Common-mode rejection in the measurement of wearable ECG with cooperative sensors: Toward a new generation of medical-quality ECG Holter with dry electrodes

Michaël Rapin; Yves-Julien Regamey; Olivier Chételat

doi:10.1515/auto-2018-0061

Article

Common-mode rejection in the measurement of wearable ECG with cooperative sensors

Toward a new generation of medical-quality ECG Holter with dry electrodes

Michaël Rapin got a Master in electrical engineering from the Swiss Institute of Technology (EPFL), Lausanne, Switzerland in 2012. Since then, he joined CSEM where he developed electronics related to physiological parameter measurement such ad bioimpedance, ECG, and sounds of heart and lungs. He obtained in 2014 a PhD grant from ESA to develop the concept of cooperative sensors. He is currently finishing his PhD at the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology (ETHZ), Zürich, Switzerland.
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Yves-Julien Regamey received the PhD degree in Mechatronics from the Swiss Institute of Technology, Lausanne, Switzerland in 2005. He joined CSEM in 2013 where he works as a senior control engineer in fields involving, mathematical modelization, optimization, and/or software development for control applications, mechanical system, and bioengineering.
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Dr. Olivier Chételat received the PhD degree in robotics from the Swiss Institute of Technology, Lausanne, Switzerland in 1997. He spent one year as post-doctoral fellow in the USA (1998) and two years as assistant professor in Korea (2000/2001). He joined CSEM in 2001 where he has been involved in the management of several projects, in particular ESA projects related to vital parameter monitoring. Besides, he played an active role as technical expert in several research programs, including European projects and commercial projects focused on ECG, impedance, SpO2, and core body temperature sensors. Since 2009, he has been section head of Electronics and Research manager of the MEDTECH activity.

Published/Copyright: November 29, 2018

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From the journal at - Automatisierungstechnik Volume 66 Issue 12

Abstract

Recently, telemonitoring of vital signs has gained a lot of research interest. Especially for electrocardiogram (ECG), which is among the most frequently measured vital sign. However, the integration of classical ECG Holter in wearables is problematic since shielded cables and gel electrodes are required to get ECG signals of highest quality. We have recently introduced a novel sensing architecture based on active electrodes (so-called cooperative sensors) that significantly reduces the cabling complexity of the monitoring device. After briefly recalling the principle of cooperative sensors this paper details how they address rejection of common-mode voltage induced by electromagnetic disturbances. The proposed approach uses an auto-identification technique based on a continuous-time calibration of the sensor system and a digital control loop. To demonstrate the reliability of the proposed approach, a 12-lead ECG monitoring system was implemented with the new common-mode rejection method. Measurements on four healthy volunteers showed that the signal quality obtained with the cooperative-sensor system (using dry electrodes) is equivalent to the one measured with a gold standard medical device (using gel electrodes) in exercise stress tests.

Zusammenfassung

In jüngster Zeit wurde dem Telemonitoring von Vitalfunktionen viel Forschungsinteresse gewidmet. Insbesondere dem Elektrokardiogramm (EKG), welches zu den am häufigsten gemessenen Vitalparametern gehört. Die Integration von klassischen EKG-Holter in tragbaren Geräten ist problematisch, da es Gel-Elektroden und geschirmte Kabel erfordert, um hochqualitative EKG-Signale messen zu können. Wir haben kürzlich eine neuartige Sensorik-Architektur eingeführt, welche auf aktiven Elektroden basiert (sogenannte kooperative Sensoren) und die Verkabelungskomplexität erheblich reduziert. In der vorliegenden Arbeit beschreiben wir zuerst kurz das Funktionsprinzip der kooperativen Sensoren, gefolgt vom neuartigen Ansatz zur Gleichtaktunterdrückung. Der vorgeschlagene Ansatz verwendet eine automatische Identifikationstechnik, basierend auf einer zeitkontinuierlichen Kalibrierung des Sensorsystems mittels einem digitalen Regelkreis. Um dessen Zuverlässigkeit zu testen, wurde das vorgeschlagene Verfahren zur Gleichtaktunterdrückung in einem 12-Kanal EKG-System implementiert. Messungen an vier gesunden Probanden haben gezeigt, dass die kooperativen Sensoren (mit Trockenelektroden) im Vergleich zum medizinischen Goldstandard (mit Gel-Elektroden) gleichwertige Signalqualität während Belastungstests liefern.

Keywords: wearable sensors; electrocardiography (ECG); common-mode rejection; active electrodes; dry electrodes; cooperative sensors; telemonitoring

Schlagwörter: Tragbare Sensoren; Elektrokardiographie (EKG); Gleichtaktunterdrückung; aktive Elektroden; Trockenelektroden; kooperative Sensoren; Telemonitoring

About the authors

Michaël Rapin

Michaël Rapin got a Master in electrical engineering from the Swiss Institute of Technology (EPFL), Lausanne, Switzerland in 2012. Since then, he joined CSEM where he developed electronics related to physiological parameter measurement such ad bioimpedance, ECG, and sounds of heart and lungs. He obtained in 2014 a PhD grant from ESA to develop the concept of cooperative sensors. He is currently finishing his PhD at the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology (ETHZ), Zürich, Switzerland.

Yves-Julien Regamey

Yves-Julien Regamey received the PhD degree in Mechatronics from the Swiss Institute of Technology, Lausanne, Switzerland in 2005. He joined CSEM in 2013 where he works as a senior control engineer in fields involving, mathematical modelization, optimization, and/or software development for control applications, mechanical system, and bioengineering.

Olivier Chételat

Dr. Olivier Chételat received the PhD degree in robotics from the Swiss Institute of Technology, Lausanne, Switzerland in 1997. He spent one year as post-doctoral fellow in the USA (1998) and two years as assistant professor in Korea (2000/2001). He joined CSEM in 2001 where he has been involved in the management of several projects, in particular ESA projects related to vital parameter monitoring. Besides, he played an active role as technical expert in several research programs, including European projects and commercial projects focused on ECG, impedance, SpO2, and core body temperature sensors. Since 2009, he has been section head of Electronics and Research manager of the MEDTECH activity.

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Received: 2018-05-01

Accepted: 2018-10-04

Published Online: 2018-11-29

Published in Print: 2018-12-19

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Articles in the same Issue

https://doi.org/10.1515/auto-2018-0061

Keywords for this article

wearable sensors; electrocardiography (ECG); common-mode rejection; active electrodes; dry electrodes; cooperative sensors; telemonitoring