Multi-Channel Facial Photoplethysmography Sensing.

Area of Science:

• Biomedical Engineering
• Medical Devices
• Cardiovascular Monitoring

Background:

• Continuous cardiovascular monitoring is crucial for patient care.
• Existing methods may be invasive or limited in scope.
• Photoplethysmography (PPG) offers a non-invasive approach to assess blood flow.

Purpose of the Study:

• To develop and validate a novel system for multi-location facial photoplethysmography sensing.
• To integrate an optical sensor array into a wearable face mask for surgical hemodynamic monitoring.
• To assess the accuracy of the system in estimating heart rate compared to electrocardiogram (ECG) recordings.

Main Methods:

• A wearable face mask equipped with an optical sensor array was designed.
• The system performed photoplethysmography sensing at multiple facial locations.
• Estimated heart rate from the PPG system was validated against ground truth ECG recordings in 10 subjects.

Main Results:

• The system demonstrated accurate detection of pulse timing.
• The estimated heart rate achieved an error standard deviation of 2.84 beats per minute when compared to ECG.
• The system successfully recorded pulse waveforms from multiple facial sites.

Conclusions:

• The developed face mask system shows significant promise for non-invasive, continuous cardiovascular monitoring.
• This technology could enhance hemodynamic monitoring during surgical procedures.
• Multi-location facial PPG offers a viable method for pulse waveform analysis.