Ambulatory impedance cardiography: a feasibility study

Abstract

A wearable, ambulatory impedance monitor (AIM) has been developed to permit impedance cardiographic measurements while patients and volunteers engage in normal daily activities. The AIM system was developed for use with a new hybrid tetrapolar spot-band electrode configuration and was designed to be comfortable and inconspicuous. The objective of the present study was to provide a preliminary evaluation of AIM comparability with the widely validated Minnesota model 304B impedance cardiograph with standard tetrapolar band electrodes. Orthostatic challenge was used to systematically alter cardiac function in a laboratory setting in 11 healthy men and women. Both while the subjects were sitting and while they were standing, the AIM yielded measures of cardiac function, including heart rate, preejection period, left ventricular ejection time, and stroke volume, that were similar to those acquired by using the reference Minnesota 304B system (all Pearson R correlations > +0.87, all P < 0.001). Cardiac responses to postural shift, expressed as change measures from sitting to standing, were also comparable for the AIM and Minnesota reference monitoring systems. Potential applications, including the assessment of 24-h hemodynamic profiles, are illustrated and discussed.