Key result
Smart textiles show near-perfect agreement with standard telemetry for HRV and arrhythmia detection in horses.
Why the study?
A smart textile ECG device was developed for horses, but its utility for long-duration heart rate variability monitoring and physiological arrhythmia detection was unknown.
Does a smart textile ECG device accurately measure heart rate variability and detect physiological arrhythmias compared to a standard telemetric device in resting horses?
Observational (n=12)
Single-blind
No
Does a smart textile ECG device accurately measure heart rate variability and detect physiological arrhythmias compared to a standard telemetric device in resting horses?
A smart textile ECG device provides a reliable and practical alternative to standard telemetric devices for long-duration HRV assessment and arrhythmia detection in resting horses.
May support equine HRV research tools; leaves open clinical validation and adoption.
BACKGROUND: A smart textile device has been developed for the recording of electrocardiograms (ECGs) in horses; however, the utility of this device for long-duration heart rate variability (HRV) monitoring and detection of physiological arrhythmias is unknown. Therefore, the objective of this study was to validate a smart textile device for HRV over long durations (6 h) in resting horses. ECGs were recorded simultaneously via the Myant Skiin Equine textile device and a reference device (Televet 100) in 12 horses. ECGs were evaluated by a blinded observer for arrhythmias, and HRV metrics were calculated. Agreement between the two devices was assessed via Bland‒Altman analysis and Lin's concordance correlation coefficient. RESULTS: Substantial to perfect agreement was found for all the HRV metrics. Physiological arrhythmias were detected in all the recordings from the twelve horses. Small biases and substantial to perfect agreement were found between the two devices for sinoatrial blocks (ρc = 0.99), sinus pauses (ρc = 0.96), sinus arrhythmias (ρc = 0.96), sinus tachycardia (ρc = 0.99), and 2nd degree atrioventricular blocks (ρc = 1.0). CONCLUSIONS: This study demonstrates that a smart textile system is a practical alternative to the standard telemetric device for long-duration assessment of HRV and the detection of physiological arrhythmias in healthy, resting horses.
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McCrae et al. (2025) conducted an observational in Healthy resting horses (n=12). Smart textile system (Skiin Equine) vs. Reference telemetric system (Televet 100) was evaluated on Agreement between devices for HRV metrics and physiological arrhythmias. The smart textile system demonstrated substantial to perfect agreement (Lin's concordance correlation >0.9) with a standard telemetric device for long-duration assessment of heart rate variability and detection of physiological arrhythmias in resting horses.
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