Identifying Gravity-Related Artifacts on Ballistocardiography Signals by Comparing Weightlessness and Normal Gravity Recordings (ARTIFACTS) : Protocol for an Observational Study

Background: Modern ballistocardiography (BCG) and seismocardiography (SCG) use acceleration sensors to measure oscillating recoil movements of the body caused by the heartbeat and blood flow, which are transmitted to the body surface. Acceleration artifacts occur through intrinsic sensor roll, pitch, and yaw movements, assessed by the angular velocities of the respective sensor, during measurements that bias the signal interpretation. Objective: This observational study aims to generate hypotheses on the detection and elimination of acceleration artifacts due to the intrinsic rotation of accelerometers and their differentiation from heart-induced sensor accelerations. Methods: Multimodal data from 4 healthy participants (3 male and 1 female) using BCG-SCG and an electrocardiogram will be collected and serve as a basis for signal characterization, model modulation, and location vector derivation under parabolic flight conditions from µg to 1.8g. The data will be obtained during a parabolic flight campaign (3 times 30 parabolas) between September 24 and July 25 (depending on the flight schedule). To detect the described acceleration artifacts, accelerometers and gyroscopes (6-degree-of-freedom sensors) will be used for measuring acceleration and angular velocities attributed to intrinsic sensor rotation. Changes in acceleration and angular velocities will be explored by conducting descriptive data analysis of resting participants sitting upright in varying gravitational states. Results: A multimodal data set will serve as a basis for research into a noninvasive and gentle method of BCG-SCG with the aid of low-noise and synchronous 3D gyroscopes and 3D acceleration sensors. Hypotheses will be generated related to detecting and eliminating acceleration artifacts due to the intrinsic rotation of accelerometers and gyroscopes (6-degree-of-freedom sensors) and their differentiation from heart-induced sensor accelerations. Data will be collected entirely and exclusively during the parabolic flights, taking place between September 2024 and July 2025. Thus, as of June 2024, no data have been collected yet. The data will be analyzed until December 2025. The results are expected to be published by June 2026. Conclusions: The study will contribute to understanding artificial acceleration bias to signal readings. It will be a first approach for a detection and elimination method.

Subjects

acceleration

artifact

assessment

ballistocardiography

blood flow

cardiovascular

diagnostic

gravity

gyroscopes

heartbeat

heart-induced

hypotheses

intrinsic sensor

observational study

seismocardiography

sensor

weightlessness

DDC Class

610: Medicine, Health

004: Computer Sciences

Publication version

publishedVersion

Lizenz

https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/

Name

resprot-2024-1-e63306.pdf

Type

Main Article

Size

1.11 MB

Format

Adobe PDF

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Identifying Gravity-Related Artifacts on Ballistocardiography Signals by Comparing Weightlessness and Normal Gravity Recordings (ARTIFACTS) : Protocol for an Observational Study