Pre-clinical physiological data acquisition and testing of the IMAGE sensing device for exercise guidance and real-time monitoring of cardiovascular disease patients

Non-invasive monitoring of a patient’s vital signs outside the medical centre is essential for the remote management of chronic cardiovascular diseases (CVD), such as Heart Failure (HF) and Coronary Artery Disease (CAD). In this work we present preliminary results from pre-clinical testing of the IMAGE sensing platform, a wearable device designed for wireless real-time data acquisition and monitoring of CVD patients’ physiological responses, primarily while they are exercising. The device is capable of acquiring and on-board processing 3-lead electrocardiogram (ECG) and bioimpedance measurements, obtain multi-sensor oxymetry data as well as record torso movement and inclination. Pilot testing has so far primarily focused on optimising the hardware and experimental protocol, using healthy volunteers. A planned clinical study involving CVD patients is expected to commence within the next few months and provide more detailed experimental results, as part of a research and development effort into realtime exercise guidance and early-warning alert generation for patients and clinicians. The IMAGE device has been developed by CSEM SA, a partner in the HeartCycle consortium, a biomedical engineering project co-funded by the EU 7th Framework Programme.