Numerical simulation of motion-induced dynamic noise in a ubiquitous ECG application

Wearable ubiquitous biomedical applications, such as ECG monitors, can generate dynamic noise as a person moves. However, the source of this noise is not clear. We postulated that the dynamic ECG noise has two causes: the change in displacement of the heart during motion and the change in the electrical impedance of the skin-gel interface due to motion-induced deformation of the skin-gel interface. Using a three-dimensional electrophysiological heart model coupled with a torso model, dynamic noise was simulated, while the displacement of the heart was changed in the vertical and horizontal directions, independently and while the skin-gel interface was deformed during motion. To determine the deformation rate of the skin and sol-gel layers, motion-induced deformation of the two layers was simulated using a three-dimensional finite element method.