• Journal of the Korean Society of Clothing and Textiles
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• v.39 no.3
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• pp.369-378
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• 2015

Various forms of wearable bio-signal monitoring systems have been developed recently. Acquisition of stable bio-signal data for health care purposes needs to be unconscious and continuous without hindrance to the users' daily activities. The garment type is a suitable form of a wearable bio-signal monitoring system; however, motion artifacts caused by body movement degrade the signal quality during the measurement of bio-signals. It is crucial to stabilize the electrode position to reduce motion artifacts generated when in motion. The problems with motion artifacts remain unresolved despite their significant effect on bio-signal monitoring. This research creates a foundation for the design of garment-type wearable systems for everyday use by finding a method to reduce motion artifacts through modular design. Two distinct garment-type wearable systems (tee-shirt with a motion artifact-reducing module (MARM) and tee-shirt without a MARM) were designed to compare the effects of modular design on the measurement of heart activity in terms of electrode position displacement, signal quality index value, and morphological quality. The tee-shirt with MARM showed superior properties and yielded higher quality signals than the tee-shirt without MARM. In addition, the tee-shirt with MARM showed a better repeatability of the heart activity signals. Therefore, a garment design with MARM is an efficient way to acquire stable bio-signals while in motion.