CardioResp Device: Hardware and Firmware of an Embedded Wearable for Real-Time ECG and Respiration in Dynamic Settings

Monitoring electrocardiogram (ECG) and respiration continuously and non-invasively is essential for managing cardiopulmonary health. An effective wearable device can be used to regularly monitor key vitals, reducing the need for clinical visits. In this work, we propose a custom device for real-time continuous ECG by inkjet printed (IJP) dry electrodes and respiration monitoring by using a novel single 6-axis inertial measurement unit (IMU). The proposed system can extract the heart rate (HR) and respiration rate (RR) during static and dynamic postures. The respiration process implements a quaternion-based update and multiple filtering stages to estimate the signal. The custom device uses Bluetooth protocol to send the raw and processed data to a mobile application. The RR is investigated in stationary, i.e., sitting and standing, and dynamic, i.e., walking, running, and cycling, postures. The proposed device is evaluated with commercial Go Direct® respiration belt from Vernier® for RR and offers an overall accuracy of 99.3% and 98.6% for static and dynamic conditions, respectively. The wearable also offers 98.9% and 97.9% accuracy for HR measurements, respectively, in static and active postures when compared with the Kardia® device. Furthermore, the device is assessed in an ambulatory monitoring setup in both indoor and outdoor environments. The low-power wearable consumes an average of only 7.4 mA of current during data processing. The device performs effectively and efficiently in both stationary and active states, offering a low complexity, portable solution for real-time monitoring. The proposed system can benefit from the continuous monitoring and early detection of pulmonary and cardio-respiratory health issues.