Extracting a cardiac signal from the extracorporeal pressure sensors of a hemodialysis machine.

Although patients undergoing hemodialysis treatment often suffer from cardiovascular disease, monitoring of cardiac rhythm is not performed on a routine basis. Without requiring any extra sensor, this study proposes a method for extracting a cardiac signal from the built-in extracorporeal venous pressure sensor of the hemodialysis machine. The extraction is challenged by the fact that the cardiac component is much weaker than the pressure component caused by the peristaltic blood pump.