Hearables: Feasibility of Recording Cardiac Rhythms from Single Ear Locations

Abstract

Wearable technologies are envisaged to provide critical support to future healthcare systems. Hearables - devices worn in the ear - are of particular interest due to their ability to provide health monitoring in an efficient, reliable and unobtrusive way. Despite the considerable potential of these devices, the ECG signal that can be acquired through a hearable device worn on a single ear is still relatively unexplored. Biophysics modelling of ECG volume conduction was used to establish principles behind the single ear ECG signal, and measurements of cardiac rhythms from 10 subjects were found to be in good correspondence with simulated equivalents. Additionally, the viability of the single ear ECG in real-world environments was determined through one hour duration measurements during a simulated driving task on 5 subjects. Results demonstrated that the single ear ECG resembles the Lead I signal, the most widely used ECG signal in the identification of heart conditions such as myocardial infarction and atrial fibrillation, and was robust against real-world measurement noise, even after prolonged measurements. This study conclusively demonstrates that hearables can enable continuous monitoring of vital signs in an unobtrusive and seamless way, with the potential for reliable identification and management of heart conditions such as myocardial infarction and atrial fibrillation.

Hearables: In-ear Multimodal Data Fusion for Robust Heart Rate Estimation

“…Hearables are a very convenient wearables modality, owning the privileged position of the head and ear canal on the human body and the fixed distance to vital organs. However, the in-ear ECG [8] signal, measured between electrodes placed inside the ear canal, has a smaller amplitude that standard ECG acquired from torso and a lower signal-to-noise ratio, making it difficult to automatically detect R peaks with standard algorithms [9]. On the other hand, earpieces provide a good fit and Disclaimer/Publisher's Note: The statements, opinions, and data contained in all publications are solely those of the individual author(s) and contributor(s) and not of MDPI and/or the editor(s).…”

Hearables: feasibility of recording cardiac rhythms from single in-ear locations

“…Data accessibility. Data and code are available from the Dryad Digital Repository: https://datadryad.org/stash/share/ Jtyc03eWrU6VG0rg1QkEKSGhOm_ejGGYbRPsYvV65w4 [49].…”