Abstract
Electronic textile (e-textile) systems applied to biological signal monitoring are of great interest to the healthcare industry, given the potential to provide continuous and long-term monitoring of healthy individuals and patients. Most developments in e-textiles have focused on novel materials and systems without systematic considerations into how the hierarchical structure of fibrous assemblies may influence performance and compatibility of the materials during use. This study examines mechanisms underlying the stability and quality of textile-based electrocardiogram (ECG) electrodes used in a smart bra. Signal quality of the biometric data obtained affects feedback and user experience and may be influenced by characteristics and properties of the material. Under stationary and dynamic conditions, analysis of the raw ECG signal and heart rate, with respect to textile-electrode material properties have been performed. Currently, there is no standardized procedure to compare the ECG signal between electrode materials. In this study, several methods have been applied to compare differences between silver-based textile electrodes and silver/silver-chloride gel electrodes. The comparison methods serve to complement visual observations of the ECG signal acquired, as possible quantitative means to differentiate electrode materials and their performance. From the results obtained, signal quality, and heart rate (HR) detection were found to improve with increased skin contact, and textile structures with lower stretch and surface resistance, especially under dynamic/movement test conditions. It was found that the performance of the textile electrode materials compared exceeded ECG signal quality thresholds previously established for acceptable signal quality, specifically for the kurtosis (K > 5), and Pearson correlation coefficients (r ≥ 0.66) taken from average ECG waveforms calculated.
Highlights
The wearable devices market is projected to reach $25 billion (USD) by 2022 (Wood, 2017)
From the textile electrodes compared, Fabrics G and F showed lowest variation under movement conditions, likely due to the fact that the materials have limited stretch (Fabric G is a non-stretch woven, Fabric F has stretch in 1-direction), which is likely to result in greater skin contact area and minimal movement next to skin compared to the other fabric materials tested
Kurtosis and skewness results obtained from 6 min trials from gel and textile electrodes under stationary conditions are summarized in Tables 4,5, with textile electrodes ordered from highest to lowest values
Summary
The wearable devices market is projected to reach $25 billion (USD) by 2022 (Wood, 2017). While current wearable products used in healthcare have focused on monitoring activity in form of accessories, potential for textile-based integrated wearables is significant due to their comfort, ease of use, longer-term monitoring for patients, and to help guide treatment for practitioners. Performance Analysis ECG Textile Electrodes there are many opportunities for integration of e-textiles into consumer grade products and applications, for improving lifestyle and health of the general population. Electrocardiography is a technique in which the electrical activity of the heart is recorded in the form of an electrocardiogram (ECG–voltage vs time graph) through electrodes that are placed on the skin (Mayo Clinic, 2020). The standard ECG utilizes 12 viewpoints of the heart’s structure and function through recording associated electrical activity. The focus of this research is on the chest lead, which measures the potential difference between the left and right arm (Xu et al, 2008)
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