High-Resolution Seismocardiogram Acquisition and Analysis System

• Main Authors: Fábio Leitão, Eurico Moreira, Filipe Alves, Mário Lourenço, Olga Azevedo, João Gaspar, Luis A. Rocha
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Published: MDPI AG 2018-10-01
• Series: Sensors
• Subjects: accelerometer; ballistocardiogram; MEMS; pull-in time; seismocardiogram
• Online Access: http://www.mdpi.com/1424-8220/18/10/3441

Several devices and measurement approaches have recently been developed to perform ballistocardiogram (BCG) and seismocardiogram (SCG) measurements. The development of a wireless acquisition system (hardware and software), incorporating a novel high-resolution micro-electro-mechanical system (MEMS) accelerometer for SCG and BCG signals acquisition and data treatment is presented in this paper. A small accelerometer, with a sensitivity of up to 0.164 µs/µg and a noise density below 6.5 µg/ Hz is presented and used in a wireless acquisition system for BCG and SCG measurement applications. The wireless acquisition system also incorporates electrocardiogram (ECG) signals acquisition, and the developed software enables the real-time acquisition and visualization of SCG and ECG signals (sensor positioned on chest). It then calculates metrics related to cardiac performance as well as the correlation of data from previously performed sessions with echocardiogram (ECHO) parameters. A preliminarily clinical study of over 22 subjects (including healthy subjects and cardiovascular patients) was performed to test the capability of the developed system. Data correlation between this measurement system and echocardiogram exams is also performed. The high resolution of the MEMS accelerometer used provides a better signal for SCG wave recognition, enabling a more consistent study of the diagnostic capability of this technique in clinical analysis.