SMART HEART MONITORING SYSTEM

The recent technological advances in wireless communications have made it possible to create sensor devices that can monitor systems or patients from a remote location. Examples of these can include, but are not limited to, control systems from an industrial plant, remote control of vehicles, and hospital patient monitoring systems. Because of the growth in population all over the world, the demand for hospital care is on the rise. A simple solution to this problem is to have patients be monitored non-intrusively. By utilizing wireless technology, and coupling it with the newest sensor technology, a method of monitoring a patient remotely can be established. The National Science FoundationResearch Experience for Undergraduate students (NSF-REU) of the College of Technology has sponsored the first step of this process: the design and implementation of a wireless electronic stethoscope. Specifically, this project involves the design of a signal conditioning system in order to process the low level heartbeat (audio) signals from an electronic stethoscope for wireless communications utilizing the latest of Cypress’s CyFi wireless technology. With this device, one can tell the physiological state of health of a person. Essentially, sounds taken from the heart can tell the health of the heart, whether the heart’s beat is healthy, or has an abnormal condition such as a murmur or unsteady rhythm. It can also tell the stress level of the patient. Having a stethoscope reading transmitted through a wireless communication system to an observing body is a great solution for rapid response and immediate intervention if necessary. Introduction The purpose of the research behind the Smart Heart Monitoring System sponsored by the National Science Foundation’s Research Experience for Undergraduates was to marry two technologies together for a more intelligent and rapid patient response system which may be deployed and implemented in the medical industry. Presently, a problem exists where a patient admitted to a hospital or clinic and deemed, or diagnosed, to have a condition or problem requiring additional monitoring by medical staff has no other option other than to stay in the hospital’s care. This may become a financial burden for a patient. This could also lead to an overcrowding problem for the hospital. Overcrowding of hospitals has become an emerging threat to patient care in the United States [1]. When a patient is admitted, space, manpower, and equipment may not be as utilized as wisely as it otherwise could be. In the case where a hospital’s emergency room may be Proceedings of the 2010 ASEE Gulf-Southwest Annual Conference, McNeese State University Copyright © 2010, American Society for Engineering Education 2 approaching maximum capacity, and taking patient’s comfort and stress levels into consideration, the motivation for new innovations is inevitable. This research entails the creation of a noninvasive system that reports a person’s medical status continuously and communicates wirelessly to a central computer that can monitor and store statistics, raise certain flags based on certain criteria, and allow for better utilization of medical manpower and tools. Heart Monitoring Analysis Heart monitoring analysis begins by taking audio samples, otherwise known as auscultations, from the heart externally, via an electronic stethoscope. Each individual amplitude, audio frequency, and cardiac pulse can determine the state of health of a person. The amplitude of the audio signal taken from a heart beat can be measured against previously sampled amplitude levels from the same heart to determine the intensity from which that heart is beating. This intensity can determine whether the heart is beating normally, too hard, or too soft. Essentially, understanding this can determine and measure the strength, the stress, and the exertion of the heart in relation to the size of the body. Filtering the specific audio frequencies exhibited by the heart from other physiological auscultations will allow doctors to focus their attention solely on pulmonary functions, thus detect heart-specific irregularities. The frequency at which the heart beats can differentiate between either a healthy or abnormal/malfunctioning heart. One such condition is called tachycardia, which can cause the heart to beat faster that the 100 Beats per Minute (BPM) for no apparent reason. Tachycardia is a dangerous condition in that it could be a sign of heart disease [2]. A slow heart beat is also another very important reason to monitor heart auscultations. In the case where a heart is beating too slow, the result is that the body is not getting enough blood, thus unwarily exhibiting fatigue or dizziness. This can be brought on by a number of causes including variations in activity, diet, medication, and/or age [3]. Having the ability to monitor these conditions any time, a doctor can be acutely aware of how a person’s heart is operating and can diagnose a problem more appropriately. Theory of Operation The Smart Heart Monitoring System is composed of three main parts: input, signal conditioning and processing, and communication. The input is comprised of a microphone circuit. The microphone circuit converts the audio energy into electrical energy. The electrical energy created by the microphone requires conditioning and processing. This is executed by Cypress’s microcontroller system known as the Programmable System on a Chip (PSoC). Once the signal is conditioned and processed into digital form, it is transmitted via wireless means. The wireless communication is accomplished by using Cypress’s CyFi wireless technology. At the receiving end of this transmission is a hub attached to a computer. The hub will retrieve that data so that the adjoining computer can further process the information for databasing and statistical analysis.