Mobile Application for Visualization and Analysis of Impedance Cardiography Signals

Abstract

Background: Bioimpedance measurement is a noninvasive diagnostic method that enables the assessment of the condition of internal organs and their activity by recording changes in impedance of the examined body area. One of the bioimpedance techniques that allows the evaluation of cardiac mechanical activity, including the estimation of stroke volume, is impedance cardiography (ICG). Purpose: The aim of this project was to create a computer program written in widespread Java, a versatile language, valued for its reliability, scalability, and built-in features that optimize application performance. The application dedicated to mobile devices, written using the Android Studio environment, enables visualization of ICG signals simultaneously with one channel of electrocardiographic signal (ECG) and allows the preliminary analysis of basic hemodynamic parameters. Methods: The signal analysis included determination of heart rate (HR), stroke volume (SV), cardiac output (CO), and left ventricular ejection time (LVET). Discussion and Conclusions: The program allows the user the quick visual check of the recorded signal quality, browse the traces and manually select the characteristic points on the ECG and ICG waveforms, which are then used to calculate the ICG-derived cardiac parameters. It may be used to visualize ECG and ICG signals by anyone, who could enter ICG data formatted in three text columns where each row reflects a sample of ECG, first derivative of ICG signal (dz/dt) and basic impedance (Z0).