Evaluating the force of contraction of heart using ballistocardiogram

Ballistocardiogram (BCG) a promising technique that records the vibrational movement of the body related to heartbeat of a person. In this paper, a electromechanical film (Emfi) sensor and Electrocardiogram (ECG) set up was used to measure the force of contraction by which the health condition of a person was indexed. The experimental setup was carried out with a base Emfi sensor and a standard Lead I ECG electrode system on a flat chair. Wavelet denoising was performed for both ECG and BCG to evaluate the QRS complex of ECG relevant to IJK complex of BCG. Force of contraction is the amount of blood that heart can pump. IJ peak of BCG corresponds to force of contraction. Based on physical activity, 20 subjects were selected for experimental setup, 10 normal adult subjects and 10 athlets. From the BCG readings, the IJ amplitude level, which is related to the average force of contraction, was calculated as 3.98mV for normal subject and 6.21mV for athletic subject.