Laboratory Validation of Hexoskin Biometric Shirt at Rest, Submaximal Exercise, and Maximal Exercise While Riding a Stationary Bicycle

Objective Evaluate Hexoskin performance on a stationary bike against "gold standard" laboratory equipment and develop adjustment models for future use in field settings. Methods Compared respiratory rate (RR), tidal volume (VT), minute ventilation (VE), and heart rate (HR) measured by the Hexoskin shirt to simultaneous spirometry and full 12-lead electrocardiogram during a laboratory based incremental exercise test on a stationary bicycle. Results Data from 17 participants demonstrated Hexoskin VT and VE had the best agreement in the submaximal exercise level (discrepancies less than or equal to 5.3%) with larger discrepancies observed at rest (less than or equal to 15.3%) and at maximal exercise level (less than or equal to 11.7%). The discrepancies for HR and RR were lower at all levels (less than 10%). Adjusting for sex and body weight allowed for a single VE algorithm across the entire range of effort (r = 0.89). Conclusion These discrepancies are acceptable for field use in comparison to the ranges typical of bicycle commuting.