Design of 12-Lead Electrocardiogram Smart Clothing Based on Capacitive Sensing Technique

A 12-lead electrocardiogram (ECG) is one of the most commonly used tools for evaluating cardiovascular diseases (CVDs). In clinical, the conventional Ag/AgCl electrodes with conductive gel are usually used to monitor ECG, but they may encounter gel drying and skin allergic reaction problems for long-term ECG monitoring. In order to improve the above issue, several dry electrodes, made by conductive materials, was proposed in the design of wearable devices, but they still encounter the problems of electrode shifting and stretching, and the risk of skin irritation. Capacitive electrode can access biopotential without contacting skin directly and can completely avoid skin irritation. However, for capacitive electrode, how to maintain a good electrode–skin contacting condition is still a challenge due to electrode fixation problem, in particular in multichannel ECG measurement. In this study, a 12-lead ECG smart clothing based on capacitive sensing technology was proposed to monitor ECG in daily life. To improve the electrode–skin contacting condition, elastic conductive foams were used as the electrode plate to effectively fit the rough body contours. Moreover, a specific wearable belt mechanism was also designed to improve the convenience of use, and it could also provide good friction and proper pressure to reduce the electrode slippage and maintain a good electrode–skin contact condition. The experimental results showed that the proposed smart clothing could stably access the good ECG signal quality under different motion levels, and the specific ECG features corresponding to different CVDs could also be reflected on the measured ECG signal in clinical experiment.