Abstract
Sleep monitoring in an unattended home setting provides important information complementing and extending the clinical polysomnography findings. The validity of a wearable textile electrocardiography (ECG)-belt has been proven in a clinical setting. For evaluation in a home setting, ECG signals and features were acquired from 12 patients (10 males and 2 females, showing an interquartile range for age of 48–59 years and for body mass indexes (BMIs) of 28.0–35.5) over 28 nights. The signal quality was assessed by artefacts detection, signal-to-noise ratio, and Poincaré plots. To assess the validity, the data were compared to previously reported data from the clinical setting. It was found that the artefact percentage was slightly reduced for the ECG-belt from 9.7% ± 14.7% in the clinical setting, to 7.5% ± 10.8% in the home setting. The signal-to-noise ratio was improved in the home setting and reached similar values to the gel electrodes in the clinical setting. Finally, it was found that for artefact percentages above 3%, Poincaré plots are instrumental to evaluate the origin of artefacts. In conclusion, the application of the ECG-belt in a home setting did not result in a reduction in signal quality compared to the ECG-belt used in the clinical setting, and thus provides new opportunities for patient pre-screening or follow-up.
Highlights
Electrocardiography (ECG) provides important information about cardio-circulatory and health conditions
The quality analysis revealed a lower number of artefact percentages for the ECG-belt in the home setting compared with the clinical setting (Table 2)
The signal-to-noise ratio (SNR) for the ECG-belt used at home revealed values close to the signal quality obtained for the gel electrodes, applied in the clinical setting (Table 2)
Summary
Electrocardiography (ECG) provides important information about cardio-circulatory and health conditions. ECG is a widely used method for monitoring and assessing a patient’s physical and mental health condition. This is relevant for sleep apnoea syndrome (SAS), where respiratory events are known to affect ECG features [1]. SAS is estimated to affect approximately 3% to 7% of adult men and 2% to 5% of adult women in the general population [4,5]. According to Young and co-workers [6], the percentage of undiagnosed obstructive SAS may be as high as 93% (women) and 82% (men) in subjects affected by SAS. The gold standard for diagnosing SAS is overnight laboratory polysomnography (PSG)
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