Contact person

• Jannik Prüßmann, M.Sc.

Project description

The electrocardiogram is of essential importance for monitoring the electrical activity of the heart and for the diagnosis of cardiovascular diseases. However, due to the dependence of the classical ECG on the constant skin contact of the adhesive electrodes, skin irritations and movement restrictions may occur. This complicates the use of mobile systems and leads to frequent false alarms in monitoring in intensive care units.

For the capacitive measurement of the ECG the electrodes do not require direct skin contact. This allows to record the ECG signal through clothing, and to integrate the capacitive ECG electrodes in beds or car seats. Here, you can find a short video for demonstration.

The shape of the ECG curve is of great importance for cardiological diagnostics. However, the capacitive ECG measurement is susceptible to motion artifacts and deformations of the waveform can be observed even in the absence of voluntary movements. The observed alterations in the ECG waveform also result from the mechanical activity of the heart and respiration and are therefore referred to as physiological motion artifacts (PMAs).

By modeling the PMAs and the interaction of different cardiac signals, a better understanding of the deformations in the waveform should be obtained, thus increasing the diagnostic value of the capacitive ECG.

Project goals

• Development of a multimodal electrode for simultaneous acquisition of capacitive ECG and mechanical cardiac activity (ballistocardiogram - BKG).
• Development of a test bench for the investigation of physiological motion artifacts and for the evaluation of the developed electrode
• Modeling of the physiological motion artifacts and their effects on the diagnostic power of the ECG signal
• Compensation of physiological motion artifacts