Method and system for ischemic pre-conditioning using exercise
The various embodiments of the present invention provide a system and method for a fully mobile, non-invasive, continuous system for monitoring the cardiovascular and musculoskeletal health of an individual during exercise, and for administering a protocol for ischemic pre-conditioning. The system includes a wearable devices affixed on the user with a chest strap, coupled with an application running on a computing device (smartphone/smartwatch), which performs various computations on the wearable device, and allows the user to get real time alerts during exercise, by way of vibrations or audio messages or notifications on the gateway device, to guide them through a protocol for ischemic pre-conditioning.
1 . A wearable device configured to be affixed to a body of a user for ischemic pre-conditioning (IPC) of the user, the wearable device comprising:
a plurality of physiological sensors, including an ECG sensor and at least one of a skin impedance sensor; a PPG sensor; an accelerometer; and a temperature sensor;
a vibration motor; and
a computing device configured to record data from any subset of the sensors, said computing device further configured to execute an IPC protocol, the IPC protocol comprising computer-readable instructions to repeatedly:
determine one or more cardiac health parameters from the plurality of physiological sensors in substantially real-time, including a value of ST-depression for a predetermined time period of an ECG signal,
access first or second thresholds of the one or more cardiac health parameters, including at least ST-depression, which respectively define lower and upper limits of cardiac strain for the user during IPC,
compare, in substantially real-time, one or more respective real-time cardiac health parameters, including at least ST-depression, to respective first or second thresholds, and
generate an alert signal based on the comparison of the real-time cardiac health parameters to the first or second thresholds, wherein the computing device is operable to activate the vibration motor based upon the generated alert signal to provide a tactile output corresponding to an increase, a maintaining, or a decrease of an exercise level, so as to guide the user through IPC based on cardiac strain at varying exercise levels.
2 . The wearable device of claim 1 , further including LEDs and/or an audio speaker that provide real-time alerts to the user during exercise or resting states.
3 . The wearable device of claim 1 further including a chest strap or a disposable sticker that allows the wearable device to be affixed to some part of the user's chest, wherein the plurality of physiological sensors are configured to record signals including ECG and accelerometer waveforms.
4 . The wearable device of claim 1 further comprising one or more printed circuit boards (PCBs), wherein one of the PCBs further includes one or more of the following:
a USB port;
a gyroscope;
a magnetometer;
a barometer;
a battery;
a temperature sensor;
a GPS chip;
one or more LEDs;
a thermoelectric or photoelectric panel for harvesting energy from the body heat, or from light or heat in the environment;
an ultrasound transducer, configured for recording an ultrasound signal;
an electronic display; and
a wireless charging coil.
5 . The wearable device of claim 1 , wherein the computing device is further configured to measure ECG and SCG waveforms in parallel, when affixed to the chest of the user with a strap or adhesive sticker, and further configured to derive cardiac health parameters of the individual, including one or more of the following: heart rate, respiratory rate, tidal volume, minute ventilation, arrhythmias, heart murmurs, systolic time intervals (PEP, LVET, IVRT, IVCT), left ventricular ejection fraction (LVEF), cardiac output and stroke volume, PQ-interval, ST-interval, ST-elevation, running speed, and running power.
6 . The wearable device of claim 1 , wherein the computing device is configured to record the accelerometer data, and to calculate the exact timing of the zero crossings in the Y-axis data of the accelerometer, and thereby a value for one or more of the following when the user is undergoing exercise, or is running: cadence (in steps per min), shock on the knees/spine (in g/sec), braking force (in g), braking velocity (in m/see or km/hr), bounce (in cms), sway (in cms or degrees from the vertical), ground contact time (in see/ms), flight time (in see/ms), and speed (in m/see or km/hr).
7 . The wearable device of claim 6 , wherein the computing device is configured to measure a shock value by computing the maximal slope of the Y-axis data of the accelerometer in the 1-100 ms time interval range immediately after a foot strike, and send an alert to the user when their shock value crosses a certain pre-specified threshold, through the vibration motor, and/or a message displayed on a display included in the wearable device, and/or an audio speaker located on the wearable device, and/or a message sent to a gateway device.
8 . The wearable device of claim 1 , further including a wireless connection to a smartphone or computing device with a display and/or speaker, which receives data wirelessly from the wearable device, and guides the user through the protocol for IPC with instructions given through text or audio/visual medium.
9 . The wearable device of claim 1 , further comprising a smartphone or a computer including a video camera, which receives data from the wearable device, and further processes the video recording of the user in substantially real-time, to give recommendations on how to modify an exercise protocol being followed for the IPC session.
10 . The wearable device of claim 1 , wherein the wearable device is operable to communicate data with a gateway device, the gateway device comprising a smartphone, smartwatch, or router.
11 . The wearable device of claim 1 , wherein the predefined time period is substantially equivalent to 20 seconds.
12 . The wearable device of claim 1 , further comprising a wireless communication chip that sends data to a gateway device, wherein the gateway device comprises a smartphone or smartwatch or router.
