A cardiac signal monitoring and processing system

The social and economic impact of cardiovascular diseases and the importance of efficient early diagnostic tools are self-evident. This project finds its motivation in the foreseeable impact that an accurate, non-invasive and easy-to-use instrument for hemodynamic condition assessment could introduce on the diagnosis and follow-up of these diseases. It aims at developing and testing of a microcontroller based signal monitoring device for cardiovascular studies. The advantages of this system show up in decreasing the associated cost, as well as in increasing its functionality, making the necessary human intervention minimal. The algorithmic component of the project will focus on the main hemodynamic issues currently addressed in literature: separating incident from reflected pulse waves (augmentation index), waveform variability and transfer function. Although, additional studies are still required to attain clinical validation, this system seems to be a valid, low cost and easy to use alternative to the highly costly devices in the market.