Skip to main page content
U.S. flag

An official website of the United States government

Dot gov

The .gov means it’s official.
Federal government websites often end in .gov or .mil. Before sharing sensitive information, make sure you’re on a federal government site.

Https

The site is secure.
The https:// ensures that you are connecting to the official website and that any information you provide is encrypted and transmitted securely.

Access keys NCBI Homepage MyNCBI Homepage Main Content Main Navigation
. 2010:3:1-9.
doi: 10.2147/mder.s9321. Epub 2010 Jul 5.

An ultra-high input impedance ECG amplifier for long-term monitoring of athletes

Gaetano Gargiulo  1 , Paolo Bifulco, Mario Cesarelli, Mariano Ruffo, Maria Romano, Rafael A Calvo, Craig Jin, André van Schaik
Affiliations

An ultra-high input impedance ECG amplifier for long-term monitoring of athletes

Gaetano Gargiulo et al. Med Devices (Auckl). 2010.

Abstract

We present a new, low-power electrocardiogram (ECG) recording system with an ultra-high input impedance that enables the use of long-lasting, dry electrodes. The system incorporates a low-power Bluetooth module for wireless connectivity and is designed to be suitable for long-term monitoring during daily activities. The new system using dry electrodes was compared with a clinically approved ECG reference system using gelled Ag/AgCl electrodes and performance was found to be equivalent. In addition, the system was used to monitor an athlete during several physical tasks, and a good quality ECG was obtained in all cases, including when the athlete was totally submerged in fresh water.

Keywords: ECG monitoring; bioelectric potentials; biomedical electrodes.

PubMed Disclaimer

Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1
Schematics of the biopotential amplifier.
Figure 2
Figure 2
Schematics of the BlueSenseAD connections.
Figure 3
Figure 3
Front view and cross section of the conductive rubber electrode.
Figure 4
Figure 4
Input referred noise power spectral density of the biopotential amplifier and its dry electrodes.
Figure 5
Figure 5
Gain of the biopotential amplifier as a function of frequency.
Figure 6
Figure 6
Direct comparison of an ECG recording with the proposed system (top) and a clinically approved system (g.Bsamp) using wet Ag/AgCl electrodes.
Figure 7
Figure 7
Direct comparison of an ECG recording with the proposed system (top) and a clinically approved system (g.Bsamp) using wet Ag/AgCl electrodes after 48 hours.
Figure 8
Figure 8
ECG recorded with our system during rest.
Figure 9
Figure 9
ECG signals recorded during a squatting exercise. Top: raw data, bottom: band pass filtered data.
Figure 10
Figure 10
ECG signals recorded during a bench press exercise. Top: raw data, bottom: band pass filtered data.
Figure 11
Figure 11
ECG signals recorded during a pullup exercise. Top: raw data, bottom: band pass filtered data.
Figure 12
Figure 12
Underwater ECG recording. Top: raw data, bottom: band pass filtered data.
Figure 13
Figure 13
ECG signals recorded using textile electrodes after 24 hours of wearing. Top: raw data, bottom: band pass filtered data.
See this image and copyright information in PMC

Similar articles

See all similar articles

Cited by

See all "Cited by" articles

References

    1. Zheng ZJ, Croft JB, Giles WH. State-specific mortality from sudden cardiac death. MMWR Morb Mortal Wkly Rep. 2002;5:51:123–126. - PubMed
    1. Hindricks G, Piorkowsky C, Tanner H. Perception of atrial fibrillation before and after radiofrequency catheter ablation: Relevance of asymptomatic arrhythmia recurrence. Circulation. 2005;112:307–313. - PubMed
    1. Maron BJ. Sudden death in young athletes. Lessons from the Hank Gathers affair. N Engl J Med. 1993;329:55–57. - PubMed
    1. Basilico FC. Cardiovascular disease in athletes. Am J Sports Med. 1999;27:109–121. - PubMed
    1. Fagard F. Athlete’s heart. Heart. 2003;89:1455–1461. - PMC - PubMed

LinkOut - more resources