In‐Body Electromagnetic Sensor Combined with AI‐Enhanced Electrocardiography for Pacemaker Working Status Telemonitoring

This paper describes the design and implementation of an in‐body electromagnetic sensor for patients with implanted pacemakers. The sensor can either be mounted on myocardial tissue and monitor the electrocardiography (ECG) with contact electrodes or implanted under the skin and monitor the ECG with coaxial leads. A 16‐bit high‐resolution analog front‐end (AFE) and an energy‐efficient 32‐bit CPU are used for instantaneous ECG recording. Wireless data transmission between the sensor and clinician’s computer is achieved by an embedded low‐power Bluetooth transmitter. In order to automatically recognize the working status of the pacemaker and alarm the episodes of arrhythmias caused by pacemaker malfunctions, pacing mode classification and fault diagnosis on the recorded ECG were achieved based on an AI algorithm, i.e., a resource allocation network (RAN). A prototype of the sensor was implemented on a human torso, and the in vitro test results prove that the sensor can work properly for the 1‐4‐meter transmission range.