Assessment of Cardiovascular Risk in Assisted Living

Disorders of the heart and blood vessels are the leading cause of health problems and death. Early detection of them is extremely valuable as it can prevent serious incidents (e. g. heart attack, stroke) and associated complications. This requires extending the typical mobile mon itoring methods (e.g. Holter ECG, tele-ECG) by introduction of integrated, multiparametric solutions for con tinuous monitoring of the cardiovascular system. In this paper we propose the wearable system that integrates measurements of cardiac data with actual estimation of the cardiovascular risk level. It consists of two wireless ly connected devices, one designed in the form of a necklace, the another one in the form of a bracelet (wrist watch). These devices enable contin uous measurement of electrocardiographic, plethysmographic (impedance-based an d optical-based) and accelerometric signals. Collected signals and calculated parameters indicate the elec trical and mechanical state of the heart and are processed to estimate a risk level. Depending on the risk lev el an appropriate alert is triggered and transmitted to predefined users (e.g. emergency departments, the family doct or, etc.).