Cardiovascular Diagnosis from Ballistocardiogram presented for Whiteboard2Boardroom on October 30, 2018

1. Cardiovascular
Diagnosis from
Ballistocardiogram
October 30, 2018

2. What is the problem?
• Electrocardiograms (ECGs) model
cardiac functioning and enable
diagnosis of improper functioning
• Ballistocardiograms (BCGs) model
cardiovascular functioning, and potentially
provide rich information on the cardiovascular
loop
– Theoretically, BCGs should model functioning of
large arteries and can be used to pinpoint improper
functioning of the carotid artery, ascending aorta,
etc.
– However, the curve is poorly understood, so BCGs
are not used clinically

3. How does product/service solve problem?
• Giovanna Guidoboni developed a
closed loop mathematical model
that simulates the mechanisms
generating the BCG signal
• The solution provides a
quantitative framework for the
clinical interpretation of BCG
signals

4. What is the market use?
Sensing
Modality
(1)
Sensing
Modality
(3)
Sensing
Modality (2)
(Hydraulic Bed Sensor)
(Weighing scale, …)
(Accelerometer)
Fig. 5. Simulated pressure waveforms are compared with experimental measurements at different sites along the arterial tree. [Moein: can you please send
me the .m file to obtain this figure? We need to edit some things a little.]
between BCG waveforms reported in different studies.
I
J
K
L
M
N
Fig. 6. Waveform f A (t) associated with the acceleration of the body motion
simulated via the closed-loop model over one cardiac cycle. The waveform
exhibits the typical I, J, K, L, M and N peaks that characterize BCG signals
measured experimentally.
Figure 6 reports the waveform f A (t) simulated via the
closed-loop model over one cardiac cycle. The waveform
exhibits the typical I, J, K, L, M and N peaks that characterize
BCG signals measured experimentally [1], [6], [17], thereby
confirming the capability of the closed-loop model to capture
the fundamental cardiovascular mechanisms that give rise to
the BCG signal.
A quantitative comparison between the simulated BCG
Fig. 7. BCG waveforms for displacement, velocity and acceleration, denoted
by f D , f V and f A , respectively. The figure reports the waveforms simulated
via the closed-loop model, the theoretical waveforms calculated by Noorder-
graaf and Heynekamp [16] and the experimental waveforms obtained by Inan
et al [17] Kim et al [6] and our group.
waveforms pertaining to displacement, velocity and accel-
eration of the center of mass is reported in Figure 7 by
means of the auxiliary functions f D , f V and f A . The wave-
forms simulated via the closed-loop model are compared
with (i) the theoretical results presented by Noordergraaf and
Heynekamp [16], where we calculated velocity and accelera-
A(t)

5. What competition exists?

6. What is the status of the intellectual property?
• Patent pending

7. What is the stage of development?
• Prototype built and tested on a small number of
subjects

8. What is needed for further development?
• More validation with more patients
• Refinement of model for improved accuracy
• Development of BCG sensing system
• Find an entrepreneur/licensee with
cardiovascular expertise for partnering on
validation
– Medical grade application for physicians
– Remote monitoring applications such as embodying
the invention in a chair or bed

9. Contact
For more information please contact Jim Baxendale, Director of
Whiteboard2Boardroom:baxendalej@umkc.edu.