Clinical experience with the portable electromagnetic ballistocardiograph.

The purpose of ballistocardiography is to obtain a rough objective measurement of the strength of the heart beat. Recordings have been made with a portable electromagnetic instrument on 225 persons, some normal, others with many kinds of cardiovascular disease, to determine the usefulness of the ballistocardiograph. Tracings were made at certain stages of respiration at rest and after exercise. The ballistocardiograph can in some cases be the principal diagnostic instrument in distinguishing cardiac from extracardiac disease, in the early detection of coronary artery disease, and in the diagnosis of myocarditis. It also may aid in the diagnosis of high output failure, pericardial effusion, nicotine sensitivity and coarctation or other occlusive disease of the aorta.