Remote monitoring and automatic analysis of phonocardiographic signals in climbing of high mountains

Abstract

The climbing of high mountains, like the Himalayas, comes accompanied, as result of the deficit of oxygen, of certain changes of the hemodynamics, that can derive sometimes in High Altitude Pulmonary Edema (HAPE). With the objective to analyze the cardiological effects of that hemodynamics changes, a satellite monitoring of phonocardiographic (PCG) signals and pulseoxymetric data of a mountain climber was made during the development of the climbing to the Broad Peak, of 8,047 meters, located in the mountain range of the Karakorum, in Pakistan. Using an electronic estethoscope, signals were registered and sent to the hospital medical staff in Murcia by means of satellite phone, to be compared with basal registers. Different techniques for analysis in frequency and time domains were developed, mainly to detect and measure the first and second heart sounds and to observe possible modifications in the phonocardiographic patterns related to the altitude and pulseoxymetric data.