Cardiac-induced localized thoracic motion detected by a fiber optic sensing scheme

Area of Science:

• Biomedical Engineering
• Cardiovascular Research
• Sensor Technology

Background:

• Cardiovascular diseases are a leading cause of global mortality, necessitating advanced diagnostic tools.
• Current methods for assessing cardiovascular health can be expensive or impractical for widespread use.

Purpose of the Study:

• To develop a novel, cost-effective, and portable system for real-time 3-D visualization of cardiac mechanical motion.
• To capture seismocardiographic signals across a broad frequency range, including ballistocardiography and heart sounds.

Main Methods:

• Utilized a system of fiber optic long period gratings as curvature sensors to detect seismocardiographic signals up to 54 Hz.
• Employed a bespoke 3-D shape reconstruction algorithm with data from an array of 3-4 sensors placed on the thorax near the heart's apex.
• Demonstrated visualization of real-time, three-dimensional (3-D) mechanical heart motion.

Main Results:

• Successfully obtained seismocardiographic signals covering both ballistocardiography and audible heart sound frequencies.
• Visualized complex heart wall motion in the apex region using the developed sensing and reconstruction technique.
• The system proved to be low-cost, portable, and easy to operate.

Conclusions:

• The developed fiber optic sensing system provides a novel, low-cost method for real-time 3-D cardiac motion visualization.
• This technology has significant potential for ambulatory cardiovascular health monitoring and diagnostics.
• The system's ability to capture a wide range of cardiac mechanical signals offers a comprehensive approach to heart assessment.