HeartFelt - Replicable and accurate ECG sensor architecture for real-time remote monitoring

Abstract

Heart affections are currently the main type of illness affecting the elderly, and pose unique difficulties both in diagnostic and in treatment effects tracking and long term evolution monitoring. The already stretched out medical system cannot handle the requirements of long term monitoring of patients with severe heart conditions, and thus, automated long term monitoring solutions are required. The present work displays a practical analysis of the hardware and software solutions available for ambulatory ECG (electrocardiogram) monitoring, by proposing a replicable ECG sensor architecture - HeartFelt. The proposal is detailed and validated by means of a complete hardware and software implementation, confirmed by tests performed in cooperation with medical staff. The exposed architecture offers the possibility of long term monitoring of an ECG signal from a patient in ambulatory environment, and offers a balance between precision, ergonomics, autonomy and productions costs.