Fabricating a Portable ECG Device Using AD823X Analog Front-End Microchips and Open-Source Development Validation.

Miguel Bravo-Zanoguera,Daniel Cuevas-González,Roberto L Avitia,Juan P García-Vázquez,Marco A Reyna

doi:10.3390/s20205962

Miguel Bravo-Zanoguera, Daniel Cuevas-González + Show 3 more

Open Access

https://doi.org/10.3390/s20205962

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Abstract

Relevant to mobile health, the design of a portable electrocardiograph (ECG) device using AD823X microchips as the analog front-end is presented. Starting with the evaluation board of the chip, open-source hardware and software components were integrated into a breadboard prototype. This required modifying the microchip with the breadboard-friendly Arduino Nano board in addition to a data logger and a Bluetooth breakout board. The digitized ECG signal can be transmitted by serial cable, via Bluetooth to a PC, or to an Android smartphone system for visualization. The data logging shield provides gigabytes of storage, as the signal is recorded to a microSD card adapter. A menu incorporates the device’s several operating modes. Simulation and testing assessed the system stability and performance parameters in terms of not losing any sample data throughout the length of the recording and finding the maximum sampling frequency; and validation determined and resolved problems that arose in open-source development. Ultimately, a custom printed circuit board was produced requiring advanced manufacturing options of 2.5 mils trace widths for the small package components. The fabricated device did not degrade the AD823X noise performance, and an ECG waveform with negligible distortion was obtained. The maximum number of samples/second was 2380 Hz in serial cable transmission, whereas in microSD recording mode, a continuous ECG signal for up to 36 h at 500 Hz was verified. A low-cost, high-quality portable ECG for long-term monitoring prototype that reasonably complies with electrical safety regulations and medical equipment design was realized.

Highlights

Considered one of the leading causes of death worldwide, cardiovascular diseases (CVDs) are a group of disorders of the heart and blood vessels
analog front-end (AFE) AD823X microchips opens up the possibilities of taking care of CVDs with low-cost devices and illustrates some of the challenges that a researcher faces when developing a technology of this type
The results indicate that the AD8232 and AD8233 microchips are suitable for the AFE function, as they delivered a useful signal for a long-term single-lead

Summary

Introduction

Considered one of the leading causes of death worldwide, cardiovascular diseases (CVDs) are a group of disorders of the heart and blood vessels. Sensors 2020, 20, 5962 which are medical devices for personal use, helps to address this problem because data are readily accessible through the use of technology such as smartphones, monitoring sensors, and software applications that register, transmit, and store a person’s health condition [3] These mobile health wearables complement the equipment used in the hospital sector and extend remote care-monitoring with long-term records of the activity and vital signs while the user performs daily activities. These devices can capture events that occur infrequently or under specific circumstances and provide a realistic perspective for diagnostics.

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