Journal Article

A wearable cardiac ultrasound imager

Yin, Lu, Park, Geonho, Xu, Sheng, Corey, Paul W., Lu, Chengchangfeng, Qi, Ruixiang, Li, Chenghai, Hu, Hongjie, Yang, Xinyi, Cai, Shengqiang, Gu, Yue, Lin, Muyang, Gao, Xiaoxiang, Ma, Yuxiang, Maus, Timothy M., Wang, Xinyu, Wang, Ruotao, Li, Mohan, Shi, Keren, Zhou, Sai, Xiang, Shu, Wu, Ray S., Huang, Brady, Yue, Wentong, Chen, Xiangjun, Chen, Yimu, Lou, Zhiyuan, Wang, Joseph, Huang, Hao, Mu, Jing, Bian, Yizhou, Lei, Yusheng

2023

Overview

Continuous imaging of cardiac functions is highly desirable for the assessment of long-term cardiovascular health, detection of acute cardiac dysfunction and clinical management of critically ill or surgical patients 1 – 4 . However, conventional non-invasive approaches to image the cardiac function cannot provide continuous measurements owing to device bulkiness 5 – 11 , and existing wearable cardiac devices can only capture signals on the skin 12 – 16 . Here we report a wearable ultrasonic device for continuous, real-time and direct cardiac function assessment. We introduce innovations in device design and material fabrication that improve the mechanical coupling between the device and human skin, allowing the left ventricle to be examined from different views during motion. We also develop a deep learning model that automatically extracts the left ventricular volume from the continuous image recording, yielding waveforms of key cardiac performance indices such as stroke volume, cardiac output and ejection fraction. This technology enables dynamic wearable monitoring of cardiac performance with substantially improved accuracy in various environments. Innovations in device design, material fabrication and deep learning are described, leading to a wearable ultrasound transducer capable of dynamic cardiac imaging in various environments and under different conditions.

• Publisher: Nature Publishing Group UK,Nature Publishing Group
• Subject: 639/301/1005/1009 / 692/700/1421/1860/1445 / 692/700/459 / Acoustics / Akinesia / Cardiac function / Cardiac Output / Continuity (mathematics) / Deep learning / Echocardiography - instrumentation / Echocardiography - standards / Equipment Design / Fabrication / Heart - diagnostic imaging / Heart Ventricles - diagnostic imaging / Humanities and Social Sciences / Humans / Interfacial bonding / Mechanical properties / multidisciplinary / Performance indices / Science / Science (multidisciplinary) / Signal to noise ratio / Skin / Stroke Volume / Ultrasonic imaging / Ventricle / Waveforms / Wearable computers / Wearable Electronic Devices - standards / Wearable technology