Funding

DLR Challenge "INNOspace Masters"

Summary

Astronauts are subject to high physical stress in weightlessness. Continuous monitoring of important bodily functions, especially the cardiovascular system, is therefore essential during the stay in space. The findings from space medicine can be applied to terrestrial monitoring of cardiac activity, which is the most common cause of death worldwide. The systems that exist today for monitoring cardiac function offer only limited possibilities, are comparatively expensive or can only be used on a stationary basis.

The "DR.BEAT" project relies on ballistocardiography (BCG), originally developed in the aerospace industry, which can record actual cardiac function using modern, digital microelectronics. The project will develop a highly accurate and cost-effective BCG sensor system that can be worn on the body as a "wearable" and enable continuous health monitoring. The extensive signal processing, data analysis and visualization will be automated by means of artificial intelligence (AI) and will not only provide new insights in aerospace medicine, but also enable a recording of dynamic cardiac activity suitable for everyday use.