This paper focuses on the development of a passive, lightweight skin patch sensor that can measure fluid volume changes in the heart in a non-invasive, point-of-care setting. The wearable sensor is an electromagnetic, self-resonant sensor configured into a specific pattern to formulate its three passive elements (resistance, capacitance, and inductance). In an animal model, a bladder was inserted into the left ventricle (LV) of a bovine heart, and fluid was injected using a syringe to simulate stoke volume (SV). In a human study, to assess the dynamic fluid volume changes of the heart in real time, the sensor frequency response was obtained from a participant in a 30° head-up tilt (HUT), 10° HUT, supine, and 10° head-down tilt positions over time. In the animal model, an 80-mL fluid volume change in the LV resulted in a downward frequency shift of 80.16 kHz. In the human study, there was a patterned frequency shift over time which correlated with ventricular volume changes in the heart during the cardiac cycle. Statistical analysis showed a linear correlation [Formula: see text] and 0.87 between the frequency shifts and fluid volume changes in the LV of the bovine heart and human participant, respectively. In addition, the patch sensor detected heart rate in a continuous manner with a 0.179% relative error compared to electrocardiography. These results provide promising data regarding the ability of the patch sensor to be a potential technology for SV monitoring in a non-invasive, continuous, and non-clinical setting.
Keywords: RF resonant sensor; point-of-care; stroke volume; wearable sensor.