Monitoring of vital parameters
Our research focuses on developing more portable, non-invasive, safe and accurate systems for early-prevention of several cardiovascular diseases. We also investigate in-vitro and ex-vivo validation systems, so that animal trials are minimized, and the devices can be validated at an early stage in a lab environment. Our main research goals are the following ones:
1. Development of wearable monitoring systems - Integration of transducers with sender/receiver system with compact size and conformable properties.
2. Determine the influence and correlation of the stiffness, blood flow, pulse wave velocity and blood pressure into the appearance of cardiovascular diseases.
3. Analysis of patient-specific or age-specific algorithms and derivations for the extraction of central cardiovascular parameters and the relationship between peripheral and central cardiovascular parameters.
4. Determine the source of errors of the vascular monitoring and minimize them - analyze which is the best position of the sensor in the arterial tree, the influence of patient movement and inaccurate positioning of the measurement device.
- Ultrasound recordings and sender/receiver development for the integration with the transducer.
- Signal processing and real-time signal acquisition.
- Safety measurements of delivered power density at ultrasonic frequencies.
- Patient-specific phantom development for blood and tissue.
- Phantom material characterization (acoustic, optical, mechanical and dielectric).
- Emulation of cardiovascular systems with peristaltic pump, compliance chamber, valve and ex-vivo arteries.
- Validation of measured signals with tonometer and imaging ultrasound devices.
- Continuous and non-invasive monitoring of vital signs to assess and prevent artery diseases. Margarethe-von-Wrangell Habilitation Program
Dr. Ana Belén Amado Rey
E-Mail: belen.amado@imtek.uni-freiburg.de