title: Ballistocardiogram: Mechanism and Potential for Unobtrusive Cardiovascular Health Monitoring.
abstract: For more than a century, it has been known that the body recoils each time the heart ejects blood into the arteries. These subtle cardiogenic body movements have been measured with increasingly convenient ballistocardiography (BCG) instruments over the years. A typical BCG measurement shows several waves, most notably the "I", "J", and "K" waves. However, the mechanism for the genesis of these waves has remained elusive. We formulated a simple mathematical model of the BCG waveform. We showed that the model could predict the BCG waves as well as physiologic timings and amplitudes of the major waves. The validated model reveals that the principal mechanism for the genesis of the BCG waves is blood pressure gradients in the ascending and descending aorta. This new mechanistic insight may be exploited to allow BCG to realize its potential for unobtrusive monitoring and diagnosis of cardiovascular health and disease.
authors: Department of Mechanical Engineering, University of Maryland, College Park, MD, USA.
authors: Chang-Sei
authors: CS
authors: Kim
authors: Department of Mechanical Engineering, University of Maryland, College Park, MD, USA.
authors: Stephanie L
authors: SL
authors: Ober
authors: Department of Medicine, University of Alberta, Edmonton, AB, Canada.
authors: M Sean
authors: MS
authors: McMurtry
authors: Department of Anesthesiology and Pain Medicine, University of Alberta, Edmonton, AB, Canada.
authors: Barry A
authors: BA
authors: Finegan
authors: School of Electrical and Computer Engineering, Georgia Institute of Technology, Atlanta, GA, USA.
authors: Omer T
authors: OT
authors: Inan
authors: Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering, Michigan State University, East Lansing, MI, USA.
authors: Ramakrishna
authors: R
authors: Mukkamala
authors: Department of Mechanical Engineering, University of Maryland, College Park, MD, USA.
authors: Jin-Oh
authors: JO
authors: Hahn
mesh_terms: D000368:Aged; D001011:Aorta / Q000502:physiology / Q000503:physiopathology; D001450:Ballistocardiography / Q000295:instrumentation* / Q000379:methods; D001794:Blood Pressure; D002319:Cardiovascular System; D004562:Electrocardiography / Q000295:instrumentation / Q000379:methods; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D008962:Models, Theoretical; D008991:Monitoring, Physiologic / Q000295:instrumentation* / Q000379:methods; D009068:Movement; D015203:Reproducibility of Results; D012815:Signal Processing, Computer-Assisted