A New Self-Made 16-Channel Capacitive Electrocardiography System: An Investigation and Validation for Non-Contact...

Area of Science:

• Biomedical Engineering
• Cardiovascular Technology

Background:

• Electrocardiography (ECG) systems are crucial for diagnosing and preventing heart conditions.
• Improving the convenience and usability of ECG systems is essential for widespread adoption.

Purpose of the Study:

• To develop a customized capacitive electrocardiography (cECG) system for enhanced user convenience.
• To evaluate the performance of the cECG system in acquiring clear and accurate ECG signals.

Main Methods:

• Constructed a cECG system integrating one wet electrode, sixteen non-contact electrodes, ADS1299 chips, and an STM32F303 MCU.
• Implemented bias feedback with a wet Ag/AgCl electrode to mitigate power line noise.
• Developed artifact removal techniques for signal clarity.

Main Results:

• The cECG system successfully acquired, saved, and displayed ECG data in real time.
• Bias feedback significantly suppressed power line noise, enabling clear signal discernment after artifact removal.
• ECG signals obtained with capacitive electrodes showed similarity to those from the wet electrode.

Conclusions:

• The developed cECG system offers a convenient and effective solution for real-time ECG monitoring.
• The cECG system provides comparable signal quality to traditional wet electrode methods.
• This configuration facilitates improved at-home or clinical cardiovascular monitoring.