Intersection cross-cut: `garment` ∩ `sensor-ecg`

Axes: form_factor × sensors

11 corpus entries disclose both tags.

Earliest disclosure: 1961-04-21

These entries are the direct inputs to OBVIOUSNESS_TEMPLATE.md. Any patent claim combining these two elements is anticipated or rendered obvious by the chain below.

Holter (1961) — continuous ambulatory electrocardiography (the Holter monitor) (1961-04-21)

id: holter-1961-ambulatory-ecg
corpus: academic
form factor: garment
creator: Norman J. Holter
disclosure: Holter NJ. ‘New method for heart studies: continuous electrocardiography of active subjects over long periods is now practical.’ Science 1961;134(3486):1214-1220.
ip status: public-domain
sensors: sensor-ecg
algorithms: algo-arrhythmia-classification
prior art notes: Establishes continuous, ambulatory, body-worn recording of the ECG over hours to days while the subject is active, for later analysis — the foundational ‘wearable continuous ECG monitor’. Any claim reciting ‘a body-worn device configured to continuously record an electrocardiographic signal of the wearer over an extended period for subsequent arrhythmia analysis’ reads on Holter 1961. Anchor for the ambulatory-ECG / ECG-patch cross-cut; [[zio-patch-irhythm-2009]] and Apple Watch’s ECG history both build on it.

Polar Sport Tester PE2000 — first wireless wrist heart-rate monitor (1982)

id: polar-sport-tester-pe2000-1982
corpus: private
form factor: watch
creator: Polar Electro Oy (Seppo Säynäjäkangas)
disclosure: Polar Electro Oy. ‘Sport Tester PE2000’ wrist heart-rate monitor, introduced 1982 — a chest electrode strap transmitting ECG-derived heart rate wirelessly to a wrist-worn receiver/display. Underlying invention: Seppo Säynäjäkangas, wireless heart-rate measurement, patents filed from c. 1977 (Polar Electro).
ip status: patented
sensors: sensor-ecg
algorithms: algo-hr
prior art notes: Discloses a body-worn heart-rate monitoring system: a chest strap with electrodes deriving heart rate from the ECG and transmitting it wirelessly to a wrist-worn receiver that displays it. Anticipates claims combining ‘a chest-worn electrode assembly sensing heart rate’ and ‘wireless transmission to a wrist-worn display’ (the chest-strap-plus-watch architecture), and the bare ‘wristworn heart-rate display’ concept, from 1982 (invention c. 1977). Anchor for the wristworn-HR cross-cut on the product side; [[bluetooth-sig-heart-rate-profile-2011]] later standardized the comms link.

Neon Genesis Evangelion — ‘plug suit’ and ‘A10 nerve clips’ (bio-monitoring suit + head-worn neural sync interface) (1995-10-04)

id: nge-plug-suit-and-a10-clips
corpus: fictional
form factor: garment
creator: Hideaki Anno / Gainax
disclosure: Neon Genesis Evangelion (Gainax television series, premiered 4 October 1995); pilots wear a skin-tight pressurized ‘plug suit’ with continuous bio-monitoring and a measured ‘synchronization ratio’ with the mecha, plus ‘A10 nerve clips’ worn on the head that interface the pilot’s nervous system to the machine.
ip status: fictional
sensors: sensor-ecg, sensor-dry-eeg-electrode, sensor-respiration-impedance
algorithms: algo-hr, algo-respiratory-rate
prior art notes: Discloses (a) a form-fitting body garment with continuous vital-sign monitoring and a derived operator-machine synchronization metric, and (b) head-worn clips coupling the wearer’s nervous system to an external system. Relevant to instrumented-bodysuit claims combining ‘a close-fitting garment with distributed physiological sensors’ and ‘a derived synchronization/engagement metric’, and to head-worn neural-interface claims. § 103 motivation as of 1995. Cf. [[pacific-rim-drivesuit-and-conn-pod]] (a later dual-pilot variant).

Garmin Forerunner 201 (2003) — wristworn GPS running watch with pace/distance and heart-rate (strap) integration (2003)

id: garmin-forerunner-201-2003
corpus: private
form factor: watch
creator: Garmin Ltd.
disclosure: Garmin Ltd. ‘Forerunner 101/201’, introduced 2003 — a wrist-worn GPS receiver/watch logging pace, distance, route, and (with a paired chest strap) heart rate, with workout history and a web/PC sync. Later Garmin watches (Fenix/Forerunner with the ‘Elevate’ optical sensor, c. 2015) moved heart rate, and subsequently SpO2 (pulse ox) and respiration, onto the wrist.
ip status: patented
sensors: sensor-accelerometer, sensor-ecg, sensor-ppg
algorithms: algo-hr, algo-step-count, algo-calorie-estimation, algo-activity-classification
prior art notes: Discloses a wrist-worn GPS sport watch deriving pace, distance, and route, integrating heart rate from a paired electrode chest strap, and syncing workout history to a host — and, in later Garmin models, on-wrist optical-PPG heart rate, SpO2, and respiration. Anticipates GPS-sport-watch claims from 2003 and (for the later models) wrist-optical-vitals claims. Product-side anchor for the watch × GPS-fitness cross-cut.

