From fabric to smart T-shirt: fine tuning an improved robust system to detect arrhythmia
Wearable electrocardiogram (ECG) systems should be comfortable, non-stigmatizing, and capable of producing high-quality data. Many different designs of wearable textile ECG systems have recently emerged. Some of them are not considered to be smart garments, whereas most of the others present only the electronic side of the system. Our research work introduces a comprehensive study for an improved single-lead ECG smart shirt to identify automatically premature ventricular contraction as a common form of arrhythmia. For artifact-free results, Marvelous Designer is implemented to design our optimized relaxed slim fit shirt. In addition, a weft-knitted fabric of 80% nylon–20% spandex is used to manufacture the outer part of the shirt. Moreover, lightweight and small size electronic components are integrated to the outer part via low-resistance dry textile electrodes and 100% cotton fabric as an inner layer for easy transmission of weak ECG signals.