Detection of clogged arteries using LabVIEW

Abstract

People suffering from peripheral artery disease -- a debilitating condition that can lead to heart attack and stroke has been rose nearly to 24 percent, 202 million from 164 million worldwide, over the past decade. Peripheral artery disease (PAD) is nothing but building up of cholesterol and plaque in the arteries that lead to the extremities. In reality, PAD and CAD both are related to a single disease, atherosclerosis, which is a buildup of cholesterol in the arteries throughout the body and which eventually leads to heart diseases like heart attack. The diagnosis of heart disease starts from doctor checking the arteries through a stethoscope to detect any whooshing sound called as bruit which seems to be a crude method. Then certain blood tests are done through which levels of cholesterol, fats, etc. are checked. The Ankle/Brachial Index, followed by EKG (Electrocardiogram), Echocardiography, Computed Tomography Scan and Stress Testing. Final step is CCTA. Coronary CT angiography (C CTA) provides help in predicting heart attack risk in patients who are suspected to have coronary artery disease, but they mostly don’t show signs of any other risk factors, such as high cholesterol elevated blood pressure, or diabetes. The method proposed here is to detect peripheral artery disease through nerves in the foot. It’s safe to use unlike angiography where the suspected patients are exposed to special X-rays which might be harming. Also the time required for the results to generate is very less as well. The implementation of this method is a graphical representation of different artery points of the foot. So the inference is very easy. Frequent testing can be done and by comparing the graph obtained during different tests can be compared with previous reports.