Ballistocardiogram Measurement System Using Three Load-Cell Sensors Platform in Chair

This paper presents a Ballistocardiogram (BCG) measurement system to obtain BCG signal from a subject sitting on a chair installed three load-cell sensors platform. The measurement relies on sensing pressure variations on the seat related to cardiovascular cycles. Signals from sensors are amplified and filtered through a passband between 1 Hz and 40 Hz. An embedded-software runs on Micro2440 development board to sample the signal and implement a user operating interface that shows the real-time signal and control system. A PC program is developed to receive data from Micro2440 board and display the results. Our experiments were carried out with four healthy volunteers (three male and one female, aged 24 ± 2 years old). The results show that the repeatable BCG signal can be measured from three load-cell sensors platform under the seat of a normal chair.

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