2024-05-20
The principle of wearable electrocardiogram (ECG) monitoring involves capturing electrical signals generated by the heart using electrodes placed on the body’s surface. Traditional ECG recordings typically utilize twelve leads connected to specific areas of the body to obtain comprehensive cardiac activity data. However, in wearable devices, due to size constraints, a closed loop of electrodes, usually two, is employed to monitor and record the ECG signals. For instance, in smartwatches, electrodes are commonly positioned on the back and sides or surface of the watch to capture and analyze ECG signals.
To achieve higher accuracy in ECG signal acquisition, wearable devices rely on high-performance ECG-specific chips. While previously these chips were often sourced from foreign companies like TI and ADI, recent years have seen the emergence of domestically developed ECG chips in China, such as BAC201, which rival imported ones in precision, size, power consumption, signal strength, and other aspects.
Although the ECG monitoring capabilities of wearable devices may not match medical-grade precision, they offer the advantage of convenient daily monitoring at a lower cost. Importantly, the inclusion of ECG functionality in wearable devices delineates the future direction of their development, with the potential for achieving medical-grade health monitoring standards.
