Real-Time, Single-Ear, Wearable ECG Reconstruction, R-Peak Detection, and HR/HRV Monitoring

Area of Science:

• Biomedical Engineering
• Wearable Technology
• Biosignal Processing

Background:

• Continuous biosignal monitoring, particularly heart rate (HR) and heart rate variability (HRV), is crucial for tracking physiological and cognitive states.
• Head-worn devices like earbuds offer potential for improved usability in HR/HRV monitoring, but face challenges with wet electrodes, weak ear signals, and algorithm compatibility.
• Current methods often require invasive or cumbersome setups, limiting widespread adoption for continuous, non-invasive cardiovascular health assessment.

Purpose of the Study:

• To introduce a single-ear wearable system for real-time Electrocardiogram (ECG) parameter estimation on an energy-efficient, embedded device.
• To demonstrate robust extraction of HR and HRV parameters directly on a wearable device using advanced electrode technology and an optimized algorithm.
• To enable continuous, unobtrusive cardiovascular monitoring through everyday head-worn devices.

Main Methods:

• Development of a single-ear wearable system integrating state-of-the-art in-ear electrode technology.
• Implementation of an optimized DeepMF algorithm for Electrocardiogram (ECG) signal processing on the energy-efficient BioGAP device.
• Subject-independent approach for real-time HR and HRV parameter extraction directly on the wearable device.

Main Results:

• The system achieves low energy consumption with only 36.7 uJ/inference for HR/HRV parameter estimation.
• Comparable performance to state-of-the-art architectures with mean errors of 0.49 bpm for HR and 25.82 ms for HRV.
• Estimated battery life of 36 hours with a total system power consumption of 7.6 mW.

Conclusions:

• The developed system enables robust, real-time ECG parameter estimation directly on an ear-worn device, paving the way for continuous cardiovascular monitoring.
• Integration of HR and HRV measurements into everyday devices like earbuds offers significant potential for unobtrusive, at-home cardiovascular health tracking.
• This technology can aid in the early detection of cardiovascular irregularities through continuous, non-invasive monitoring.