Novel multichannel capacitive ECG-System for cardiac diagnostics beyond the standard-lead system

Abstract

Capacitive electrodes provide the same access to the human electrocardiogram (ECG) as galvanic electrodes, however, without the need of direct skin contact and even through thicker layers of cloth. Traditional body surface potential mapping (BSPM) using a multitude of galvanic electrode configurations or magnetocardiography (MCG) may be tedious to perform, particularly in severely ill patients. In contrast, an insulated setup including a multichannel arrangement of capacitive sensors offers direct access to body surface potential maps. We evaluated the capacitive ECG signals (obtained by means of cBSPM) on the basis of ECG data obtained through classical standard electrocardiography including the Einthoven, Goldberger, and Wilson leads. Ten patients with a recent myocardial infarction and sinus rhythmus or arrhythmias were included in the study. Our results with the cBSPM system showed a high correlation with the standard galvanic ECG (gECG) regarding diagnostically relevant scalar ECG data. Moreover, our cBSPM system allowed for a detailed characterization of the cardiac de- and repolarization cycle. In conclusion, our preliminary data suggest that application of cBSPM is feasible, even in very old people, and yields reliable results with regard to infarct and arrhythmia diagnosis. Compared to conventional BSPM systems, the cBSPM system offers the advantage of rapid ECG screening, which may be particularly important in the context of hemodynamically unstable patients.