Conducting Electrocardiogram Measurement in Seawater

Abstract

We fabricated an electrocardiogram (ECG) electrode with a novel isolation structure to detect heartbeats of divers in seawater. The electrodes placed at the center-left and right of chest measured ECG of a test subject at rest in a bathtub filled with seawater. We demonstrated that R waves, which are necessary for monitoring heartbeats, were detectable in the ECG signals at least for an hour, although the R wave amplitude decayed to two-third with time.