Yarici Metin, Von Rosenberg Wilhelm, Hammour Ghena, Davies Harry, Amadori Pierluigi, Ling Nico, Demiris Yiannis, Mandic Danilo P
Department of Electrical and Electronic Engineering, Imperial College London, London SW7 2AZ, UK.
R Soc Open Sci. 2024 Jan 3;11(1):221620. doi: 10.1098/rsos.221620. eCollection 2024 Jan.
The ear is well positioned to accommodate both brain and vital signs monitoring, via so-called hearable devices. Consequently, ear-based electroencephalography has recently garnered great interest. However, despite the considerable potential of hearable based cardiac monitoring, the biophysics and characteristic cardiac rhythm of ear-based electrocardiography (ECG) are not yet well understood. To this end, we map the cardiac potential on the ear through volume conductor modelling and measurements on multiple subjects. In addition, in order to demonstrate real-world feasibility of in-ear ECG, measurements are conducted throughout a long-time simulated driving task. As a means of evaluation, the correspondence between the cardiac rhythms obtained via the ear-based and standard Lead I measurements, with respect to the shape and timing of the cardiac rhythm, is verified through three measures of similarity: the Pearson correlation, and measures of amplitude and timing deviations. A high correspondence between the cardiac rhythms obtained via the ear-based and Lead I measurements is rigorously confirmed through agreement between simulation and measurement, while the real-world feasibility was conclusively demonstrated through efficacious cardiac rhythm monitoring during prolonged driving. This work opens new avenues for seamless, hearable-based cardiac monitoring that extends beyond heart rate detection to offer cardiac rhythm examination in the community.
耳朵的位置很适合通过所谓的可听设备来同时实现大脑和生命体征监测。因此，基于耳朵的脑电图最近引起了极大的关注。然而，尽管基于可听设备的心脏监测具有相当大的潜力，但基于耳朵的心电图（ECG）的生物物理学和特征性心律尚未得到充分理解。为此，我们通过容积导体建模和对多个受试者的测量来绘制耳朵上的心脏电位。此外，为了证明耳内心电图在现实世界中的可行性，我们在长时间的模拟驾驶任务中进行了测量。作为一种评估手段，通过三种相似性度量来验证基于耳朵的测量和标准I导联测量所获得的心律之间在心律形状和时间方面的对应关系：皮尔逊相关性以及幅度和时间偏差度量。通过模拟和测量之间的一致性，严格证实了基于耳朵的测量和I导联测量所获得的心律之间的高度对应关系，同时通过长时间驾驶期间有效的心律监测最终证明了其在现实世界中的可行性。这项工作为无缝的、基于可听设备的心脏监测开辟了新途径，这种监测不仅能检测心率，还能在社区中提供心律检查。
