Three-dimensional ballistocardiography in microgravity: a review of past research

Annu Int Conf IEEE Eng Med Biol Soc. 2011:2011:4267-70. doi: 10.1109/IEMBS.2011.6091059.

Abstract

This paper gives a short review of research on ballistocardiography in microgravity and indicates the benefits from this research for the use of BCG as a terrestrial cardiac monitoring system. In the past, 3-D methods required large devices to decouple the subject from the terrestrial environment and hence, BCG on Earth is usually limited to unidirectional recordings of the motion in the head-to-foot direction. However, microgravity provides a suspension-free environment where accelerations can be measured in all directions without the influence of gravity. Microgravity research indicated that along with the acceleration in the head-to-foot direction, the accelerations in the lateral and dorso-ventral direction are important in understanding the physiological forces during a cardiac cycle. Further, lung volume has a large influence on the transmission of cardiac forces to the surface of the body. To date, only the three separate components of the acceleration vector have been analyzed in 3-D BCG studies. Using the true acceleration and displacement vector (orientation and magnitude), rather than the three separate components, may permit more accurate cardiac event detection.

Publication types

  • Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't
  • Research Support, U.S. Gov't, Non-P.H.S.
  • Review

MeSH terms

  • Earth, Planet
  • Humans
  • Space Flight
  • Weightlessness*