Device to Monitor Heart Failure

Terry Bauch M.D., Cardiologist at the Geisinger Wyoming Valley Medical Center and Raymond Allen M.D., have created a device that patients can use to monitor heart failure at home. He was recently named the Colonel Rank winner for third place in the 2013 National MicroMedic Contest.

The national competition was sponsored by the Army Telemedicine and Advanced Technology Research Center (TATRC), Carnegie Mellon Entertainment Technology, and Parallax Inc. The challenge was to use microcontroller and sensor systems to create medical applications and products for possible use in the healthcare industry, for medical simulation training, and in the battlefield.

According to Dr. Bauch, “Heart failure affects about 6 million Americans so there is a need for a low-cost device that anyone can use to monitor heart failure at home”. The device created is known as the Valsalva Test Device (VTD) and tests for heart failure using the Valsalva Maneuver to measure low pulse-ox levels. Low levels can indicate potential kidney failure while high levels can signal pulmonary edema.

The test requires a patient to blow for 15 seconds into a high resistance tube while a doctor monitors the oxygen saturation or pulse-ox. The VTD uses microcontroller technology to measure pulse-ox and the patient’s pressure while blowing. This ensures that the patient is performing the test correctly while providing an accurate reading of the pulse-ox levels. The VTD also has an LCD display and USB output that can display, record, and analyze readings on an external computer.

“For more than 60 years, this vital test needed to be performed at a physician’s office while doctors struggled with the monitoring of pulse-ox readings. Dr. Bauch said, “With the VTD, we feel that we have created a low-cost device to help patients monitor their health daily and in turn prevent serious health problems before they happen.”

For more information, contact Matthew Van Stone at 570-808-3248.