IT IS GENERALLY ACCEPTED THAT CARDIOVASCULAR HEALTH, WITH ITS ASSOCIATED INCREASE IN LONGEVITY, IS BEST MAINTAINED BY REGULAR AEROBIC EXERCISE.

IT IS GENERALLY ACCEPTED THAT CARDIOVASCULAR HEALTH, WITH ITS ASSOCIATED INCREASE IN LONGEVITY, IS BEST MAINTAINED BY REGULAR AEROBIC EXERCISE. A COMMON AEROBIC STRATEGY IS TO ESTABLISH A TARGET HEART RATE AND THEN ATTEMPT TO EXERCISE AT AN INTENSITY THAT MAINTAINS THE HEART RATE AT THAT TARGET VALUE. THE LONG TERM OBJECTIVE OF THIS PROJECT IS TO DEVELOP A MICROCOMPUTER-CONTROLLED EXERCISE CYCLE. THIS TECHNOLOGICALLY INNOVATIVE ROBOTIC DEVICE WILL AUTOMATICALLY ADJUST THE WORK LOAD TO MAINTAIN THE USER'S HEART RATE AT THE TARGET LEVEL. THE USER WILL SIT IN A SEMI-RECUMBENT POSITION AND GRASP ELECTRODES CONNECTED TO A CARDIOTACHOMETER CIRCUIT. AS THE USER PEDALS, THE HEART RATE WILL BE COMPARED TO THE TARGET RATE AND THE WORK LOAD AUTOMATICALLY ADJUSTED AS NEEDED. THE SPECIFIC AIMS DURING PHASE I ARE TO: 1) DEVELOP AN ENGINEERING PROTOTYPE, COMPLETE WITH ASSOCIATED SOFTWARE AND 2) DEVELOP THE RESEARCH PROTOCOLS NECESSARY TO TEST THE PROTOTYPE'S EFFICACY AS A SAFE AND EFFICIENT COMMERCIAL AEROBIC DEVICE SUITABLE EVEN FOR THOSE WHO MAY HAVE IMPAIRED CARDIOVASCULAR FUNCTION, INCLUDING THE ELDERLY. DURING PHASE II OF THE PROPOSED PROJECT, THE ENGINEERING PROTOTYPE WILL BE TESTED FOLLOWING THE RESEARCH PROTOCOLS AND THEN MODIFIED AS NEEDED FOR THE DEVELOPMENT OF THE PREPRODUCTION PROTOTYPE.