Development of a multimedia interactive system for virtual heart animation based on phono-electrocardiography for educational purposes

In this work, an interactive system is presented as a friendly approach to science addressed to scholars and people interested in some basics about the heart function. It is based on an animated virtual heart, commanded by the heart electrical activity. The signal is directly recorded from the thorax of the user with a three-electrode set mounted in a support that includes a microphone to capture heart sounds produced by its mechanical activity. The system uses a graphic User interface (GUI) developed to show a heart animation where users may associate the action of their own organ with both the presence of bioelectrical phenomenon of muscle excitation and sounds mainly produced by valves motion. This interactive device was required by a museum of science and schools.