A Smart Textile Band Achieves High-Quality Electrocardiograms in Unrestrained Horses
Electrocardiography (ECG) is an essential tool in assessing equine health and fitness. However, standard ECG devices are expensive and rely on the use of adhesive electrodes, which may become detached and are associated with reduced ECG quality over time. Smart textile electrodes composed of stainle...
| Main Authors: | , , , , , |
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
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MDPI AG
2022-11-01
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| Series: | Animals |
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| Online Access: | https://www.mdpi.com/2076-2615/12/23/3254 |
| _version_ | 1797463794357633024 |
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| author | Persephone McCrae Hannah Spong Ashley-Ann Rutherford Vern Osborne Amin Mahnam Wendy Pearson |
| author_facet | Persephone McCrae Hannah Spong Ashley-Ann Rutherford Vern Osborne Amin Mahnam Wendy Pearson |
| author_sort | Persephone McCrae |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | Electrocardiography (ECG) is an essential tool in assessing equine health and fitness. However, standard ECG devices are expensive and rely on the use of adhesive electrodes, which may become detached and are associated with reduced ECG quality over time. Smart textile electrodes composed of stainless-steel fibers have previously been shown to be a suitable alternative in horses at rest and during exercise. The objective of this study was to compare ECG quality using a smart textile girth band knit with silver and carbon yarns to standard adhesive silver/silver chloride (Ag/AgCl) electrodes. Simultaneous three-lead ECGs were recorded using a smart textile band and Ag/AgCl electrodes in 22 healthy, mixed-breed horses that were unrestrained in stalls. ECGs were compared using the following quality metrics: Kurtosis (k) value, Kurtosis signal quality index (kSQI), percentage of motion artifacts (%MA), peak signal amplitude, and heart rate (HR). Two-way ANOVA with Tukey’s multiple comparison tests was conducted to compare each metric. No significant differences were found in any of the assessed metrics between the smart textile band and Ag/AgCl electrodes, with the exception of peak amplitude. Kurtosis and kSQI values were excellent for both methods (textile mean k = 21.8 ± 6.1, median kSQI = 0.98 [0.92–1.0]; Ag/AgCl k = 21.2 ± 7.6, kSQI = 0.99 [0.97–1.0]) with <0.5% (<1 min) of the recording being corrupted by MAs for both. This study demonstrates that smart textiles are a practical and reliable alternative to the standard electrodes typically used in ECG monitoring of horses. |
| first_indexed | 2024-03-09T17:55:47Z |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj.art-fc77e0b7486f4a37ab9a808814a97017 |
| institution | Directory Open Access Journal |
| issn | 2076-2615 |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-03-09T17:55:47Z |
| publishDate | 2022-11-01 |
| publisher | MDPI AG |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Animals |
| spelling | doaj.art-fc77e0b7486f4a37ab9a808814a970172023-11-24T10:24:04ZengMDPI AGAnimals2076-26152022-11-011223325410.3390/ani12233254A Smart Textile Band Achieves High-Quality Electrocardiograms in Unrestrained HorsesPersephone McCrae0Hannah Spong1Ashley-Ann Rutherford2Vern Osborne3Amin Mahnam4Wendy Pearson5Department of Animal Biosciences, University of Guelph, Guelph, ON N1G 2W1, CanadaDepartment of Animal Biosciences, University of Guelph, Guelph, ON N1G 2W1, CanadaDepartment of Animal Biosciences, University of Guelph, Guelph, ON N1G 2W1, CanadaDepartment of Animal Biosciences, University of Guelph, Guelph, ON N1G 2W1, CanadaDepartment of Research and Development, Myant Inc., Toronto, ON M9W 1B6, CanadaDepartment of Animal Biosciences, University of Guelph, Guelph, ON N1G 2W1, CanadaElectrocardiography (ECG) is an essential tool in assessing equine health and fitness. However, standard ECG devices are expensive and rely on the use of adhesive electrodes, which may become detached and are associated with reduced ECG quality over time. Smart textile electrodes composed of stainless-steel fibers have previously been shown to be a suitable alternative in horses at rest and during exercise. The objective of this study was to compare ECG quality using a smart textile girth band knit with silver and carbon yarns to standard adhesive silver/silver chloride (Ag/AgCl) electrodes. Simultaneous three-lead ECGs were recorded using a smart textile band and Ag/AgCl electrodes in 22 healthy, mixed-breed horses that were unrestrained in stalls. ECGs were compared using the following quality metrics: Kurtosis (k) value, Kurtosis signal quality index (kSQI), percentage of motion artifacts (%MA), peak signal amplitude, and heart rate (HR). Two-way ANOVA with Tukey’s multiple comparison tests was conducted to compare each metric. No significant differences were found in any of the assessed metrics between the smart textile band and Ag/AgCl electrodes, with the exception of peak amplitude. Kurtosis and kSQI values were excellent for both methods (textile mean k = 21.8 ± 6.1, median kSQI = 0.98 [0.92–1.0]; Ag/AgCl k = 21.2 ± 7.6, kSQI = 0.99 [0.97–1.0]) with <0.5% (<1 min) of the recording being corrupted by MAs for both. This study demonstrates that smart textiles are a practical and reliable alternative to the standard electrodes typically used in ECG monitoring of horses.https://www.mdpi.com/2076-2615/12/23/3254equinecardiologyelectrocardiogramsmart textiletextile computing |
| spellingShingle | Persephone McCrae Hannah Spong Ashley-Ann Rutherford Vern Osborne Amin Mahnam Wendy Pearson A Smart Textile Band Achieves High-Quality Electrocardiograms in Unrestrained Horses Animals equine cardiology electrocardiogram smart textile textile computing |
| title | A Smart Textile Band Achieves High-Quality Electrocardiograms in Unrestrained Horses |
| title_full | A Smart Textile Band Achieves High-Quality Electrocardiograms in Unrestrained Horses |
| title_fullStr | A Smart Textile Band Achieves High-Quality Electrocardiograms in Unrestrained Horses |
| title_full_unstemmed | A Smart Textile Band Achieves High-Quality Electrocardiograms in Unrestrained Horses |
| title_short | A Smart Textile Band Achieves High-Quality Electrocardiograms in Unrestrained Horses |
| title_sort | smart textile band achieves high quality electrocardiograms in unrestrained horses |
| topic | equine cardiology electrocardiogram smart textile textile computing |
| url | https://www.mdpi.com/2076-2615/12/23/3254 |
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