HeartBeat the Odds: A Novel Digital Ballistocardiographic Sensor System

The Ballistocardiography (BCG) aims to analyze the ballistic forces on the heart in terms of vibrations that are transmitted to the body's surface. These vibrations can be measured by accelerometers. But instead of highly specialized analog sensors, we propose BCG based on commercially available digital accelerometers. To achieve this, we performed a bunch of trials to gain information about proper acceleration sensor technology, as well as needed requirements to create a full-fledged BCG sensor board. This sensor board as well as first results are presented within this paper.