Capacitive ECG sensors in automobiles enable unobtrusive heart rate monitoring as an indicator of a driver’s alertness and health. This paper introduces a capacitive sensor with textile electrodes and provides insights into signal quality and RR duration accuracy. Electrodes of various shapes, sizes, and fabrics were integrated at various positions into the seat back of a driving simulator car seat. Seven subjects completed identical driving circuits with their cardiac signals being recorded simultaneously with textile electrodes and reference Ag-AgCl electrodes. Capacitive ECG signals with observable R peaks (after filtering) could be captured with almost all pairs of textile electrodes, independently of design or placement. Signal quality from textile electrodes was consistently lower compared with reference Ag-AgCl electrodes. Proximity to the heart or even contact with the body seems to be key but not enough to improve signal quality. However, accurate measurement of RR durations was mostly independent of signal quality since 90% of all RR durations measured on capacitive ECG signals had a percentage error below 5% compared to reference ECG signals. Accuracy was actually algorithm-dependent, where a classic Pan–Tompkins-based algorithm was interestingly outperformed by an in-house frequency-domain algorithm.

Induction-based breathing sensors in automobiles enable unobtrusive respiratory rate monitoring as an indicator of a driver’s alertness and health. This paper introduces a quantitative method based on signal quality to guide the integration of textile inductive electrodes in automotive applications. A case study with a simplified setup illustrated the ability of the method to successfully provide basic design rules about where and how to integrate the electrodes on seat belts and seat backs to gather good quality respiratory signals in an automobile. The best signals came from the subject’s waist, then from the chest, then from the upper back, and finally from the lower back. Furthermore, folding the electrodes before their integration on a seat back improves the signal quality for both the upper and lower back. This analysis provided guidelines with three design rules to increase the chance of acquiring good quality signals: (1) use a multi-electrode acquisition approach, (2) place the electrodes in locations that maximize breathing-induced body displacement, and (3) use a mechanical amplifying method such as folding the electrodes in locations with little potential for breathing-induced displacement.

This paper provides insights into where and how to integrate textile inductive electrodes into a car to record optimal-quality respiratory signals. Electrodes of various shapes and sizes were integrated into the seat belt and the seat back of a driving simulator car seat. The electrodes covered various parts of the body: upper back, middle back, lower back, chest, and waist. Three subjects completed driving circuits with their breathing signals being recorded. In general, signal quality while driving versus sitting still was similar, compared to a previous study of ours with no body movements. In terms of positioning, electrodes on seat belt provided better signal quality compared to seat back. Signal quality was directly proportional to electrode’s height on the back, with upper back outperforming both middle and lower back. Electrodes on the waist provided either similar or superior signal quality compared to electrodes on the chest. In terms of form factor, rectangular shape outperformed circular shape on seat back. Signal quality is proportional to the size of circular electrodes on seat back, and inversely proportional to size of rectangular electrode on seat belt.