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Recent developments in wearable technologies have paved the way for continuous monitoring of the electrocardiogram (ECG) signal, without the need for any laboratory settings. A number of wearable sensors ranging from wet electrode sensors to dry sensors, textile-based sensors, knitted integrated sensors (KIS) and planar fashionable circuit boards are used in ECG measurement. The purpose of this study is to carry out a comparative study of the different sensors used for ECG measurements. The current challenges faced in developing wearable ECG sensors are also reviewed.

This study carries out a comparative analysis of different wearable ECG sensors on the basis of four important aspects: materials and methods used to develop the sensors, working principle, implementation and performance. Each of the aspects has been reviewed with regard to the main types of wearable ECG sensors available.

A comparative study of the sensors helps understand the differences in their operating principles. While some sensors may have a higher efficiency, the others might ensure more user comfort. It is important to strike the right balance between the various aspects influencing the sensor performance.

Wearable ECG sensors have revolutionized the world of ambulatory ECG monitoring and helped in the treatment of many cardiovascular diseases. A comparative study of the available technologies will help both doctors and researchers gain an understanding of the shortcomings in the existing systems.

This paper aims to concentrate on recent innovations in flexible wearable sensor technology tailored for monitoring vital signals within the contexts of wearable sensors and systems developed specifically for monitoring health and fitness metrics.

In recent decades, wearable sensors for monitoring vital signals in sports and health have advanced greatly. Vital signals include electrocardiogram, electroencephalogram, electromyography, inertial data, body motions, cardiac rate and bodily fluids like blood and sweating, making them a good choice for sensing devices.

This report reviewed reputable journal articles on wearable sensors for vital signal monitoring, focusing on multimode and integrated multi-dimensional capabilities like structure, accuracy and nature of the devices, which may offer a more versatile and comprehensive solution.

The paper provides essential information on the present obstacles and challenges in this domain and provide a glimpse into the future directions of wearable sensors for the detection of these crucial signals. Importantly, it is evident that the integration of modern fabricating techniques, stretchable electronic devices, the Internet of Things and the application of artificial intelligence algorithms has significantly improved the capacity to efficiently monitor and leverage these signals for human health monitoring, including disease prediction.

The purpose of the current study is to explore the potential possibility of acceleration in recognition, remedial process of heart disease and continuous electrocardiogram (ECG) signal acquisition. The textile-based ECG electrode is prepared by inkjet printing of activator followed by electroless plating of nickel (Ni) particle.

The electrical resistance shows a range of around 0.1 Ω/sq, which sounds quite proper for ECG signal acquisition, as the potential difference according to heart activity on skin surface is in milivolt range. Surface modifications of Ni–phosphorus (P)-plated polyester fiber were studied by scanning electron microscopy, energy dispersive X-ray spectroscopy and X-ray diffractionmethods. The quality of the acquired signal from printed square-shaped sensors in two sizes with areas of 9 and 16 cm2 compared with the standard Ag/Agcl electrode using commercial ECG with the patient in the sitting position.

Comparison of these data led to the consideration of small fabric sensor for better performance and the least disturbance regarding homogeneity and attenuation in electric field scattering. Using these types of sensors in textile surface because of flexibility will provide more freedom of action to the user. Wearable ECG can be applied to solve the problems of the aging population, increasing demand for health services and lack of medical expert.

In the present research, a convenient, inexpensive and reproducible method for the patterning of Ni features on commercial polyester fabric was investigated. Printed designs with high electrical conductivity can be used as a cardiac receiving signals’ sensor.

The purpose fo this paper is to Monitor and sense the sysmptoms of COVID-19 as a preliminary measure using electronic wearable devices. This variability is sensed by electrocardiograms observed from a multi-parameter monitor and electronic wearable. This field of interest has evolved into a wide area of investigation with today’s advancement in technology of internet of things for immediate sensing and processing information about profound pain. A window span is estimated and reports of profound pain data are used for monitoring heart rate variability (HRV). A median heart rate is considered for comparisons with a diverse range of variable information obtained from sensors and monitors. Observations from healthy patients are introduced to identify how root mean square of difference between inter beat intervals, standard deviation of inter-beat intervals and mean heart rate value are normalized in HRV analysis.

The function of a human heart relates back to the autonomic nervous system, which organizes and maintains a healthy maneuver of inter connected organs. HRV has to be determined for analyzing and reporting the status of health, fitness, readiness and possibilities for recovery, and thus, a metric for deeming the presence of COVID-19. Identifying the variations in heart rate, monitoring and assessing profound pain levels are potential lives saving measures in medical industries.

