(19)Fresh off Patent
(45) Week of Oct 5, 2026 No. 5 3,852 lapsed 197 picks
Medical & health devices · lapsed Aug 28, 2026

Wearable ECG that switches between analog and digital detection

A body-worn ECG module with multiple electrodes routes all electrode signals through a multiplexer to either a low‑power analog heartbeat detector or a higher‑power digital detection chain. A motion sensor tells the processor when to switch so the device uses the analog path at low motion and the digital path during activity or noisy conditions. Intended users are ambulatory patients and clinics deploying continuous or spot ECG monitoring on patients and caregivers fitting wearable patches or bands.

Sheet 1 of the patent drawingsSheet 2 of the patent drawingsSheet 3 of the patent drawings

(57) What the patent covered

The main independent claim covers a system with multiple electrodes feeding a multiplexer that directs signals from all electrodes to one of two outputs; one output goes to an analog detection module that detects heartbeats using only analog circuitry, the other goes to a digital detection module (amplifiers, ADC, DSP). A processor, informed by a motion detection module, controls the multiplexer to select the analog or digital path based on detected acceleration.

The distinctive part: Tying a motion sensor to a multiplexer that routes all electrode channels either to a purely analog beat detector or to a full digital signal chain for noise-prone motion periods.

Novelty 3/5. Wearable ECG front ends, ADC+DSP chains and low‑power analog detectors were all known; the distinguishing idea was switching entire electrode sets between analog-only and digital processing depending on motion rather than a single fixed chain.

Making it

flex PCB or printed conductive traces for the electrode array, injection molded plastic enclosure, off-the-shelf MEMS accelerometer, surface-mount analog amplifier and ADC components, final assembly and potting/encapsulation by hand or machine

Materials: flexible PCB or polyester film substrate for electrodes, silver/silver‑chloride or conductive ink electrodes, silicone or polyurethane encapsulant, plastic housing (ABS or polycarbonate)

Manufacturability 4/5. Uses standard flex/rigid PCBs and common SMT analog and digital ICs plus a multiplexer; several PCB parts and hand or machine assembly but no exotic fabrication.

Is anyone buying?

Comparable products are on sale; this exact design wasn't found. Typical retail price: $411. Single-record, chest-worn 14-day patch; widely used in US; listed price by a US-based medical supplier.

This demand check was run with a web search in the week of Oct 5, 2026. Listings change often, so treat it as a starting point for your own research.

Who buys it: clinics and remote‑monitoring services, patients needing ambulatory ECG monitoring

Sourcing

Factories list related products that could likely be adapted. No direct listings on Alibaba, Made-in-China, Global Sources, or DHgate for a wearable ECG patch that explicitly uses a motion-adaptive analog/digital switch via a multiplexer. Closest items are generic wearable ECG patches or ECG-enabled patches from manufacturers (e.g., PCARDIO, CorVitals, Movesense), but none clearly advertise the exact analog/digital routing architecture with a motion sensor-driven multiplexer. If you want, I can broaden the search to include standard ECG patch suppliers or OEMs that could custom-build this architecture and quote OEM/private-label terms.

Supplier prices come from public listings found with a web search and are usually quoted before customization, shipping and duties, so use them to judge whether a product is worth a quote request.

Before you make it

We didn't find any related continuation or divisional patents still in force, although that doesn't rule out design patents, trademarks or unrelated patents covering the same product.

Practical risks include meeting medical device electrocardiography and electrical safety standards, power budget tradeoffs for continuous accelerometer use, and a crowded market of validated wearable ECGs; the patent lapsed, so verify current regulatory and interoperability requirements rather than freedom‑to‑operate.

Owners occasionally revive lapsed patents (about 1.5% are), and this page is a research lead rather than legal advice, so get a freedom-to-operate opinion before you manufacture anything.

Claim 1, as granted

1. A wearable ECG system comprising: a plurality of electrodes; a multiplexor, the multiplexor comprising an input port, two output ports, and a control port, the input port of the multiplexor being connected with the electrodes and configured to selectively direct signals from all of the electrodes to one of the two output ports based on a signal from the control port; an analog detection module being connected with one output port of the multiplexor and configured to detect a heart beat solely with an analog circuit and without utilizing any digital circuit; a digital detection module being connected with the other output port of the multiplexor; a processor being connected with the control port of the multiplexor and the digital detection module; and a motion detection module, connected with the processor and configured to detect acceleration of the wearable ECG system and output an electrical signal accordingly; wherein: the processor is configured to receive the electrical signal from the motion detection module, and control the multiplexor through the control port to selectively transmit output of all of the electrodes to the analog detection module or the digital detection module based on the electrical signal; the digital detection module comprises a first amplifier; a second amplifier being connected with the first amplifier; an ADC being connected with the second amplifier; and a digital signal processing circuit being connected with the ADC; the digital signal processing circuit and the ADC are respectively connected with the processor; the first amplifier has a gain of 30 dB-36 dB, while the second amplifier has a gain of 18 dB-25 dB; and the digital signal processing circuit comprises a first filter; a second filter; a third filter, the second and the third filters being respectively connected with the first filter; a waveform buffer being connected with the first, second and third filters respectively; and a maximum value searcher being connected with the second and the third filters and the processor respectively.