Validation of an Equine Smart Textile System for Heart Rate Variability: A Preliminary Study.
Authors: McCrae Persephone, Spong Hannah, Golestani Nadia, Mahnam Amin, Bashura Yana, Pearson Wendy
Journal: Animals : an open access journal from MDPI
Summary
# Editorial Summary: Smart Textile Validation for Equine Heart Rate Monitoring Heart rate variability represents a valuable indicator of cardiovascular fitness, autonomic nervous system function, and overall wellbeing in horses, yet reliable field-based measurement has traditionally required specialist telemetric equipment. McCrae and colleagues conducted a validation study comparing a wearable smart textile system (Myant) against the gold-standard Televet telemetry device, simultaneously recording electrocardiograms from seven horses during rest and submaximal exercise testing. Using Bland-Altman analysis, the researchers found exceptionally strong agreement between systems across all parameters: mean heart rate bias during exercise was only 0.31 bpm (95% limits of agreement: −1.99 to 2.61), with very strong correlations for both HR (r = 0.9993) and HRV metrics including standard deviation of R-R intervals and triangular index (r > 0.87, p < 0.0001). These findings suggest smart textile systems offer a practical, portable alternative for practitioners seeking reliable cardiovascular assessment without requiring horses to wear traditional telemetry equipment, potentially facilitating longitudinal fitness monitoring, stress evaluation during training, and early detection of autonomic dysfunction in both clinical and performance contexts.
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Practical Takeaways
- •Smart textile systems can be reliably used as an alternative to traditional telemetric devices for monitoring equine heart rate and HRV during ridden work and fitness assessments
- •The wearable nature of smart textiles may offer practical advantages for field monitoring of cardiovascular fitness without compromising data accuracy
- •Practitioners can confidently use validated smart textile systems for baseline cardiovascular assessments and monitoring training responses in horses
Key Findings
- •Smart textile system (Myant) showed very strong correlation with gold-standard telemetric device (Televet) for HR measurement (r = 0.9993, p < 0.0001)
- •Mean bias for HR during exercise was 0.31 bpm with 95% limits of agreement of -1.99 to 2.61 bpm, indicating excellent agreement
- •HRV parameters (SDRR and TI) demonstrated strong correlations (r = 0.8765 and r = 0.8712 respectively) with minimal bias between devices
- •Smart textile system proved reliable for assessing HR and HRV in horses at rest and during submaximal exercise