Advances in the Construction of ECG Wearable Sensor Technology: The ECG-ITM-05 eHealth Data Acquisition System

This paper presents recent advances in development of ECG WS (electrocardiogram wearable sensor) eHealth data acquisition systems (eHealth-DAQ) as part of an ongoing effort to produce low-cost, reliable biopotential monitoring equipment. The ECG-ITM05 eHealth DAQ is based on the recently introduced ADS1298 analog front end, MSP430F2618 ultra-low power micro controller and μSD memory card to produce a minimalist long-term measurement system. The equipment uses conductive fabrics sewed onto sportswear shirts as electrodes. Active electrodes help maintaining the quality of measured ECG similar to that of conventional electrodes in some locations. The equipment was used for monitoring various activities (sit-ups, twisting, power walking and gym bicycle riding) for evaluating the performance of the electrode sensing array. The results show that the equipment can be used for measuring long term ambulatory cardiac activity and is a versatile unit that allows in-system programming for implementing further signal processing algorithms.