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A Novel Digital Platform for a Monitored Home-based Cardiac Rehabilitation Program
Published on: April 19, 2019
Textile-based Wearable to Monitor Heart Activity in Paediatric Population: A Pilot Study
Nasim Montazeri Ghahjaverstan1,2, Diana Balmer-Minnes3, Behrad Taghibeyglou1,2
1Sleep Research Laboratory, KITE-Toronto Rehabilitation Institute, University Health Network Toronto, Toronto, Ontario, Canada.
Insights
Smart textiles offer a convenient way to monitor children's heart rate (HR) without limiting activity. The SKIIN device accurately measures HR during various tasks, providing a comfortable alternative to traditional methods.
Area of Science:
- Biomedical Engineering
- Pediatric Cardiology
- Wearable Technology
Background:
- Current cardiac monitoring for pediatric patients necessitates hospital visits, impacting quality of life and physical activity.
- Frequent monitoring, like heart rate (HR) tracking, poses limitations for children with heart conditions.
Purpose of the Study:
- To evaluate the performance of a novel textile-based device, SKIIN, for measuring heart rate (HR) in children.
- To assess the accuracy of the SKIIN device across various physical activities, including rest and exercise.
Main Methods:
- Twenty pediatric participants (healthy and with heart disease) were enrolled.
- The SKIIN device's HR measurements were compared against a reference electrocardiogram using normalized root mean squared error.
- Participant and parental feedback on the textile device's wearability and comfort were collected via questionnaires.
Main Results:
- HR measurements from SKIIN and the reference system showed significant changes across different tasks (P < 0.001) but were not significantly different from each other (P > 0.05).
- The normalized root mean squared error was low, at 3.8% ± 3.0% for healthy children and 3.6% ± 3.7% for children with heart disease.
- All participants reported the textile device as non-irritating and easy to wear.
Conclusions:
- Smart textiles, exemplified by the SKIIN device, demonstrate robust and convenient HR monitoring capabilities.
- The study confirms that textile-based monitoring offers comparable accuracy to standard clinical devices for pediatric heart rate assessment.
Background:
Cardiac monitoring for children with heart disease still employs common clinical techniques that require visits to hospital either in an ambulatory or inpatient setting. Frequent cardiac monitoring, such as heart rate monitoring, can limit children's physical activity and quality of life. The main objective of this study is to evaluate the performance of a textile-based device (SKIIN) in measuring heart rate (HR) in different tasks: lying down, sitting, standing, exercising, and cooling down.
Methods:
Twenty participants including healthy children and children with heart disease were included in this study. The difference between the HRs recorded by the SKIIN was compared with a reference electrocardiogram collection by normalized root mean squared error. Participants completed a questionnaire on their experience wearing the textile device with additional parental feedback on the textile device collected.
Results:
Participants had the median age of 14 years (range: 10-17 years), with body mass index 23.1 ± 3.8 kg/m2 and body surface area 1.70 ± 0.25 m2. The HR recorded by SKIIN and reference system significantly changes between tasks (P < 0.001), while not significantly different from each other (P > 0.05). The normalized root mean squared error was 3.8% ± 3.0% and 3.6% ± 3.7% for healthy and the heart disease groups, respectively. All participants found the textile device non-irritating and easy to wear.
Conclusions:
This study provides proof of concept that HR can be robustly and conveniently monitored by smart textiles, with similar accuracy to standard-of-care devices.
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