Regular Paper : Real Time ECG Monitoring Through a Wearable Smart T-shirt

A wearable sensing ECG T-shirt for ubiquitous vital signs sensing is proposed. The sensor system consists of a signal processing board and capacitive sensing electrodes which together enable measurement of an electrocardiogram (ECG) on the human chest with minimal discomfort. The capacitive sensing method was employed to prevent direct ECG measurement on the skin and also to provide maximum convenience to the user. Also, low power integrated circuits (ICs) and passive electrodes were employed in this research to reduce the power consumption of the entire system. Small flexible electrodes were placed into cotton pockets and affixed to the interior of a worn tight NIKE Pro combat T-shirt. Appropriate signal conditioning and processing were implemented to remove motion artifacts. The entire system was portable and consumed low power compared to conventional ECG devices. The ECG signal obtained from a 24 yr. old male was comparable to that of an ECG simulator.