Continuous ECG data gathering by a wireless vital sensor — Evaluation of its sensing and transmission capabilities

This paper investigates the possibility of a realtime electrocardiogram (ECG) data gathering by a wireless vital sensor in houses and hospitals. First of all, to evaluate the ECG capability, we conducted clinical tests with 67 subjects comparing 24-hour data obtained at houses between the wireless vital sensor and a Holter monitor. Secondly, to evaluate the wireless transmission capability, we conducted experiments with 8 subjects in patient rooms at a hospital. The clinical test results conclude that, as long as the sensed data are successfully received at a receiver, the wireless vital sensor has a comparable performance with the Holter ECG monitor, on the other hand, the experimental results show that the data transmission capability with a single receiver is not satisfactory for real-time continuous monitoring, but the use of three receivers can significantly improve the data transmission quality by receive diversity effect.