Anytime ECG Monitoring through the Use of a Low-Cost, User-Friendly, Wearable Device

Abstract

Every year cardiovascular diseases kill the highest number of people worldwide. Among these, pathologies characterized by sporadic symptoms, such as atrial fibrillation, are difficult to be detected as state-of-the-art solutions, e.g., 12-leads electrocardiogram (ECG) or Holter devices, often fail to tackle these kinds of pathologies. Many portable devices have already been proposed, both in literature and in the market. Unfortunately, they all miss relevant features: they are either not wearable or wireless and their usage over a long-term period is often unsuitable. In addition, the quality of recordings is another key factor to perform reliable diagnosis. The ECG WATCH is a device designed for targeting all these issues. It is inexpensive, wearable (size of a watch), and can be used without the need for any medical expertise about positioning or usage. It is non-invasive, it records single-lead ECG in just 10 s, anytime, anywhere, without the need to physically travel to hospitals or cardiologists. It can acquire any of the three peripheral leads; results can be shared with physicians by simply tapping a smartphone app. The ECG WATCH quality has been tested on 30 people and has successfully compared with an electrocardiograph and an ECG simulator, both certified. The app embeds an algorithm for automatically detecting atrial fibrillation, which has been successfully tested with an official ECG simulator on different severity of atrial fibrillation. In this sense, the ECG WATCH is a promising device for anytime cardiac health monitoring.

Development and Validation of an Algorithm for the Digitization of ECG Paper Images

“…The proposed data acquisition system is shown in Figure 1 . Two medical instruments were used in cascade to build the database for our study: the Fluke ProSim 4 Vital Signs Simulator [ 10 ] and the GE MAC 2000 electrocardiograph [ 11 ]. The ProSim 4 patient simulator allows the simulation of several cardiac conditions, while the GE MAC 2000 is an electrocardiograph that, in addition to allowing the display of the simulated conditions through the monitor, guarantees the acquisition of 12 signals (leads) simultaneously, both in digital format (*.xml file and PDF file) and by printing the ECG on graph paper [ 12 ] at 25 mm/s and 10 mm/mV.…”

Design and Implementation of an Atrial Fibrillation Detection Algorithm on the ARM Cortex-M4 Microcontroller

“…Randazzo et al [10] developed a wearable device specifically designed for ECG acquisition and Atrial Fibrillation (AF) detection. Their approach employed of a simple embedded algorithm whereby R-peaks were initially extracted employing the Pan-Tompkins algorithm.…”

“…Atrial fibrillation, occasional anomaly, is difficult to be detected. For reliable diagnosis long-term high-quality recording is required [10].…”

Utility of a novel wearable electrode embedded in an undershirt for electrocardiogram monitoring and detection of arrhythmias

“…In addition, the parameters of time-domain analyses and frequency-domain analyses measured by two methods were comparable. It is also important for wearable devices to be easy to use without any expertise skills [16]. This novel wearable electrode is a kind of washable undershirt, and patients can continue to record and send ECG everyday by changing shirts, using the same ECG transmitter.…”