A new electric method for non-invasive continuous monitoring of stroke volume and ventricular volume-time curves.

Background: In this paper a new non-invasive, operator-free, continuous ventricular stroke volume monitoring device (Hemodynamic Cardiac Profiler, HCP) is presented, that measures the average stroke volume (SV) for each period of 20 seconds, as well as ventricular volume-time curves for each cardiac cycle, using a new electric method (Ventricular Field Recognition) with six independent electrode pairs distributed over the frontal thoracic skin. In contrast to existing non-invasive electric methods, our method does not use the algorithms of impedance or bioreactance cardiography. Instead, our method is based on specific 2D spatial patterns on the thoracic skin, representing the distribution, over the thorax, of changes in the applied current field caused by cardiac volume changes during the cardiac cycle.

In-vivo validation of a new non-invasive continuous ventricular stroke volume monitoring system in an animal model.

Introduction: Recently, a non-invasive, continuous ventricular stroke volume monitoring system using skin electrodes has been developed. In contrast to impedance-based methods, the new technique (ventricular field recognition) enables measurement of changes in ventricular volume. A prototype using this new method was built (the hemologic cardiac profiler, HCP) and validated against a reference method in a pig model during variations in cardiac output.