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Capacitive ECG

Monitoring of cardiac electrical activity by means of non-contact capacitive ECG.

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Project Description

ECG signals make it possible to monitor the electrical activity of the heart, one of the most important vital signals. The ECG is therefore the gold standard for diagnosis in cardiology. However, the conventional recording of the ECG using conductive adhesive electrodes can lead to skin irritation (especially in small children). In addition, the patient's freedom of movement is severely restricted when cardiac function is permanently monitored, and the applicability in mobile systems is limited.

The capacitive ECG (cECG) is an alternative to the conventional ECG in which the electrodes do not require direct skin contact. Recording the cECG signal through clothing is possible, and the integration in office chairs, beds or car seats has been successfully demonstrated. This enables the early detection of heart problems in users, which helps to ensure safety especially for driving. In addition, this technology can be used to monitor patients with pacemakers outside the hospital. A short video of one of the unobtrusive monitoring scenarios, where cECG is employed as well, can be seen here.

Project Goals

Based on cECG setups that have already been developed, this project will take measures to optimise the cECG signal. In addition, clinical measurements will be used to test the validity of the system, for example by comparing cECG measurements with a classic electrode ECG measured in parallel.

The shape of the ECG curve is of great importance for cardiological diagnostics. However, capacitive ECG measurement is susceptible to motion artefacts and deformations of the waveform compared to classic ECG measurement. Apart from arbitrary movements, so-called physiological motion artefacts (PMAs) can also be observed, for example due to the mechanical activity of the heart and breathing. By modelling the PMAs and the interaction of different heart signals, a better understanding of the deformations in the waveform is to be gained, which should enable the compensation of physiological motion artefacts and thus increase the diagnostic value of the capacitive ECG. Part of this project objective is also the development of a multimodal electrode for the simultaneous recording of capacitive ECG and mechanical cardiac activity (ballistocardiogram - BCG).

Project Partners

Publications

  • Uguz, D. U., Dettori, R., Napp, A., Walter, M., Marx, N., Leonhardt, S., & Hoog Antink, C. (2020). Car Seats with Capacitive ECG Electrodes Can Detect Cardiac Pacemaker Spikes. Sensors, 20(21), 6288.
  • Uguz, D. U., Tufan, T. B., Uzun, A., Leonhardt, S., & Antink, C. H. (2020). Physiological motion artifacts in capacitive ECG: Ballistocardiographic impedance distortions. IEEE Transactions on Instrumentation and Measurement, 69(6), 3297-3307.
  • Leicht, L., Skobel, E., Knackstedt, C., Mathissen, M., Sitter, A., Wartzek, T., ... & Teichmann, D. (2018). Capacitive ECG monitoring in cardiac patients during simulated driving. IEEE Transactions on Biomedical Engineering, 66(3), 749-758.
  • Hoog Antink, C., Schulz, F., Leonhardt, S., & Walter, M. (2018). Motion artifact quantification and sensor fusion for unobtrusive health monitoring. Sensors, 18(1), 38.
  • Leicht, L., Eilebrecht, B., Weyer, S., Leonhardt, S., & Teichmann, D. (2017). Closed-loop control of humidification for artifact reduction in capacitive ECG measurements. IEEE Transactions on Biomedical Circuits and Systems, 11(2), 300-313
  • T. Wartzek, C. Brüser, M. Walter, S. Leonhardt: Robust Sensor Fusion of Unobtrusively Measured Heart Rate; IEEE Journal of Biomedical and Health Informatics; 2014; 18(2):654-660.
  • Eilebrecht, B., Willkomm, J., Pohl, A., Wartzek, T., & Leonhardt, S. (2013). Impedance measurement system for determination of capacitive electrode coupling. IEEE transactions on biomedical circuits and systems, 7(5), 682-689.
  • Eilebrecht, B., Henriques, J., Rocha, T., Walter, M., Paredes, S., de Carvalho, P., ... & Leonhardt, S. (2012). Automatic parameter extraction from capacitive ECG measurements. Cardiovascular Engineering and Technology, 3(3), 319-332.
  • T. Wartzek, B. Eilebrecht, J. Lem, H.-J. Lindner, S. Leonhardt, M. Walter: ECG on the Road: Robust and Unobtrusive Estimation of Heart Rate; IEEE Transactions on Biomedical Engineering; 2011, 58(11):3112 - 3120.
  • Schommartz, B. Eilebrecht, T. Wartzek, M. Walter, and S. Leonhardt: Advances in Modern Capacitive ECG Systems for Continuous Cardiovascular Monitoring; Acta Polytechnica, vol. 51, no. 5, pp. 100-105, 2011.
  • T. Wartzek, T. Lammersen, B. Eilebrecht, M. Walter, S. Leonhardt: Triboelectricity in Capacitive Biopotential Measurements; IEEE Transactions on Biomedical Engineering; 2011; 58(5):1268-77.
  • A. Aleksandrowicz, S. Leonhardt: Non-Contact ECG Monitoring for Automotive Application. 5th Workshop on Body Sensor Networks, June 1-3, 2008, Hong Kong.
  • A. Aleksandrowicz, M. Walter, S. Leonhardt: Wireless ECG Measurement System with Capacitive Coupling. Biomed Tech, 2007; 52:185:192, Berlin / New York.
  • M. Steffen, A. Aleksandrowicz, S. Leonhardt: Mobile Non-contact Monitoring of Heart and Lung Activity. IEEE Transactions on Biomedical Circuits and Systems, Vol. 1, Pages: 250-257, 2007.
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