Measurement of human heartbeat using a novel sensing technique based on measurement of current generated by electrostatic induction

In this study, we develop an effective nonattached, noncontact technique for the measurement of human heartbeat. This method detects human heartbeat by measuring the current generated as a result of the change in the capacitance between a given electrode and the human body. An electrode is placed at a distance of a few centimeters from the subject´s chest; the electrostatic induction current (in picoamperes) flowing through the electrode is then detected. We propose an occurrence model for the electrostatic induction current generated as a result of the change in the capacitance resulting from the electric potential of the body surface. Furthermore, we simultaneously observed the human-heartbeat waveforms obtained using conventional ECG and our proposed electrostatic induction method. The observed waveform obtained using the proposed method has the same cycle as that obtained using conventional ECG. Therefore, this confirms that we can detect the human heartbeat under nonattached, noncontact conditions.