The effect of textile-based inductive coil sensor positions for heart rate monitoring

In the research related to heart rate measurement, few studies have been done using magnetic-induced conductivity sensing methods to measure the heart rate. The aim of this study was to analyze the effect of the position of a textile-based inductive coil sensor on the measurement of the heart rate. In order to assess the capability of the textile-based inductive coil sensor and the repeatability of measured cardiac muscle contractions, we proposed a new quality index based on the morphology of measured signals using a textile-based inductive coil sensor. We initially explored eight potential positions of the inductive sensor in a pilot experiment, followed by three sensor positions in the main experiment. A simultaneously measured electrocardiography (ECG) signal (Lead II) which was used as a reference signal for a comparison of the R-peak location with signals obtained from selected positions of the textile-based inductive coil sensor. The result of the main experiment indicated that the total quality index obtained from the sensor position 'P3', which was located 3 cm away from the left side from the center front line on the chest circumference line, was the highest (QI value = 1.30) among the three positions across all the subjects. This finding led us to conclude that (1) the position of the textile-based inductive coil sensor significantly affected the quality of the measurement results, and that (2) P3 would be the most appropriate position for the textile-based inductive coil sensor for heart rate measurements based on the magnetic-induced conductivity sensing principle.