Telehealth using ECG sensor and accelerometer

Abstract

The increasing size of the elderly population is driving the development of ambient assisted living systems and telehealth. The recognition of the user's everyday activities and detection of alarming situations are important components of such systems. Moreover, the monitoring of vital signs, like the ECG, has a key role in telecare and telemonitoring systems. Therefore, in this paper we propose a system that monitors the user by combining an ECG sensor and two accelerometers. Our system recognizes the user's activities and detects falls using the accelerometer data. The ECG data is analyzed in order to extract relevant physiological signals: heart rate, respiration rate, etc. In order to improve the reliability and robustness of the system, the measured accelerometer signals can be combined with the ECG signal in order to detect anomalies in the user's behavior and heart-related problems. The proposed proof-of-concept system could contribute significantly to the quality, unobtrusiveness and robustness of the health care and patient safety.