Paradiso et al. (2005) — ‘A wearable health care system based on knitted integrated sensors’ (WEALTHY) (2005-09)

id: paradiso-2005-wealthy-knitted-smart-shirt
corpus: academic
form factor: garment
creator: Rita Paradiso / Giannicola Loriga / Nicola Taccini (Smartex / CNR, Italy; EU WEALTHY consortium)
disclosure: Paradiso R, Loriga G, Taccini N. ‘A wearable health care system based on knitted integrated sensors.’ IEEE Transactions on Information Technology in Biomedicine 2005;9(3):337-344. (Output of the EU FP5 ‘WEALTHY’ project, 2002-2005.)
ip status: public-domain
sensors: sensor-ecg, sensor-respiration-impedance, sensor-piezoelectric, sensor-accelerometer, sensor-skin-temperature
algorithms: algo-hr, algo-respiratory-rate, algo-activity-classification
prior art notes: Discloses a smart shirt with electrodes and sensors knitted directly into the textile (conductive yarns forming dry ECG electrodes; piezoresistive yarns forming respiration sensors via thoracic/abdominal expansion; accelerometer; temperature) plus an on-garment electronic interface and wireless link, deriving ECG, heart rate, respiration, posture/activity, and temperature — i.e. a fully integrated textile-electrode wearable. Any claim reciting ‘an item of clothing with electrodes/sensors integrated into the fabric structure for physiological monitoring’ reads on Paradiso 2005. Anchor for the garment × textile-electrode cross-cut; the foundational EU project for the smart-shirt patent space (Hexoskin, Cityzen, etc. all build on this lineage).

Pantelopoulos & Bourbakis (2010) — survey on wearable sensor-based systems for health monitoring and prognosis (2010-01)

id: pantelopoulos-bourbakis-2010-wearable-health-survey
corpus: academic
form factor: other
creator: Alexandros Pantelopoulos / Nikolaos G. Bourbakis
disclosure: Pantelopoulos A, Bourbakis NG. ‘A survey on wearable sensor-based systems for health monitoring and prognosis.’ IEEE Transactions on Systems, Man, and Cybernetics, Part C (Applications and Reviews) 2010;40(1):1-12.
ip status: public-domain
sensors: sensor-ecg, sensor-ppg, sensor-spo2, sensor-accelerometer, sensor-skin-temperature, sensor-respiration-impedance
algorithms: algo-hr, algo-arrhythmia-classification, algo-spo2-estimation, algo-fall-detection, algo-activity-classification
prior art notes: Surveys, as of 2010, the architecture and components of wearable health-monitoring systems — sensors (ECG, PPG, SpO2, accelerometry, temperature, respiration), garment- and patch- and watch-based form factors, on-body processing, wireless body-area networking, and the analytics (arrhythmia, fall, activity, deterioration prediction). Prior art establishing that the general ‘multi-sensor wearable + body-area network + cloud analytics’ system architecture and its building blocks were collected and published by 2010 — useful against later claims to the bare system architecture. General anchor.

Patel et al. (2012) — ‘A review of wearable sensors and systems with application in rehabilitation’ (2012-04-20)

id: patel-bonato-2012-wearable-sensors-rehab-review
corpus: academic
form factor: other
creator: Shyamal Patel / Hyung Park / Paolo Bonato et al.
disclosure: Patel S, Park H, Bonato P, Chan L, Rodgers M. ‘A review of wearable sensors and systems with application in rehabilitation.’ Journal of NeuroEngineering and Rehabilitation 2012;9:21.
ip status: public-domain
sensors: sensor-accelerometer, sensor-gyroscope, sensor-emg, sensor-ecg, sensor-ppg, sensor-pressure-skin
algorithms: algo-gait-analysis, algo-activity-classification, algo-fall-detection, algo-tremor-detection, algo-bradykinesia-detection, algo-posture-detection
prior art notes: Reviews, as of 2012, wearable inertial/EMG/pressure sensor systems for movement and physiological monitoring in rehabilitation and chronic-disease management — gait analysis, activity and posture classification, fall detection, tremor and bradykinesia quantification (Parkinson’s), with the sensor placements (foot/insole, shank, thigh, trunk, wrist, forearm) and algorithms. Prior art for wearable movement-disorder and gait-monitoring claims reciting any of the placements/analytics surveyed; collected and published by 2012. General anchor for the gait / tremor / activity cross-cuts.

