Early Detection of Cardiovascular Diseases Using Wearable Ultrasound Device

Early detection of symptoms is considered an effective approach to prevent deaths due to cardiovascular disease (CVD). Routine cardiac check-ups are therefore suggested by clinicians to detect CVD at an early stage. Unfortunately, existing methods for cardiac diagnosis are costly and time-consuming as in most of the cases, these facilities are available only in hospitals or clinics. In this article, a novel wearable ultrasonic imaging assembly is proposed for routine monitoring of the carotid arteries in an easy-to-use and economical way. Using standard B-mode ultrasound, which is suitable for wearable form factors, the device monitors intima-media thickness (IMT), which is a proven indicator of cardiovascular disease. The design parameters for all the essential hardware components of the proposed wearable imaging system along with an efficient algorithm for predicting IMT anomalies from ultrasound images are proposed. Finally, we describe a custom-designed prototype of the proposed system and demonstrate its capability in acquiring ultrasound images.