Multifunctional body sensor

Wearable wireless ECG sensor during measurements
Wearable wireless ECG sensor during measurements
The motivation for this project proposal comes from the lack of widely accepted mHealth solutions, despite the world of ubiquitous mHealth enabling digital devices, being developed to provide improved medical care with reduced costs. Perhaps the most distinguished among these devices are the wearable wireless sensors, which have become advanced enough to provide reliable physiological readings for health management.

The demonstrator of the principles of wireless ECG measurement has been designed, prototyped, and developed to TRL 9. It is based on Texas Instruments MSP430 low power MCU and external analog part for measuring single channel ECG. Wireless communication is implemented using Bluetooth 4.0 low-energy protocol. The wearable casing was carefully designed to enable long life and comfortable wearing. The device and accompanying software ecosystem is available on the market and is intended for personal use.

Final product
Final product

What is it? A small autonomous device that is placed on the chest and measures heart activity - the so called single-lead ECG. This is complemented by the measurements of user movement, body and ambient temperature, air pressure and humidity. The device is small and lightweight, it is kept attached to the body by two adhesive pads and can be worn for days, either fully exposed or under garments, when resting, working. engaging everyday tasks, or working out. It monitors the user non-stop, for several days before it must be re-charged. The measurements can be used in real-time, directly by the user or can be stored to be analyzed by a physician or a medical specialists.

Acquired signal shown on mobile device
Acquired signal shown on mobile device
How does it work? The device uses a small battery to power itself, an extremely low-power micro controller (so we can call it ‘smart’), and almost no internal memory. Instead of storing the measurements, it transmits them via Bluetooth Smart directly to a nearby mobile device. While currently the measurements are sent in raw form, the device itself has enough processing power to analyze them. The mobile device that receives the measurements (a tablet, a smart phone, a smart watch, or a smart future gadget) further analyses the measurements and extracts the most relevant information. The extracted information, combined with personalized health plan can then be presented to the user on their smart device or stored for later use, or transmitted to a medical facility for a controlled analysis. The physicians of the future will use the measurements and their computer analyses to asses the patients' health state remotely, with patients never required to visit the health center or clinic or another specialist institution.

