ENGINEERING INNOVATION AWARDS NATIONAL ENGINEERING INNOVATION PRIZE (NIEP) CARDIOCAST

WHAT IS CARDIOCAST Cardiocast is a network of devices that consist of a wearable embedded system, mobile phones, and an internet based database server.

MOTIVATION  According to the World Health Organization (WHO), Cardiovascular Diseases (CVD) are the number one causes of death globally, more people die annually from CVDs than from any other cause.  An estimated 17.5 million people died from CVDs in 2012, representing 31% of all global deaths, an estimated 7.4 million were due to coronary heart disease and 6.7 million were due to stroke.  Over three quarters of the CVD deaths take place in low – and middle income countries.  People with cardiovascular diseases or who are at high risk ( due to the presence of one or more risk factors such as hypertension, diabetes, hyperlipidemia or already established disease ) near early detection and management using counselling and medicines as appropriate.

MOTIVATION  The above management strategies are somehow passive and they can be improved upon by actively monitoring the patient anywhere they are and in real-time using electronic means especially the ones with high risk for danger signs to their health.

HOW?  Electrocardiography; this is the process of recording the electrical activities of the heart over a period of time using electrodes placed on a patients body. These electrodes detect the tiny electrical changes that arise from the heart muscle depolarizing during each heartbeat.  The properties of this signals, such as period, amplitude, regularity can reveal or predict life threatening cardiovascular conditions before they become fatal.

 These signals are sent to the mobile phone of the user which then sends the signal to the web sever via the internet.  On the web server, the signals are processed using ECG processing algorithm in order to identify dangers  If dangerous condition is spotted, the data is stored and the doctor in charge of the patient is notified promptly.  If no dangerous condition is spotted, then the data is just stored on the server.  Data stored can be used later for investigative purposes. HOW?

SYSTEM COMPONENT DESCRIPTION

WEARABLE EMBEDDED SYSTEM This is the part of the system that is strapped to the upper arm of the user. The heart of the wearable embedded system is a microcontroller, the microcontroller that links together the ECG probe and the Bluetooth device for communicating with the mobile phone of the user. The ECG probes is connected to the point directly above the heart of the user. The probes gather electrical signals from the heart and sends them to the mobile phone through Bluetooth.

MOBILE PHONE USER The primary aim of the user’s mobile phone is to serve as a link between the wearable device and the cloud and provide a control interface for wearable device. In order to reduce the cost and the complexity of the device, the wearable device makes use of the internet connection of the mobile phone. Running on the user’s mobile device is a software that communicates with the wearable device over the Bluetooth API. All these is done by the software residing on the phone of the user.

MOBILE PHONE DOCTOR The Doctor’s mobile phone monitors alerts on the web server, whenever there is a trigger from the user’s on the web server, the Doctor’s mobile phone picks the alert signal and alerts the doctor about the danger to the health of the patient.

WEB BASED DATABASE SERVER This is the link between the User’s mobile phone and the doctor’s mobile phone, running on the webserver is an ECG signal processing algorithm. It logs the information from the mobile phone of the user, process the signal and sends alert as appropriate to the medical practitioners.

ALL PARTS TOGETHER

BENEFITS Without an iota of doubt, we are sure that Cardiocast will transform health care delivery to patients with cardiovascular diseases thereby increasing the chances of their survival.

BENEFITS Many are suffering from cardiovascular diseases. With Cardiocast, we can save the life of many.

THANK YOU