Every Heartbeat Tells a Story
Did you know that your heart beats an astonishing 100,000 times in just one day? That's over 35 million beats in a single year! Throughout your entire lifetime, your heart will pump more than 2.5 billion times. And with every heartbeat, it's like giving a tennis ball a good, firm squeeze. This incredible pump in your chest works tirelessly, pushing about 5 liters of blood per minute while you're at rest. But when you're active, like during a run, exercise, or when you are just stressed, it can pump three to four times that amount, ensuring your body gets the oxygen and fuel it needs. Talk about hard work to keep up with all the demands!
But here's the fascinating part: all this hard work goes unnoticed. We go about our days without giving our heartbeat a second thought. However, hidden within each beat lies a treasure trove of signals that can tell us about our overall health. Traditionally, doctors have used an electrocardiogram (ECG), invented way back in 1895, to monitor heart rhythms. It tells us about the electrical activity that triggers our hearts to squeeze. Think of it as the heart's command center. It sends the signal to contract, but it doesn't reveal what actually happens next.
It can't tell us how much blood is pumped with each beat or the force with which the heart squeezes, or the pressure it generates. In other words, the ECG provides information about the input to the heart but not about the output of the system.
Another commonly used technology is the photoplethysmograph (PPG), found in smartwatches today. It monitors blood flow under the skin using optical-based technology and can give us heart rate and oxygen levels. It's like having a mini health monitor on your wrist! But there's a catch. Even though it's convenient, it's distanced from the action. Our ears, on the other hand, act as signal integrators, positioned close to vital organs like the brain and heart. Unfortunately, due to PPG-based watches' distance from the heart, the precise details of each heartbeat get smoothed out as the blood travels along the arteries. This makes it challenging to get accurate insights, especially when there are problems with blood flow. And let's face it, that's when accurate monitoring matters the most! That's where MindMics comes into play.
Illustrative example of In-ear Infrasonic Hemodynography (IH) signal collected using MindMics earbuds alongside and synchronized with ECG. From: In-ear infrasonic hemodynography with a digital health device for cardiovascular monitoring using the human audiome
Imagine capturing the full story of every heartbeat, all its intricate details, simply through a pair of earbuds. MindMics technology enables us to unfold this complex tale without invasive procedures. It's like having a personal stethoscope for your heart, but with superpowers! Instead of just listening to the higher frequencies or murmurs, MindMics technology picks up all the accurate signals of every heartbeat traveling to your ear canal. It unravels the secrets of your heart in a way that was previously only possible with invasive hospital procedures like echocardiograms, or cardiac catheterization. Read more about our clinical validation here.
So, let's listen, learn, and live with the beat of our hearts. Embrace this groundbreaking technology, and empower yourself to take charge of your heart health. With MindMics, you can uncover the symphony within and ensure a harmonious and healthy life!
More Science
MindMics vs. Photoplethysmography (PPG)
Photoplethysmography (PPG) stands as an optical technology utilized to measure volumetric variations in blood circulation that is commonly used in wearable devices like smart watches to monitor heart rate and oxygen level. By employing a light source and a photodetector on the skin's surface, PPG gauges changes in blood volume as it pulses through the blood vessels. The light emitted by the source penetrates the skin, and the photodetector captures the reflected light, revealing the fluctuations in blood volume. This non-invasive technique utilizes different colors of light, such as red and green, to access varying depths within the body [1].
Red light, commonly found in pulse oximeters, can penetrate deeper into the body as it is not absorbed by tissues. However, its low signal-to-noise ratio (SNR) renders it less effective during motion. In such cases, green light is preferred due to its higher SNR, although it is more absorbed by the skin and does not penetrate as deeply as red light. Nevertheless, green light efficiently captures blood flow even during movement [1,2].
On the other hand, the MindMics system takes a distinct approach by capturing physiological information directly from the sound signal generated by internal organs. Unlike PPG, which relies on measuring blood volume flow from reflected signals from peripheral parts of the vascular system, MindMics accesses cardiac hemodynamics by capturing sound signals from the blood flow in the heart and central parts of the vascular system.
In healthy individuals, PPG has proven sufficient for measuring blood oxygen and heart rate. However, its limitations become apparent when seeking deeper insights into hemodynamics. The MindMics technology's direct sound signal approach enables a more comprehensive understanding of cardiac hemodynamics, providing a wealth of continuous physiological data.
In conclusion, while both PPG and MindMics contribute to our understanding of cardiovascular health, they do so through different means. PPG offers indirect measurements of blood flow by analyzing reflected light, making it suitable for basic health assessments. On the other hand, MindMics captures sound signals from internal organs, offering a more in-depth analysis of cardiac hemodynamics. This distinction makes MindMics a promising technology for unlocking deeper insights into human physiology and cardiovascular function.
References
Castaneda D, Esparza A, Ghamari M, Soltanpur C, Nazeran H. A review on wearable photoplethysmography sensors and their potential future applications in health care. Int J Biosens Bioelectron. 2018;4(4):195-202. doi: 10.15406/ijbsbe.2018.04.00125. Epub 2018 Aug 6. PMID: 30906922; PMCID: PMC6426305.
Red vs. Green: Does the Light Sensor in Your Wearable Matter? https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/going-red-green-sameer-sontakey
Note: The content in this blog is intended to provide informative insights and does not constitute medical advice.
