Wearable Cardiac Ultrasound Device Allows Measurements During Stress Testing

Increasingly, the miniaturization of electronic technology allows tiny microsensors attached to the skin to take continuous physiological measurements — heart rate, oxygen saturation, and even blood pressure (NEJM JW Gen Med Sep 1 2022 and Nat Nanotechnol 2022; 17:864).

Now, researchers describe a thin (8 μm), stretchable strip of sensors that can be applied to the chest to obtain continuous cardiac ultrasound images — in multiple orientations — that are equivalent to those produced by current commercial ultrasound. The device sends data to a computer which generates real-time estimates of stroke volume, cardiac output, ejection fraction, wall-motion abnormalities, and chamber size; these estimates compare favorably to those of current ultra…