A ballistocardiograph measures acceleration of the heart of

A ballistocardiograph measures acceleration of the heart of the human body . True or false? Why?

Solution

YES... THE Ballistocradiograph measures acceleration of human heart.

1) More precisely it measures the forces like systolic ( period when we here ‘LUBB’ sound ) or diastolic (period when we hear “DUBB’ sound) forces of human heart.

2) It is a type of non-invasive method ( means without putting it into human body , done on the surface of the skin) to detect the cardiac output of the heart.

3) When the heart pumps blood into blood vessels, it generates forces and these forces or movement in terms of acceleration or pressure is sensed by the pizzo electric oscillator or a diaphragm fixed in to the instrument. This instrument is called ‘Ballistocradiograph,. (BCG).

4) The physical pressure is then converted into electrical signals with the help of transducers. The output we get is in the form of waveform ( graph).

I hope you have understood the main concept and how the instrument measures acceleration of human heart.