Smart textiles biotechnology for electrocardiogram monitoring in horses during exercise on treadmill: Validation tests.
Abstract: There are several bioengineering solutions aimed at improving human health and welfare. Smart electrodes based on textile substrates have met the growing demand for comfort, reliability, and robustness when acquiring physiological signals. Objective: Given the importance of good quality electrocardiograms (ECG) in equine sports medicine, this study focuses on the validation of smart textile electrodes to acquire ECG signals in horses during treadmill exercise. Methods: The performance of the smart textile electrodes is compared with standard silver/silver chloride (Ag/AgCl) electrodes in terms of signal quality. Methods: Five healthy Standardbred mares were fitted with two identical electronic systems for the simultaneous recording of ECGs during a standardised exercise test (SET) on a treadmill. One system was equipped with smart textile electrodes, whereas the second was equipped with standard Ag/AgCl electrodes. The Ag/AgCl electrodes were positioned on shaved skin with self-adhesive pads, and without (SET1) or with glue (SET2). The textile electrodes were positioned without shaving the skin. The Kurtosis (k) value for each ECG trace recorded was calculated as an index of ECG signal quality. Results: For the textile electrodes, k values were higher, and closer to ideal compared to Ag/AgCl electrodes. The median values of the Signal Quality Indexes (kSQI) were higher for textile compared to Ag/AgCl electrodes. These differences were significant in SET 2 (P < .001), but not in SET 1 (P = .08). Conclusions: This study was limited to treadmill exercise that did not include a rider or harness. Conclusions: During treadmill exercise, textile electrodes are a practical solution for collecting good quality ECG traces.
© 2020 EVJ Ltd.
Publication Date: 2020-07-07 PubMed ID: 32491229DOI: 10.1111/evj.13296Google Scholar: Lookup
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- Journal Article
- Athletic Horses
- Biotechnology
- Cardiovascular Health
- Clinical Study
- Comparative Study
- Diagnostic Technique
- Electrocardiography
- Equestrian Sports
- Equine Diseases
- Equine Health
- Equine Science
- Equine Studies
- Exercise Physiology
- Exercise Test
- Horse Training
- Physiology
- Standardbred Horses
- Treadmill Exercise
- Veterinary Medicine
- Veterinary Research
Summary
This research summary has been generated with artificial intelligence and may contain errors and omissions. Refer to the original study to confirm details provided. Submit correction.
The research article discusses a study where smart textile electrodes were used to monitor the electrocardiograms (ECG) of horses during treadmill exercise and were found to give higher quality signals than standard silver/silver chloride electrodes.
Objective
- The aim of this study was to validate the use of smart textile electrodes for acquiring ECG signals in horses during treadmill exercise. Monitoring the heart activity of horses with ECGs during exercise is crucial in equine sports medicine. Comfort, reliability, and robustness are some of the attributes desired in the electrodes used for this purpose.
Methods
- The study involved five healthy Standardbred mares, a breed of horse. These horses were fitted with two identical electronic systems to record their ECGs during a standardized exercise test (SET) on a treadmill.
- One of the electronic systems was fitted with the smart textile electrodes and the other with standard silver/silver chloride (Ag/AgCl) electrodes.
- The Ag/AgCl electrodes were positioned on shaved skin with self-adhesive pads, with and without glue. The textile electrodes were placed without shaving the skin.
- To determine the quality of ECG signal, the Kurtosis value for each ECG trace was calculated. This value is a measure of how heavily the tails of a distribution differ from the tails of a normal distribution.
Results
- The study found that Kurtosis values for the ECG traces collected from the smart textile electrodes were higher and closer to what is considered ideal, when compared to the Ag/AgCl electrodes.
- The median values of the Signal Quality Indexes (SQI) were also higher for the textile electrodes compared to the Ag/AgCl electrodes. These differences in quality were demonstrated to be significant in the instance when the Ag/AgCl electrodes were glued to the skin, but not when they were attached with self-adhesive pads.
Conclusions
- The study concluded that textile electrodes provide a practical solution for collecting high-quality ECG traces from horses during treadmill exercise. However, the study was limited to treadmill exercise, and did not include scenarios where a rider or harness was present.
Cite This Article
APA
(2020).
Smart textiles biotechnology for electrocardiogram monitoring in horses during exercise on treadmill: Validation tests.
Equine Vet J, 53(2), 373-378.
https://doi.org/10.1111/evj.13296 Publication
Researcher Affiliations
MeSH Terms
- Animals
- Biotechnology
- Electrocardiography / veterinary
- Electrodes
- Exercise Test / veterinary
- Female
- Horses
- Reproducibility of Results
- Textiles
Grant Funding
- University of Pisa
References
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Citations
This article has been cited 6 times.- Felici M, Reddon AR, Maglieri V, Lanatà A, Baragli P. Heart and brain: Change in cardiac entropy is related to lateralised visual inspection in horses.. PLoS One 2023;18(8):e0289753.
- McCrae P, Spong H, Golestani N, Mahnam A, Bashura Y, Pearson W. Validation of an Equine Smart Textile System for Heart Rate Variability: A Preliminary Study.. Animals (Basel) 2023 Feb 1;13(3).
- McCrae P, Spong H, Rutherford AA, Osborne V, Mahnam A, Pearson W. A Smart Textile Band Achieves High-Quality Electrocardiograms in Unrestrained Horses.. Animals (Basel) 2022 Nov 23;12(23).
- Turini L, Bonelli F, Lanatà A, Vitale V, Nocera I, Sgorbini M, Mele M. Validation of a new smart textiles biotechnology for heart rate variability monitoring in sheep.. Front Vet Sci 2022;9:1018213.
- Nigusse AB, Mengistie DA, Malengier B, Tseghai GB, Langenhove LV. Wearable Smart Textiles for Long-Term Electrocardiography Monitoring-A Review.. Sensors (Basel) 2021 Jun 17;21(12).
- Scopa C, Greco A, Contalbrigo L, Fratini E, Lanatà A, Scilingo EP, Baragli P. Inside the Interaction: Contact With Familiar Humans Modulates Heart Rate Variability in Horses.. Front Vet Sci 2020;7:582759.
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