Heart Function Monitoring via Ballistocardiogram Signal Processing
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Solution Overview
Problem
Current methods for monitoring heart function, such as weight-based diagnostics, are inadequate due to high false positives and inability to detect worsening heart conditions in a timely manner, and traditional ballistocardiogram (BCG) techniques are impractical and unreliable.
Innovation Solution
A system comprising a BCG capture device, a secondary sensor, and a processor circuit that processes BCG signals to filter out noise and interference, providing reliable and practical BCG measurements for monitoring heart function, including the use of ECG and photoplethysmograph signals to enhance signal quality and detect cardiac output and stroke volume.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Ease of manufacture
If weight-based diagnostic methods are used to monitor heart function, then monitoring can be performed at home without expensive equipment, but the methods produce high false positives and fail to detect worsening heart conditions reliably
Solution Approach 1:
The patent combines multiple sensing modalities (BCG, ECG, PPG) into an integrated monitoring system that captures both mechanical heart activity and electrical/vascular responses. This multi-sensory approach allows the system to maintain home-monitoring accessibility while significantly improving detection reliability through cross-validation of multiple physiological signals.
Solution Approach 2:
The monitoring device performs multiple diagnostic functions simultaneously - measuring body weight, capturing ballistocardiogram signals for cardiac mechanical activity, detecting ECG for electrical activity, and monitoring PPG for vascular responses. This multi-functionality enables comprehensive heart failure monitoring at home without requiring separate specialized equipment.
2Ease of operation
If traditional BCG measurement methods are used, then non-invasive heart function monitoring is achieved, but the methods are impractical and unreliable for routine use
Solution Approach 1:
The patent merges BCG signal acquisition with ECG and PPG sensing in a single integrated platform. By combining these complementary modalities, the system maintains the non-invasive ease of operation of traditional BCG while improving reliability through the additional diagnostic information provided by electrical and vascular measurements that can validate and supplement mechanical heart activity detection.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent uses advanced signal processing algorithms as intermediaries to extract reliable cardiac information from the BCG signal. These processing techniques filter noise, enhance relevant physiological components, and correlate BCG measurements with concurrent ECG and PPG data, thereby transforming the traditionally unreliable BCG signal into a robust diagnostic tool for routine home use.
3Device complexity
If body weight monitoring is used to detect fluid retention, then simple home monitoring is enabled, but factors other than fluid retention affect body weight causing false positives
Solution Approach 1:
The patent combines body weight measurement with BCG, ECG, and PPG monitoring to create a multi-parameter assessment system. While weight monitoring provides simple home monitoring capability, the additional physiological measurements serve as validators to distinguish true fluid retention signals from weight changes caused by other factors such as diet or medication, thereby improving measurement precision without significantly increasing device complexity.
Applied Scientific Principles
This section explains which scientific principles are used to turn an abstract innovation direction into a practical engineering solution.
Function Achieved in This Case
Enables accurate and reliable monitoring of heart function, facilitating home use and reducing unnecessary hospital readmissions by providing effective detection of cardiac health and fluid status, improving the reliability of BCG measurements and reducing noise interference.
Implementation Method 1
The ballistocardiogram (BCG) is a non-invasive diagnostic technique which measures the mechanical recoil of the body in reaction to the ejection of blood from the heart through the vasculature.
Implementation Method 2
A second specific sensor type (e.g., ECG, accelerometer, geophone, displacement, electromyogram or video imaging device) provides additional information about the captured signal
Implementation Method 3
The processor circuit uses the secondary sensor output to process the captured BCG signal and to generate an output BCG signal indicative of a condition of the user's heart
Data Source
AI summary
In accordance with an example embodiment, a body-weight sensing scale includes cardio-based physiological sensing circuitry to detect heart characteristics of a user, and provide outputs indicative of the detected heart characteristics. A processor circuit is arranged with the cardio-based physiological sensing circuitry to process data to provide a noise-reduced cardiogram signal which characterizes functionality/health of the user's heart.