Experiments are proposed to be done in electrical and thermal point of view and this composition will deliver profound pain levels ranging from 0 to 10. Real time detection of pain levels will assist the care takers to facilitate people in an aging population for a painless lifestyle.

The presented research has documented the stages of COVID-19, symptoms and a mechanism to monitor the progress of the disease through better parameters. Risk factors of the disease are carefully analyzed, compared with test results, and thus, concluded that considering the HRV can study better in the presence of ignorance and negligence. The same mechanism can be implemented along with a global positioning system (GPS) system to track the movement of patients during isolation periods. Despite the stringent control measurements for locking down all industries, the rate of affected people is still on the rise. To counter this, people have to be educated about the deadly effects of COVID-19 and foolproof systems should be in place to control the transmission from affected people to new people. Medications to suppress temperatures, will not be sufficient to alter the heart rate variations, and thus, the proposed mechanism implemented the same. The proposed study can be extended to be associated with Government mobile apps for regular and a consortium of single tracking. Measures can be taken to distribute the low-cost proposal to people for real time tracking and regular updates about high and medium risk patients.

Wearables are gaining prominence in the health-care industry and their use is growing. The elderly and other patients can use these wearables to monitor their vitals at home and have them sent to their doctors for feedback. Many studies are being conducted to improve wearable health-care monitoring systems to obtain clinically relevant diagnoses. The accuracy of this system is limited by several challenges, such as motion artifacts (MA), power line interference, false detection and acquiring vitals using dry electrodes. This paper aims to focus on wearable health-care monitoring systems in the literature and provides the effect of MA on the wearable system. Also presents the problems faced while tracking the vitals of users.

MA is a major concern and certainly needs to be suppressed. An analysis of the causes and effects of MA on wearable monitoring systems is conducted. Also, a study from the literature on motion artifact detection and reduction is carried out and presented here. The benefits of a machine learning algorithm in a wearable monitoring system are also presented. Finally, distinct applications of the wearable monitoring system have been explored.

According to the study reduction of MA and multiple sensor data fusion increases the accuracy of wearable monitoring systems.

This study also presents the outlines of design modification of dry/non-contact electrodes to minimize the MA. Also, discussed few approaches to design an efficient wearable health-care monitoring system.

This review paper aims to introduce the inkjet printing as a tool for fabrication of flexible/wearable sensors. It summarizes inkjet printing techniques including various modes of operation, commonly used substrates and inks, commercially available inkjet printers and variables affecting the printing process. More focus is on the drop-on-demand printing mode, a strongly considered printing technique for patterning conductive lines on flexible and stretchable substrates. As inkjet-printed patterns are influenced by various variables related to its conductivity, resistivity, durability and dimensions of printed patterns, the main printing parameters (e.g. printing multilayers, inks sintering, surface treatment, cartridge specifications and printing process parameters) are reported. The embedded approaches of adding electronic components (e.g. surface-mounted and optoelectronic devices) to the stretchable circuit are also included.

In this paper, inkjet printing techniques for fabrication of flexible/stretchable circuits will be reviewed. Specifically, the various modes of operation, commonly used substrates and inks and variables affecting the printing process will be presented. Next, examples of inkjet-printed electronic devices will be demonstrated. These devices will be compared to their rigid counterpart in terms of ease of implementation and electrical behavior for wearable sensor applications. Finally, a summary of key findings and future research opportunities will be presented.

In conclusion, it is evident that the technology of inkjet printing is becoming a competitor to traditional lithography fabrication techniques, as it has the advantage of being low cost and less complex. In particular, this technique has demonstrated great capabilities in the area of flexible/stretchable electronics and sensors. Various inkjet printing methods have been presented with emphasis on their principle of operation and their commercial availability. In addition, the components of a general inkjet printing process have been discussed in details. Several factors affect the resulting printed patterns in terms of conductivity, resistivity, durability and geometry.

The paper focuses on flexible/stretchable optoelectronic devices which could be implemented in stretchable circuits. Furthermore, the importance and challenges related to printing highly conductive and highly stretchable lines, as well as reliable electronic devices, and interfacing them with external circuitry for power transmission, data acquisition and signal conditioning have been highlighted and discussed. Although several fabrication techniques have been recently developed to allow patterning conductive lines on a rubber substrate, the fabrication of fully stretchable wearable sensors remains limited which needs future research in this area for the advancement of wearable sensors.

The purpose of this paper is to provide appropriate methods for reducing the abnormalities on the extracted fetal heart signal from the maternal electrocardiogram (ECG).

