Development of a Multi-Channel Wearable Heart Sound Visualization System

Area of Science:

• Biomedical Engineering
• Cardiology
• Signal Processing

Background:

• Traditional auscultation relies on subjective interpretation and limited spatial information.
• Understanding heart sound propagation is crucial for accurate cardiac diagnosis.

Purpose of the Study:

• To develop and design a multi-channel wearable system for visualizing heart sounds.
• To create cardiac acoustic maps for detecting cardiac vibration and heart sound propagation.
• To assess the system's ability to visualize heart sound variations and guide auscultation.

Main Methods:

• Acquisition of 72 heart sound signals and 1 ECG signal using novel, high-sensitivity sensors.
• Application of Butterworth filtering and wavelet transform for signal noise reduction.
• Generation of cardiac acoustic maps via cubic spline interpolation of processed heart sound data.

Main Results:

• Successful detection and visualization of heart sound signals on the chest surface.
• Clear display of variations in heart sounds, enabling detailed analysis.
• Demonstration of the system's capability to image cardiac acoustic maps.

Conclusions:

• The developed visualization system effectively detects and displays heart sounds.
• Cardiac acoustic mapping offers a novel approach to understanding heart sound propagation.
• This technology can guide optimal auscultation site selection and enhance cardiac diagnostics.