P-Lab team


Funding

Publications

A. Rashkovska, M. Depolli, I. Tomašić, V. Avbelj, R. Trobec; Medical-grade ECG sensor for long-term monitoring, Sensors, vol. 20, 2020 [DOI: 10.3390/s20061695][COBISS: 33290791] ::
R. Trobec, M. Jan, M. Linden, I. Tomašić; Detection and treatment of atrial irregular rhythm with body gadgets and 35-channel ECG, MIPRO 2019 : 42nd International Convention, May 20 -24, 2019, Opatija, Croatia, MIPRO ..., 2019 [COBISS: 32375591]
M. Brložnik, Š. Likar, A. Krvavica, V. Avbelj, A. Domanjko-Petrič; Wireless body sensor for electrocardiographic monitoring in dogs and cats, Journal of Small Animal Practice, vol. 60, 2019 [DOI: 10.1111/jsap.12963][COBISS: 4728954]
I. Tomašić, N. Petrović, M. Linden, A. Rashkovska; Comparison of publicly available beat detection algorithms performances on the ECGs obtained by a patch ECG device, MIPRO 2019 : 42nd International Convention, May 20 -24, 2019, Opatija, Croatia, MIPRO ..., 2019 [DOI: 10.23919/MIPRO.2019.8756769][COBISS: 32388903]
I. Tomašić, A. Rashkovska, R. Trobec, M. Linden; The implications of the lead theory on the patch ECG devices positioning and measurement, World Congress on Medical Physics and Biomedical Engineering 2018, June 3-8, 2018, Prague, Czech Republic ; (Vol. 1), IFMBE proceedings, 2019 [DOI: 10.1007/978-981-10-9035-6_128][COBISS: 31842087]
M. Brložnik, A. Domanjko-Petrič, V. Kadunc Kos, A. Rashkovska, V. Avbelj; Wireless body sensor for electrocardiographic monitoring in equine medicine, MIPRO 2019 : 42nd International Convention, May 20 -24, 2019, Opatija, Croatia, MIPRO ..., 2019 [DOI: 10.23919/MIPRO.2019.8756965][COBISS: 32389159]
B. Širaiy, R. Trobec, V. Ilić; Quality of one-channel telemetric ECG sensor Signal in maximum exercise stress tests, Measurement science review, vol. 19, 2019 [DOI: 10.1515/msr-2019-0013][COBISS: 32412199]
D. Čarman, T. Cvetkovič, V. Avbelj, J. Kališnik, J. Žibert; Študija o pooperativni atrijski fibrilaciji, Delavnica za elektronsko in mobilno zdravje ter pametna mesta : zbornik 21. mednarodne multikonference Informacijska družba - IS 2018, 8.-12. oktober 2018, Ljubljana, Slovenia, 2018 [COBISS: 5527403]
A. Rashkovska, V. Avbelj; Three-year experience with a wireless ECG sensor, MIPRO 2018 : 41st International Convention, May 21 -25, 2018, Opatija, Croatia, 2018 [COBISS: 32042535]
D. Enova, R. Trobec, K. Mesarič, K. Slevec, B. Ambrožič, T. Enova; New HRV biofeedback technique and monitoring its effects in a psychotherapeutic group of coronary patients with SAVVY mini ECG devices installed, Delavnica za elektronsko in mobilno zdravje ter pametna mesta : zbornik 21. mednarodne multikonference Informacijska družba - IS 2018, 8.-12. oktober 2018, Ljubljana, Slovenia, 2018 [COBISS: 31846183]
R. Trobec, I. Tomašić, A. Rashkovska, M. Depolli, V. Avbelj; Body sensors and electrocardiography, 2018 [COBISS: 30759719] ::
S. Vodička, V. Avbelj; Elektrokardiografski senzor : uporaba med družinskimi zdravniki, Delavnica za elektronsko in mobilno zdravje ter pametna mesta : zbornik 21. mednarodne multikonference Informacijska družba - IS 2018, 8.-12. oktober 2018, Ljubljana, Slovenia, 2018 [COBISS: 31846951]
S. Šprager, R. Trobec, M. Jurič; Feasibility of biometric authentication using wearable ECG body sensor based on higher-order statistics, MIPRO 2017 : 40th Jubilee International Convention, May 22-26, 2017, Opatija, Croatia, MIPRO ..., 2017 [COBISS: 1537433283]
A. Rashkovska, V. Avbelj; Abdominal fetal ECG measured with differential ECG Sensor, MIPRO 2017 : 40th Jubilee International Convention, May 22-26, 2017, Opatija, Croatia, 2017 [COBISS: 30758951]
M. Depolli, J. Kališnik, T. Korošec, T. Poplas-Susič, U. Stanič, A. Semeja; PCARD platform for mHealth monitoring, Informatica : an international journal of computing and informatics, vol. 40, 2016 [COBISS: 29438247]
V. Avbelj; Extranodal pacemaker activity during sleep : a case study of wireless ECG sensor data, MIPRO 2015 : proceedings, MIPRO ..., 2015 [COBISS: 28744487]
R. Trobec, V. Avbelj, A. Rashkovska; Multi-functionality of wireless body sensors, The IPSI BgD transactions on internet research, vol. 10, 2014 [COBISS: 27718951]
R. Trobec, A. Rashkovska, V. Avbelj; Multi-functional wireless body sensor, GLOBAL HEALTH 2012, 2012 [COBISS: 26202663] ::
R. Trobec, A. Rashkovska, V. Avbelj; Two proximal skin electrodes - a respiration rate body sensor, Sensors, vol.12, 2012 [DOI: 10.3390/s121013813][COBISS: 26182951] ::