Year: 2019
Type: dissertation
Abstract: According to the 2017 report of the European Heart Journal, 4.1 million people die annually due to Cardiovascular Diseases (CVD).Hypertension (which is prolonged high blood pressure) is the main cause of many CVDs.This project aims to provide a preventative solution to CVD mortality rates by leveraging the plethora of available smartphones in low income areas to measure blood pressure (BP).Due to the lack of accessible and affordable healthcare in these areas CVDs are especially deadly.These smartphones will perform photoplethysmography (PPG) which is a non-invasive optical method for measuring blood volume changes per pulse.Using machine learning algorithms, these PPGs will be used to predict a patient's potential risk for Hypertension and provide diagnosis through inference and feature identification.After training some supervised learning models the web app I developed achieves diagnosis classification accuracies of 85% and regression model prediction errors of +/-7.5mmHg, which meets a good standard for accuracy according to the British Hypertension Society.Moreover, it achieves these accuracies while remaining low cost and low maintenance enabling users in low income areas to utilise its features with minimal hardware and infrastructure.expand the capabilities of this thesis.Indeed,there are "more than half a billion people across Africa (who) are now subscribed to a mobile network" (GSMA, 2016).This large population of smartphone users could download this tool through an app, or access it through a browser so that it is accessible across the continent.Using smartphones in this way empowers users to take their healthcare into their own hands and removes the barriers healthcare access.This idea for instant global on-demand healthcare could potentially revolutionize the healthcare industry. Project GoalsFrom this motivation, I wanted to define some overall goals for my thesis:• To empower the rural user in Ethiopia to be able to take their healthcare into their own hands • To provide a healthcare solution to a major world issue at the lowest cost possible.• To minimize the barriers to entry with regards to healthcare and provide healthcare for as many people as possible.
Author: Daniel Ayane
Language: English
Subfield: Biomedical Engineering
Field: Engineering
Domain: Physical Sciences
Open Access status: green
OpenAlex ID: W3144169644