Textile Electrode, Monitoring Performance, and Durability for ECG Monitoring Garment: A Review

The development of an electrocardiogram (ECG) monitoring garment that ensures monitoring accuracy, convenience, and wearing comfort is crucial for enabling timely diagnosis and prevention of heart disease. The article provides a comprehensive overview of the monitoring principles and historical evolution of ECG monitoring garment, delineates the preparation methods for textile electrodes, summarizes the evaluation techniques for ECG monitoring garment, and examines various factors that influence monitoring performance and garment durability, including the electrode material, size, shape, position, fixation method, pressurization mode, and contact pressure between the electrode and the skin. The results showed that the hybrid electrode made from multiple materials demonstrated better overall performance. Additionally, most existing studies focus on single-lead ECG monitoring, with the study subjects primarily consisting of healthy men. Therefore, future research should focus on developing textile electrodes that are flexible, skin-friendly, highly elastic, and cost-effective; examining the combined effects of textile electrodes and garment structure on ECG monitoring performance; and quantifying the relationship between body characteristics and electrode positions across varying body shapes. These conclusions provide critical insights for the enhancement of electrode design, structural optimization, and size grading in ECG monitoring garment.