The Heart as a Pump – the Key to Patient Centric Care

For the past 20 years I have been searching for ways to use ballistocardiogram (BCG) to detect and predict body diseases. As an engineer I take a different view to medical specialists in looking for solutions. I view the heart as purely a pump delivering nutrients and oxygen to body organs. The autonomous nervous system provides electrical pulses to drive the pump based on demand from organs.

BCG measures the output of the pump as opposed to ECG which measures the pulses applied to the pump. Technical restraints have worked against the use of BCG until now. These restraints have been removed by the development of my radar-based sensor and platform. This technology allows the sensing and recording of every pulse and breath very accurately. Processing of this data allows the creation of a pattern that defines the condition of the pump. This pattern is consistent whilst the body is stable. When there is a change in body function anomalies appear in the pattern. After one month in a clinical environment, it was able to predict an anxiety attack 7 days before it occurred. It also monitored the status of the attack until it subsided. This is just one of the results from this early deployment.

The 2 graphs above show the difference between sleep apnea with and without a CPAP machine. Without the CPAP machine the pump is required to work harder to deliver the required oxygen.

What does this mean for patient centric care?

At last, there is a move away from reactive medicine to proactive patient care. Doctors are now being moved to a patient centric model by insurance companies as they change the way that doctors are remunerated. Doctors will be paid a fixed sum per patient per month as opposed to the current method of payment per consultation. Covid highlighted the benefits of telehealth and the ability to manage diseases remotely. It also caused a mass shortage of nurses and doctors. There is now an imperative to move to home-based care.

Previous attempts at getting patients to take daily measurements of vitals have usually failed after the first two weeks. Wearables do not provide the accuracy required for reliable diagnosis and are usually on charge overnight when most adverse events occur. My technology requires no patient input and just passively records every heart beat and breath. Imagine an ECG machine in the home with no leads and 24/7 monitoring.

Recruitment is underway in Hawaii to monitor 2,000 patients in their own homes with the new technology. Data collected will be used to create a database for AI interpretation and analysis of the anomalies detected. It is expected to confirm the ability to detect diseases and monitor their progress and reaction to prescribed treatments. A monitoring center staffed by registered nurses will collect clinical data on each patient to be fed into the database.

I am excited that this technology will dramatically change the patient treatment model and lead to better health outcomes for the individual. It will allow elders to remain in their own home for much longer and not be a burden on their family.

I would welcome approaches from interested parties in joining this breakthrough.?