Measurement of Blood Flow in the Carotid Artery as one of the Elements of Assessing the Ability for Pilots in the Gravitational Force Conditions–Review of Available Solutions

Continuous monitoring of cardiac function is highly desirable for long-term assessment of cardiovascular health, detection of acute cardiac dysfunction. Information from volume flow rate may be important in a variety of different clinical circumstances, such as stroke, arteriovenous malformation, cardiac failure. The main aim of the work was review of non-invasive measurements of carotid blood flow methods and devices. There are various types of methods and devices for monitoring blood flow in the carotid artery, however, so far no mobile recorder of the appropriate quality of registration has been developed. The most promising solutions are wireless wearable patches that, when applied to the skin of the neck, will not be a burden during measurements. This is important when measurements are to be made, during extreme activities, such as in pilots. As a result of the conducted research, there is a presumption that carotid blood flow measurements methods has great potential to be a useful tool in the diagnosis of the pilot's predisposition, at the same time performing a warning function, the so-called alerters, before the imminent overload loss of consciousness.