Quantifying changes in triaxial seismocardiography variability due to sub-optimal volume status
Gabriela I Cestero1, Zeineb Bouzid1, Afra Nawar1
1School of Electrical and Computer Engineering, Georgia Institute of Technology, Atlanta, GA, United States.
Frontiers in Physiology
|June 3, 2026
Summary
Seismocardiogram (SCG) signals reveal changes in blood volume status. A significant change in SCG lateral axis consistency indicates hypervolemia or hypovolemia, aiding in monitoring volume status.
Area of Science:
- Biomedical Engineering
- Cardiovascular Physiology
- Wearable Technology
Background:
- Sub-optimal blood volume conditions like hypervolemia (volume overload) and hypovolemia (volume deficit) significantly impact circulation and organ function.
- Current methods for assessing blood volume status are often limited to clinical settings or lack accuracy, especially in austere environments.
- Novel wearable sensing and machine learning technologies are being developed for early and accurate detection of sub-optimal volume status.
Purpose of the Study:
- To investigate changes in the morphological variability of Seismocardiogram (SCG) signals in hypervolemic and hypovolemic conditions.
- To determine if SCG signal variability increases during decompensation compared to compensation.
- To explore the potential of SCG signals for non-invasive blood volume status monitoring.
Main Methods:
- Utilized two datasets: heart failure patients with hypervolemia and swine undergoing induced hypovolemia.
- Computed SCG signal consistency (inverse of variability) using 60-second segments from compensation and decompensation periods.
- Analyzed SCG signal consistency across different axes (dorso-ventral, head-to-foot, lateral).
Main Results:
- No significant change in SCG signal consistency was observed in the dorso-ventral or head-to-foot axes for either population.
- A significant change in SCG signal consistency was found in the lateral axis for both hypervolemia (p = 0.042) and hypovolemia (p = 0.012) populations during decompensation.
- These findings highlight the lateral axis of the SCG signal as sensitive to changes in volume status.
Conclusions:
- SCG morphology variability is related to cardiovascular compensation status, particularly in the lateral axis.
- The study provides a foundation for developing algorithms that use SCG variability for baseline-free estimation of sub-optimal volume status in field settings.
- SCG signals offer a promising non-invasive method for monitoring blood volume status in diverse environments.
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