Contactless Mapping of Thoracic and Abdominal Movements: Applications for Seismocardiography

Seismocardiography has been well studied in terms of analysis, applications, and methods of measurement. However, there remains a lack of research into the explanation and modelling of the involved phenomena. We propose a new contactless method to measure thoracic and sternal movements, demonstrate that it is adequate for typical seismocardiogram use. An ultrasonic diagnostic tool called ICARE (CArdio REspiratory Imager) was designed to perform non-contact ultrasonic waves imaging on the thorax and abdomen. In addition to ICARE measurements an accelerometer was placed above the xiphoid of 3 participants (male, age 39±11). Both ICARE and accelerometer measurements were performed concurrently. Experimental results show the ability of the ICARE system to obtain 3D seismocardiographic images with high frequency frame rate. Furthermore, this technology could potentially be used to obtain cardio-vascular information in and out of clinical environments, significantly lowering the required time and effort.