A wearable electrical hemodynamic imaging ring

Area of Science:

• Biomedical Engineering
• Cardiovascular Physiology
• Medical Imaging

Background:

• Continuous monitoring of peripheral vascular perfusion is crucial for managing cardiovascular disease, especially in individuals with diabetes mellitus.
• Current clinical imaging is impractical for ambulatory use, and most wearable devices lack imaging capabilities.
• Electrical bioimpedance offers a potential solution for wearable hemodynamic monitoring due to its sensitivity to blood flow changes and imaging potential.

Purpose of the Study:

• To introduce a novel wearable ring device for finger blood flow imaging using electrical bioimpedance.
• To assess the feasibility of continuous, cuffless hemodynamic monitoring.
• To develop neural network models for blood pressure waveform estimation.

Main Methods:

• Development of a wearable ring with 8 electrodes and 32-channel bioimpedance sensing.
• Acquisition of conductivity images in digital arteries during rest and autonomic maneuvers in 96 healthy participants.
• Training of neural network models for continuous cuffless blood pressure waveform estimation.

Main Results:

• Successfully resolved conductivity images in digital arteries, correlating with pulsatile blood flow.
• Demonstrated the feasibility of bioimpedance imaging in a practical ring form factor.
• Developed functional neural network models for blood pressure waveform estimation.

Conclusions:

• The developed wearable bioimpedance ring enables finger blood flow imaging and supports ambulatory hemodynamic monitoring.
• This technology holds significant potential for early detection of vascular dysfunction and timely cardiovascular disease management.
• The study validates the use of electrical bioimpedance for cuffless, continuous hemodynamic assessment.