Validation of a smart textile device for long-duration heart rate variability and detection of physiological arrhythmias in resting horses.

BACKGROUND

A smart textile device has been developed for the recording of electrocardiograms (ECGs) in horses; however, the utility of this device for long-duration heart rate variability (HRV) monitoring and detection of physiological arrhythmias is unknown. Therefore, the objective of this study was to validate a smart textile device for HRV over long durations (6 h) in resting horses. ECGs were recorded simultaneously via the Myant Skiin Equine textile device and a reference device (Televet 100) in 12 horses. ECGs were evaluated by a blinded observer for arrhythmias, and HRV metrics were calculated. Agreement between the two devices was assessed via Bland‒Altman analysis and Lin's concordance correlation coefficient.

RESULTS

Substantial to perfect agreement was found for all the HRV metrics. Physiological arrhythmias were detected in all the recordings from the twelve horses. Small biases and substantial to perfect agreement were found between the two devices for sinoatrial blocks (ρc = 0.99), sinus pauses (ρc = 0.96), sinus arrhythmias (ρc = 0.96), sinus tachycardia (ρc = 0.99), and 2nd degree atrioventricular blocks (ρc = 1.0).

CONCLUSIONS

This study demonstrates that a smart textile system is a practical alternative to the standard telemetric device for long-duration assessment of HRV and the detection of physiological arrhythmias in healthy, resting horses.