13 . The wearable device of claim 1 , wherein said first and second thresholds of the one or more cardiac health parameters, including ST-depression, are predetermined from a rest state and an exercise state of the user.
14 . The wearable device of claim 1 , wherein IPC protocol provides an activation of the vibration motor to alert the user to increase their exercise level if the real-time value of the one or more cardiac health parameters, including at least ST-depression, is below the first threshold.
15 . The wearable device of claim 1 , wherein the IPC protocol provides an activation of the vibration motor to alert the user to maintain their exercise level if the real-time value of the one or more cardiac health parameters, including at least ST-depression, is between the first and second thresholds.
16 . The wearable device of claim 1 , wherein the IPC protocol provides an activation of the vibration motor to alert the user to decrease their exercise level if the real-time value of the one or more cardiac health parameters, including at least ST-depression, is above the second threshold.
17 . The wearable device of claim 1 , the tactile output including one of two or more unique tactile outputs.
18 . The wearable device of claim 17 , the two or more unique tactile outputs including a first tactile output and a different, second tactile output.
19 . A system for monitoring the health of a human user in a mobile setting, the system comprising:
one or more PCBs including an ECG sensor; a computing device configured to record data from the ECG sensor, flash memory, and a wireless communication module operable to communicate wirelessly with a gateway device;
the one or more PCBs being affixed to a chest strap or clothing so as to maintain the one or more PCBs near the user's chest; and
the one or more PCBs or gateway device further including one or more of a vibration motor for tactile outputs, a speaker or headphone interface for auditory outputs, and a display or one or more LEDs for visual outputs;
wherein the system is operable to, by the computing device or gateway device, execute computer-readable instructions of an IPC protocol, the IPC protocol operable to repeatedly:
process ECG signals in substantially real-time to calculate a value of ST-depression for a predetermined time period of an ECG signal,
access, from the flash memory or gateway device, first or second thresholds of ST-depression respectively defining the lower and upper limits of cardiac strain for the user during IPC,
compare the real-time value of ST-depression to the first or second thresholds, and
generate an alert signal based on the comparison of the real-time value of ST-depression to the first or second thresholds, wherein the computing device is operable to produce a tactile, auditory, and/or visual output, based upon the generated alert signal, corresponding to an increase, a maintaining, or a decrease of an exercise level, so as to guide the user through IPC based on cardiac strain at varying exercise levels.
20 . The system of claim 19 , wherein the PCB or chest strap or clothing further includes one or more of the following:
a PPG sensor;
an accelerometer;
a port for charging the system;
a gyroscope;
a magnetometer;
a barometer;
a battery;
a temperature sensor;
a GPS chip;
a pressure sensor to measure pressure between the chest strap and the user's chest;
a strain sensor to measure the strain in the chest strap or shirt or vest when it is worn by the user;
a thermoelectric or photoelectric panel for harvesting energy from body heat, from motion, or from light/heat in the environment;
an ultrasound transducer, configured for recording an ultrasound signal;
and
a wireless charging coil.
21 . The system of claim 19 , where the wireless communication module sends data to a gateway device, which displays the parameters calculated by a computing element housed within the device, and which can be used to configure the wearable device for different functions.
22 . The system of claim 21 , wherein the gateway device comprises a smartphone, smartwatch, or router.
23 . The system of claim 19 , wherein the chest strap or clothing includes an array of electrical sensors configured to record multi-channel ECG waveforms and/or impedance, and to measure one or more of the following: respiratory rate, tidal volume, VO2 max, fluid content in the lungs, ST-elevation, left ventricular ejection fraction, stroke volume, cardiac output, and galvanic skin response.
24 . The system of claim 19 , further configured to compute a value for the ventilatory threshold or lactate threshold for a user during exercise, by estimating the exercise intensity level at which the user's respiratory rate or minute ventilation starts increasing non-linearly with respect to exercise intensity level and/or heart rate and/or power for a certain period of time, and to alert the user through a vibration, a message displayed on an electronic display included in the device, and/or an audio message whenever the user is close to said threshold, thereby enabling the user to run in a zone close to their anaerobic threshold.
25 . The system of claim 19 , wherein said first and second thresholds of ST-depression are predetermined from a rest state and an exercise state of the user.
26 . The system of claim 19 , wherein the system is further operable to measure one or more of the following parameters: PEP, LVET, HR, respiratory rate, tidal volume, cadence, braking force, braking velocity, bounce, shock, and sway.
27 . The system of claim 19 , wherein the protocol provides an alert to prompt the user to increase their exercise level if the real-time value of ST-depression is below the first threshold.
28 . The system of claim 19 , wherein the IPC protocol provides an alert to prompt the user to maintain their exercise level if the real-time value of ST-depression is between the first and second thresholds.
29 . The system of claim 19 , wherein the IPC protocol provides an alert to prompt the user to decrease their exercise level if the real-time value of ST-depression is above the second threshold.
30 . The system of claim 19 , the tactile, auditory, and/or visual output including:
one of two or more unique tactile outputs;
one of two or more unique auditory outputs; and/or
one of two or more unique visual outputs.