Department of Biomedical Engineering, Chonnam National University, Yeosu, Republic of Korea.
BLACKYAK Co Ltd, Seoul, Republic of Korea.
JMIR Mhealth Uhealth. 2021 May 11;9(5):e26469. doi: 10.2196/26469.
Electrocardiogram (ECG) monitoring in daily life is essential for effective management of cardiovascular disease, a leading cause of death. Wearable ECG measurement systems in the form of clothing have been proposed to replace Holter monitors used for clinical ECG monitoring; however, they have limitations in daily use because they compress the upper body and, in doing so, cause discomfort during wear.
The purpose of this study was to develop a wireless wearable ECG monitoring system that includes a textile ECG electrode that can be applied to the lining of pants and can be used in the same way that existing lower clothing is worn, without compression to the upper body.
A textile electrode with stretchable characteristics was fabricated by knitting a conductive yarn together with polyester-polyurethane fiber, which was then coated with silver compound; an ECG electrode was developed by placing it on an elastic band in a modified limb lead configuration. In addition, a system with analog-to-digital conversion, wireless communication, and a smartphone app was developed, allowing users to be able to check and store their own ECGs in real time. A signal processing algorithm was also developed to remove noise from the obtained signal and to calculate the heart rate. To evaluate the ECG and heart rate measurement performance of the developed module, a comparative evaluation with a commercial device was performed. ECGs were measured for 5 minutes each in standing, sitting, and lying positions; the mean absolute percentage errors of heart rates measured with both systems were then compared.
The system was developed in the form of a belt buckle with a size of 53 × 45 × 12 mm (width × height × depth) and a weight of 23 g. In a qualitative evaluation, it was confirmed that the P-QRS-T waveform was clearly observed in ECGs obtained with the wearable system. From the results of the heart rate estimation, the developed system could track changes in heart rate as calculated by a commercial ECG measuring device; in addition, the mean absolute percentage errors of heart rates were 1.80%, 2.84%, and 2.48% in the standing, sitting, and lying positions, respectively.
The developed system was able to effectively measure ECG and calculate heart rate simply through being worn as existing clothing without upper body pressure. It is anticipated that general usability can be secured through further evaluation under more diverse conditions.
心电图（ECG）监测在日常生活中对于有效管理心血管疾病至关重要，心血管疾病是导致死亡的主要原因之一。已经提出了以服装形式的可穿戴 ECG 测量系统来替代用于临床 ECG 监测的 Holter 监测器；然而，它们在日常使用中存在局限性，因为它们会压缩上半身，从而导致穿着时不适。
本研究的目的是开发一种无线可穿戴 ECG 监测系统，该系统包括一个可应用于裤子衬里的纺织 ECG 电极，可以像现有的下装一样穿着，不会对上半身造成压迫。
通过将导电纱线与聚酯-氨纶纤维编织在一起，并在其上涂覆银化合物，制造出具有拉伸特性的纺织电极；通过将其放置在改良的肢体导联配置的弹性带上，开发出一个 ECG 电极。此外，还开发了一个具有模数转换、无线通信和智能手机应用程序的系统，允许用户能够实时检查和存储自己的 ECG。还开发了一个信号处理算法，用于从获得的信号中去除噪声并计算心率。为了评估所开发模块的 ECG 和心率测量性能，与商业设备进行了比较评估。在站立、坐着和躺着的位置分别测量了 5 分钟的 ECG；然后比较了两个系统测量的心率的平均绝对百分比误差。
该系统以尺寸为 53×45×12mm（宽×高×深）、重量为 23g 的带扣形式开发。在定性评估中，确认可以清楚地观察到可穿戴系统获得的 ECG 中的 P-QRS-T 波。从心率估计的结果来看，所开发的系统能够跟踪商业 ECG 测量设备计算出的心率变化；此外，在站立、坐着和躺着位置，心率的平均绝对百分比误差分别为 1.80%、2.84%和 2.48%。
所开发的系统能够通过像现有的衣服一样穿着而无需对上半身施加压力，有效地测量 ECG 并计算心率。预计通过在更多不同条件下进行进一步评估，可以确保其普遍可用性。
