Miniaturized 3-Lead Electrocardiogram System Based on Einthoven Triangle for Wireless Cardiac Care Monitoring

Monitoring heart health typically requires a 12-lead electrocardiogram (ECG) system with a sampling frequency of >= 400 Hz with high power requirements. This allows the detection of clinically relevant cardiovascular events using P, Q, R, S, and T signature peaks in ECG. These requirements limit the scope of ECG use, especially in proactive monitoring, cardiac event prevention, and wireless wearable devices. Herein, a skin-mountable 3-lead wireless sensor patch based on the Einthoven triangle is experimentally demonstrated. It allows us to gather vital cardiac information in place of a conventional 12-lead ECG system. The patch uses the industry's lowest-power Bluetooth low-energy system on chip which requires 50 Hz sampling frequency to detect all critical events. A firmware for the chip is developed to transmit data wirelessly at extremely low power (-19 dB), resulting in uninterrupted operation for approximate to 4 days using a simple CR1632 battery. An Android app records and plots ECG data on a smartphone for real-time visual monitoring and transmits the data to the cloud-connected interface for remote monitoring. The demonstration with low-power operation and integration to the cloud-connected interface is a significant step for nonassisted home-based caring to enable preventive health management without being widely constrained by battery and tethered operation. Typically, cardiovascular monitoring requires bulky biopotential acquisition systems such as complex wire connections and high-frequency operations to detect enough information. These requirements limit the scope of electrocardiogram (ECG) use, especially in proactive monitoring, and wireless wearable devices. Herein, a 3-lead wireless ECG sensor has been demonstrated based on the Einthoven triangle to detect clinically relevant cardiovascular events for preventive health management.image (c) 2023 WILEY-VCH GmbH