This research focuses on the design of an electrical impedance tomography (EIT) device for performing non-invasive cardiac imaging and cardiac output monitoring at home. The research activities include analysis and numerical simulations of circuits, systems and algorithms; design and fabrication of circuits and biomedical instrumentation; bench-top evaluation of basic device functionality; and pre-clinical trials of the device in comparison with the current gold standard in hemodynamic status monitoring. The research project also addresses a critical barrier to progress in the effective telemonitoring of chronic heart failure patients. These developments could help to reduce the rate of acute heart failure hospitalizations, which would confer benefits of (i) billions of dollars per year in reduced health care costs, (ii) preservation of elective healthcare schedules, and (iii) reduction of patient exposure to hospital-acquired infections and medical errors.
This research activity will advance the state of the art in EIT imaging technology, allowing it to be used in natural, unpredictable environments, which is critical for a patient-centric smart connected health system. Also, this activity will increase understanding of how to incorporate real-time mesh deformation algorithms into EIT image reconstruction. The concepts being explored are (i) adaptive analog front ends for low power/high performance EIT instrumentation, (ii) motion artifact robust instrumentation, and (iii) accelerometer-derived mesh deformation models for tracking volume changes. If the project is successful, it will (i) improve the technical capability of telemonitoring, by adding cardiac hemodynamic measurements to the suite of telemonitoring tools; (ii) improve clinical practice by providing timely information that is specific to heart function, allowing the healthcare provider to manage telemonitored patients in a proactive rather than reactive way.
