A wearable 12-lead ECG system with dynamically adaptive, reconfigurable fabric electrodes for comfortable long-term cardiac monitoring

Fabric-based dry electrodes offer the benefits of comfortable wear and suitability for continuous monitoring. Nevertheless, these electrodes often encounter substantial motion-induced artifacts during physical activities. To tackle this pivotal challenge, this study innovatively introduces a dynamically adaptive separable electrode structure, which has been seamlessly integrated into a 12-lead electrocardiogram (ECG) garment. This ECG garment exhibits remarkable air permeability (with measurements of 1095.1 mm/s for the lining fabric and 442.27 mm/s for the outer fabric) and moisture permeability (lining fabric: 171.14 g/(m2·h); outer fabric: 159.25 g/(m2·h)). An 8-h continuous wearing test confirmed its superior long-term wearing stability. The experimental findings indicate that the proposed electrode system possesses exceptional electrical stability, characterized by a skin–electrode contact impedance lower than that observed with commercial Ag/AgCl electrodes. Under static conditions, the recorded ECG signals demonstrate a high degree of consistency with those acquired using medical-grade Ag/AgCl gel electrodes, as evidenced by correlation coefficients for critical waveform parameters exceeding 0.95. During dynamic activities such as walking and running, the system successfully captures complete ECG waveforms with clearly discernible P, QRS, and T waves, while generating significantly fewer motion artifacts compared to traditional fabric electrodes. Furthermore, a 24-h continuous ECG recording test validated the system’s outstanding performance in physiological monitoring, highlighting its considerable potential for applications in wearable, long-term health monitoring solutions.