Wheelchair user´s cardiovascular evaluation system to support physiotherapy sessions

Assessing the cardiovascular status of subjects accompanied by physical therapists is a growing tendency. Merely assessing kinetic recovery is considered to be a short-range approach. So, techniques and devices providing extended support of physiotherapy sessions are necessary. The system developed provides to the physiotherapist new tools, by implementing unobtrusive sensing hardware and an interactive graphical user interface. It allows cardiovascular data recording during the appointment, access and management of a number of cardiac and kinetic parameters. Ballistocardiography and impedance plethysmography were used for cardiovascular parameters assessment. The intensity of the movements produced by the limited mobility arm is qualified and quantified by accelerometry. This system acts as an interactive platform to assist physiotherapists´ work. It is an improvement over the traditional untraceable methods based on mere observation, and allowing comfortable cardiac and kinetic monitoring.