Lung Fluid Detection via Electrical–Acoustic Heartbeat Timing
Find Innovative SolutionsGenerate Solutions
Solution Overview
Problem
Existing methods lack an effective way to detect increasing fluid in a subject's lung, which is crucial for timely intervention such as medication administration.
Innovation Solution
An apparatus and method that determine differences in the time of arrival of electrical and acoustic heart beat features, producing an alert when the difference decreases by more than a threshold, indicating increased lung fluid due to faster sound propagation through liquid.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Reliability
If continuous monitoring methods are used to detect lung fluid, then detection reliability is improved, but energy consumption increases
Solution Approach 1:
The system performs periodic measurements of time differences between electrical and acoustic heart beat features at discrete time points rather than continuous monitoring. This allows reliable detection of fluid accumulation trends while reducing energy consumption by keeping sensors in low-power states between measurements.
Solution Approach 2:
The system establishes a baseline time difference value through preliminary measurements when no fluid accumulation is present. This baseline is stored and used for comparison in subsequent measurements, enabling detection of changes without requiring continuous reference measurements, thus reducing energy consumption while maintaining detection reliability.
2Measurement precision
If high-power operation is used for continuous detection, then measurement precision is improved, but energy consumption increases
Solution Approach 1:
High-precision measurements are performed periodically at specific time intervals rather than continuously. The system activates sensors at full power only during measurement windows, then transitions to low-power mode, achieving adequate measurement precision for detecting fluid accumulation while significantly reducing overall energy consumption.
Solution Approach 2:
The system changes operational parameters by switching between high-power measurement mode and low-power standby mode. During periodic measurements, sensors operate at high power to ensure precision; between measurements, they operate at low power to conserve energy, with the threshold comparison algorithm enabling accurate detection even with periodic sampling.
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
Accurately detects increasing lung fluid by analyzing heart beat signal features, enabling timely intervention and potentially reducing the need for continuous high-power operation.
Implementation Method 1
determining a first difference between a time of arrival of a first feature of a received electrical signal of a subject's heart beat and a time of arrival of a second feature of a received acoustic signal of a subject's heart beat
Data Source
AI summary
A method of detecting increasing fluid in a lung of a subject, the method comprising: at a first time, determining a first difference between a time of arrival of a first feature of a received electrical signal of a subject's heart beat and a time of arrival of a second feature of a received acoustic signal of the subject's heart beat; at a second later time, determining a second difference between a time of arrival of the first feature of a received electrical signal of a subject's subsequent heart beat and a time of arrival of the second feature of a received acoustic signal of the subject's subsequent heart beat; and if the second difference is less than the first difference by more than a threshold value, producing a fluid detection alert.