Ever wanted to actually see your heartbeat without going to a hospital? No fancy machines. No big bills. Just clip something tiny to your ear or fingers and—boom! —a little light blinks in perfect time with your heart. That’s exactly what Tobatsi Mohlalanyane and Itumeleng Mothibeli, Physics and Computer Science students at the National University of Lesotho (NUL), pulled off. And get this, it cost them less than M200 to build. That’s cheaper than a night out!
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Brought to You by NUL Innovation Hub [Where Academia Meets Industry] & MILCO [Award-Winning Store that Sells Only Lesotho Products at Sefika Complex]. MILCO was Founded by NUL Innovation Hub!
They didn’t do it alone, though. Prof Enock Jonathan guided them along the way.
This isn’t just a “look what I made” science fair kind of thing. Nope. This could save lives. In many parts of Lesotho, hospitals are far, and those finger-clip devices doctors use can cost over M1000. For many families and small clinics, that’s just out of reach. The students’ gadget could change all that.
So how does it work?
Every time your heart beats, it pushes a little wave of blood through your body. Tobatsi and Itumeleng’s gadget clips onto your earlobe (because ears are nice and thin). It shines a red light through your skin, and a light sensor measures how much light gets through.
More blood = less light. Less blood = more light. The gadget senses this tiny change and makes a little LED light blink. Suddenly, you’re watching your heart talk to you in Morse code.
This wasn’t just a school project. They wanted it to be useful, so they kept it super simple and cheap, using parts you can find locally.
A few things make it extra cool:
• It’s all analog. No complicated computer code. If it breaks, anyone can fix it.
• It’s focused. They built a filter that ignores random noise and just locks onto your heartbeat.
• It’s super clear. Instead of showing confusing numbers, it just blinks. Count the flashes, boom, there’s your pulse.
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But did it actually work?
Yup!
Tobatsi and Itumeleng tested it on five volunteers, while they were chilling and after they’d been moving around. The light blinked almost perfectly in sync with their real pulses—off by just about three beats per minute when they were still.
Of course, there were hiccups. “The biggest issue was movement,” Tobatsi says. People had to sit fairly still for it to work right. And bright light messed with the sensor, so they built a tiny cover to block it out. Problem solved.
They’re not done yet. Tobatsi and Itumeleng want future versions to calculate your heart rate automatically, work even in bright rooms, or maybe even connect to your phone. Imagine village health workers carrying these and catching heart problems before they get serious.
They said the journey taught them a lot. “Theory is just the start,” they laugh. “What works on paper doesn’t always work on the breadboard. But if you stick with it, you’ll get there.”
That little blinking LED isn’t just cool tech. It’s a pulse of hope. It is a proof that simple, affordable ideas can make a huge difference.
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Brought to You by NUL Innovation Hub [Where Academia Meets Industry] & MILCO [Award-Winning Store that Sells Only Lesotho Products at Sefika Complex]. MILCO was Founded by NUL Innovation Hub!