Evaluation of seismocardiography in detecting pre-load changes and cardiovascular disease: a comparative study with transthoracic echocardiography

AIMS: This study aimed to test whether seismocardiography (SCG) can detect changes in loading conditions and detect significant differences in SCG signals between healthy individuals and those with cardiovascular disease (CVD).

METHODS AND RESULTS: Twenty-six subjects (age 45 ± 16 years and 77% male) were included, 11 healthy subjects and 15 subjects with CVD. SCG was compared with transthoracic echocardiography (TTE) before and after infusion of 2 L of isotonic saline. Nine subjects (34%) with CVD did not tolerate the full infusion (2 L infusion intolerant), while the remaining 17 subjects (2 L infusion tolerant) successfully completed the infusion. Significant changes in SCG measurements were observed after infusion, including amplitudes Ls (19%, P = 0.015), Dd (23%, P = 0.016), and Ed (48%, P < 0.001) as well as most time intervals. TTE measurements also showed post-infusion changes in stroke volume (15%, P = 0.038), mitral annular velocity (7%, P = 0.013), left ventricular ejection time (1%, P = 0.035), and global longitudinal strain (6%, P = 0.003). Although SCG did not detect differences between the healthy and CVD groups, the diastolic amplitude Cd-Dd significantly differed between the infusion tolerant and intolerant groups (pre-infusion: 7.7 vs. 3.7 mg, P = 0.046; post-infusion: 8.3 vs. 4.1 mg, P = 0.034).

CONCLUSION: SCG can detect changes in pre-load in both healthy subjects and subjects with CVD. SCG were also able to detect differences in SCG diastolic amplitudes between infusion-tolerant and -intolerant subjects, which may indicate ability to detect diastolic dysfunction and differences in left ventricular filling pressures.