Cor Vasa 2011, 53(1-2):72-74

The development of ballistocardiography from 1877 to the present

Lucia Barčiaková^1,*, Jan Pirk¹, Petr Šeba², Jan Kříž²

¹ Klinika kardiovaskulární chirurgie, Institut klinické a experimentální medicíny, Centrum výzkumu chorob srdce a cév, Praha

² Katedra fyziky, Pedagogická fakulta, Univerzita Hradec Králové, Česká republika

Cardiology has witnessed major advances in the diagnosis and treatment of overt coronary heart disease (CHD) over the past 20 years; however, mortality rates for CHD continue to be unsatisfactory. This was also one of the reasons why current research has focused particularly on diagnosing pre-clinical CHD. Major predictors of cardiovascular risk include aortic pulse wave velocity (PWV), determined primarily by applanation tonometry. Our study has shown PWV can also be measured using computer-assisted ballistocardiography. This review article provides a look at the history of ballistocardiography and its potential uses in current medical practice.

Keywords: Ballistocardiography; Aortic pulse wave velocity; Applanation tomometry

Published: January 1, 2011  Show citation