In this regard, the extracted signal of the fetal heart from the mother, improved using an active noise cancelation (ANC) system. It uses commonly adaptive algorithms of normalized least mean squares (NLMS). In the present paper, fetal extraction and denoising methodology are proposed. This methodology uses a combination of the NLMS algorithm with Savitzky–Golay (S-G) filter.

The obtained results show that a combination of NLMS algorithm with filter coefficient of 15 and µ = 0.02 and S-G filter has a better qSNR (qSNR = 3.6727) and good performance for fetal ECG extraction in comparison with the other works for average fmSNR in the range of −30 to −15 dB. Also, with considering the SNR value of −24.7 dB before filtering and SNR = 3.1861 dB after filtering; the SNR improvement of 27.8861 dB has been obtained.

A new method in the extract and noise reduction of fetal ECG from maternal ECG by the combination of NLMS algorithm and S-G filter is proposed.

The purpose of this paper was to offer more reliable dry electrode materials for long-term measuring and determine how repeated machine washing affects the measured impedance and surface resistance of the sample electrodes. The aim was to manufacture electrodes that could be used for the measurement of ECG. Skin friendly, metal sheet type, electrodes could be a solution.

In addition to two conventional electrodes already used in heart rate belts, the authors prepared and tested three different sheet metal electrodes. Three 20-mm-diameter electrodes were manufactured from the following materials: silvered knit, conductive polymer, stainless steel, silver and platinum. Electrode impedance was measured at seven frequencies from 1 Hz to 1 MHz, by placing two electrodes face-to-face. Measurements were taken on unused electrodes and after multiple machine washes at 40°C.

Analysis of the measurements indicates that with every material tested, the impedances are elevated after repeated washes. All metallic materials have impedances in the range of 0.01 to 4.5 Ω. Metal sheet electrodes can be integrated comfortably into the textile, and they endure textile maintenance without loss of electrical properties.

Metal sheet electrodes function well in long-term vital signs monitoring, provide a reliable signal and are resistant to maintenance. For the reasons described in this research, they can be used as a long-term wearable sensor.

Novel electrode material for long-term measuring research is important in many disciplines such as health care and apparel manufacturing. These findings suggest that pure metal electrodes are better than conductive textiles in long-term measuring.

Despite continuing workforce challenges over the last decade, the social care system is considered a key enabler in keeping older people out of hospital. In response to the workforce challenges, White Paper was released, which acknowledged the opportunities afforded by digital technology to assist older people ageing at home, often supported by informal caregivers. Given the policy emphasis on digital-enabled care, the most appropriate methods for evaluating its impact on social care outcomes have yet to be determined. The purpose this study was to review the current literature using a systematic approach to understand the methodological limitations to inform more robust evaluations in their use in future research.

This scoping review used a systematic approach adopting the framework of Arksey and O’Malley to examine studies examining the adoption of digital technologies to assist in older people’s ability to age in place.

The 21 relevant studies identified on digital technology to assist ageing-in-place are evolving. To date, it has focused on the efficacy and usability of the digital technologies themselves rather than investigating the impact of such technologies on re/enablement outcomes for older people. To rebalance this emphasis, there needs to be more research investigating the factors that enhance useability of digital technologies by older people and exploiting narrative data gained from qualitative research as they can provide valuable insights.

To the best of the authors’ knowledge, this is the first scoping review to consider qualitative methodological approaches for exploring ageing in place.

The identification of fatigue status and early intervention to mitigate fatigue can reduce the risk of workplace injuries. Off-the-shelf wearable sensors capable of assessing multiple parameters are available. However, using numerous variables in the fatigue prediction model can elicit data issues. This study aimed at identifying the most relevant variables for measuring occupational fatigue among entry-level construction workers by using common wearable sensor technologies, such as electrocardiogram and actigraphy sensors.

Twenty-two individuals were assigned different task workloads in repeated sessions. Stepwise logistic regression was used to identify the most parsimonious fatigue prediction model. Heart rate variability measurements, standard deviation of NN intervals and power in the low-frequency range (LF) were considered for fatigue prediction. Fast Fourier transform and autoregressive (AR) analysis were employed as frequency domain analysis methods.

The log-transformed LF obtained using AR analysis is preferred for daily fatigue management, whereas the standard deviation of normal-to-normal NN is useful in weekly fatigue management.

This study was conducted with entry-level construction workers who are involved in manual material handling activities. The findings of this study are applicable to this group.

This is the first study to investigate all major measures obtainable through electrocardiogram and actigraphy among current mainstream wearables for monitoring occupational fatigue in the construction industry. It contributes knowledge on the use of wearable technology for managing occupational fatigue among entry-level construction workers engaged in material handling activities.