IEEE J Biomed Health Inform. 2020 Jan;24(1):69-78. doi: 10.1109/JBHI.2019.2901635. Epub 2019 Feb 25.
The objective of this study was to investigate the measurement instrument-dependent variability in the morphology of the ballistocardiogram (BCG) waveform in human subjects and computational methods to mitigate the variability. The BCG was measured in 22 young healthy subjects using a high-performance force plate and a customized commercial weighing scale under upright standing posture. The timing and amplitude features associated with the major I, J, K waves in the BCG waveforms were extracted and quantitatively analyzed. The results indicated that 1) the I, J, K waves associated with the weighing scale BCG exhibited delay in the timings within the cardiac cycle relative to the ECG R wave as well as attenuation in the absolute amplitudes than the respective force plate counterparts, whereas 2) the time intervals between the I, J, K waves were comparable. Then, two alternative computational methods were conceived in an attempt to mitigate the discrepancy between force plate versus weighing-scale BCG: a transfer function and an amplitude-phase correction. The results suggested that both methods effectively mitigated the discrepancy in the timings and amplitudes associated with the I, J, K waves between the force plate and weighing-scale BCG. Hence, signal processing may serve as a viable solution to the mitigation of the instrument-induced morphological variability in the BCG, thereby facilitating the standardized analysis and interpretation of the timing and amplitude features in the BCG across wide-ranging measurement platforms.
本研究旨在探讨在人体中，基于不同测量仪器的心力描记图（BCG）波形形态的可变性及其计算方法来减轻这种可变性。使用高性能力板和定制的商用称重秤，在直立站立姿势下，对 22 名年轻健康的受试者进行了 BCG 测量。提取并定量分析了与 BCG 波形中的主要 I、J、K 波相关的定时和幅度特征。结果表明：1）与称重秤 BCG 相关的 I、J、K 波在心动周期内的定时相对于 ECG R 波存在延迟，并且绝对幅度衰减大于相应的力板对应物，而 2）I、J、K 波之间的时间间隔相当。然后，设计了两种替代的计算方法来尝试减轻力板与称重秤 BCG 之间的差异：传递函数和幅度-相位校正。结果表明，这两种方法都有效地减轻了力板和称重秤 BCG 之间与 I、J、K 波相关的定时和幅度差异。因此，信号处理可能是减轻 BCG 中仪器诱导的形态可变性的可行方法，从而促进在广泛的测量平台上对 BCG 的定时和幅度特征进行标准化分析和解释。
