Heart rhythm analysis using ECG recorded with a novel sternum based patch technology: A pilot study

According to the World Health Organization, cardiovascular diseases are the number one cause of death globally. Early diagnosis and treatment of many of these patients depend on ambulatory electrocardiography recordings. Therefore a novel wireless patch technology has been designed for easy, reliable long-term ECG recordings. The device is designed for high compliance and low patient burden. This novel patch technology is CE approved for ambulatory ECG recording of two ECG channels on the sternum. This paper describes a clinical pilot study regarding the usefulness of these ECG signals for heart rhythm analysis. A clinical technician with experience in ECG interpretation selected 200 noise-free 7 seconds ECG segments from 25 different patients. These 200 ECG segments were evaluated by two medical doctors according to their usefulness for heart rhythm analysis. The first doctor considered 98.5% of the segments useful for rhythm analysis, whereas the second doctor considered 99.5% of the segments useful for rhythm analysis. The conclusion of this pilot study indicates that two channel ECG recorded on the sternum is useful for rhythm analysis and could be used as input to diagnosis together with other clinical tests and medical history.