Blood Pressure and Heart Rate. The
Journal of Alternative and Complementary
Medicine , pp 125-128.
[6] Zeitlin D, Keller S, Shiflett S, Schleifer S, Bartlett
J. Immunological effects of massage therapy
during academic stress. Psychosom Med 2000;
62(83-84): pp 79-83.
[7] Cady S, Jones G. Massage therapy as a workplace
intervention for reduction of stress. Percept Mot
Skills 1997; 84: pp 157-158.
[8] Field T. Massage therapy effects. Am Psychol
1998; 53(12): pp 1270-1281.
[9] MathWorks: Accelerating the pace of engineering
and science. Retrieved April 21, 2012, from The
MathWorks, Inc:
http://www.mathworks.com/help/toolbox/fuzzy/fp
72.html.
2012 IEEE EMBS International Conference on Biomedical Engineering and Sciences | Langkawi | 17th - 19th December 2012
518
