Heart disease is the leading cause of death for everyone in the United States. Did you know, one in five heart attacks is silent? That means the damage is done, but the person is not even aware they had one. That's why being able to predict changes in your heart, organs, and arteries is vital to preventing the worst from happening. Now, the first-ever wearable patch may be able to predict cardiovascular problems earlier than ever before.
Every 40 seconds, someone in the United States has a heart attack. Every three and half minutes, someone will die of a stroke. Research shows that 80% of all heart disease can be prevented by knowing and managing risk factors. That's why the team inside a University of California San Diego lab is working on something new.
"This device can provide continuous long-term monitoring of what's going on in the heart," said UCSD nanoengineer Sheng Xu.
The group of engineers is the first to develop a flexible, wearable, ultrasound patch.
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"We are working on soft stretchable sensors," said UCSD nanoengineer Boyu Liu.
Embedded in a sheet of flexible polymer is an array of millimeter-sized ultrasound transducers.
"With ultrasound, we can penetrate the tissue and get very deep targets," Liu says.
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When worn on the neck or chest, it can penetrate the tissue, monitor blood flow, blood pressure, and heart function, in hopes of predicting a heart attack or stroke.
"We can use sophisticated algorithms to predict what's going to happen in the next minute, in the next hour, or in the next few days," said Xu.
Knowing how fast the blood flows through the vessels can help diagnose blood clots, heart valve problems, poor circulation and blockages in the arteries, and help doctors save your life.
In tests, the patch performed as well as commercial ultrasound probes, which are currently used in doctor's offices. Although they still have more testing to do, the researchers at UCSD are hopeful that this could be made available to doctors and their patients in the next two years.
Contributors to this news report include: Marsha Lewis, Producer; Roque Correa, Videographer & Editor.