Hexoskin smart shirt (2014) — textile-integrated ECG, respiration and activity garment (2013)

id: hexoskin-smart-shirt-2014
corpus: private
form factor: garment
creator: Carre Technologies Inc.
disclosure: Carre Technologies Inc. (Hexoskin). ‘Hexoskin Smart Shirt’, introduced 2013 (consumer); a compression shirt with knitted dry textile electrodes for single-lead ECG, two-channel respiratory inductive plethysmography (thoracic + abdominal expansion), a 3-axis accelerometer, and a removable electronics pod, deriving HR, HRV, breathing rate/volume, cadence, steps, and sleep. (Used in NASA/CSA ‘Astroskin’ studies.)
ip status: patented
sensors: sensor-ecg, sensor-respiration-impedance, sensor-piezoelectric, sensor-accelerometer
algorithms: algo-hr, algo-hrv, algo-respiratory-rate, algo-activity-classification, algo-sleep-staging
prior art notes: Discloses a consumer/research compression shirt with textile-integrated dry ECG electrodes, two-channel respiratory inductive plethysmography (thoracic + abdominal), an accelerometer, and a removable electronics pod, deriving HR, HRV, breathing rate and volume, activity, and sleep. A commercial realization of [[paradiso-2005-wealthy-knitted-smart-shirt]]; anticipates smart-shirt claims combining ‘textile-integrated ECG and respiration sensors’ and ‘a detachable electronics module’ from 2013. Product-side anchor for the garment × textile-electrode cross-cut.

Pacific Rim — Jaeger ‘Drivesuit’ and ‘Conn-Pod’ dual-pilot neural bridge (2013-07-12)

id: pacific-rim-drivesuit-and-conn-pod
corpus: fictional
form factor: garment
creator: Guillermo del Toro / Legendary Pictures
disclosure: Pacific Rim (Warner Bros. / Legendary), released 12 July 2013; pilots wear a ‘Drivesuit’ (a body suit capturing motion and monitoring vitals) and a ‘relay-gel’/spinal-clamp helmet that creates a shared neural bridge (‘the Drift’) between two co-pilots and the mecha.
ip status: fictional
sensors: sensor-ecg, sensor-dry-eeg-electrode, sensor-accelerometer
algorithms: algo-hr
prior art notes: Discloses an instrumented pilot suit (motion capture + vital-sign monitoring) combined with head/spine-worn relays that establish a shared neural bridge between two operators and a controlled machine. Relevant to multi-operator neural-interface claims and to instrumented-bodysuit claims combining ‘a motion-capturing garment’, ‘vital-sign monitoring’, and ‘a head/spine neural relay linking multiple operators’. § 103 motivation as of 2013. Cf. [[nge-plug-suit-and-a10-clips]] (single-pilot), [[surrogates-neural-teleoperation-rig]].

Polar H10 (2017) — research-grade chest-strap ECG heart-rate sensor (2017-01)

id: polar-h10-chest-strap-2017
corpus: private
form factor: garment
creator: Polar Electro Oy
disclosure: Polar Electro Oy. ‘Polar H10’ chest heart-rate sensor, released 2017 — a chest strap with two dry electrodes deriving a single-lead ECG, computing R-R intervals and heart rate, with onboard 1-session memory, dual-broadcast (BLE + ANT+ + 5 kHz GymLink), an accelerometer (relative orientation), and well-documented R-R-interval accuracy (often used as a gold-standard reference for consumer wearables).
ip status: patented
sensors: sensor-ecg, sensor-accelerometer
algorithms: algo-hr, algo-hrv, algo-arrhythmia-classification
prior art notes: Discloses a chest strap with two dry electrodes deriving single-lead ECG, with on-strap R-R-interval computation, multi-protocol broadcast (BLE + ANT+ + the 5 kHz GymLink legacy band), and accelerometer-assisted noise rejection. Anticipates chest-strap-ECG claims combining ‘dry textile/elastic chest electrodes’, ‘on-strap derivation of R-R intervals and HR’, and ‘multi-protocol simultaneous wireless broadcast’ from 2017. Product-side anchor for the garment/patch × ECG strap cross-cut; refines [[polar-sport-tester-pe2000-1982]].

Heikenfeld et al. (2018) — ‘Wearable sensors: modalities, challenges, and prospects’ (2018-01-16)

id: heikenfeld-2018-wearable-sensors-lab-on-chip-review
corpus: academic
form factor: other
creator: Jason Heikenfeld et al.
disclosure: Heikenfeld J, Jajack A, Rogers J, Gutruf P, Tian L, Pan T, Li R, Khine M, Kim J, Wang J, Kim J. ‘Wearable sensors: modalities, challenges, and prospects.’ Lab on a Chip 2018;18(2):217-248.
ip status: public-domain
sensors: sensor-ppg, sensor-ecg, sensor-eeg, sensor-glucose-cgm, sensor-lactate, sensor-cortisol, sensor-skin-temperature, sensor-bioimpedance
prior art notes: Authoritative 2018 review collecting wearable sensing across modalities — physical (motion, BCG/SCG, mechanoacoustic), electrophysiological (ECG/EMG/EEG), optical (PPG/SpO2, near-IR), thermal, electrochemical (sweat, saliva, tears, interstitial), and stimulation-coupled — across form factors (patch, watch, tattoo, contact lens, garment) and the challenges of body-fluid sampling, calibration, motion-artifact handling, and skin-electronics interfacing. Prior art establishing that the modality/form-factor combinations enumerated here were collected and surveyed by 2018; useful against later claims to those combinations. General anchor.

Intersection cross-cut: garment ∩ sensor-ecg