Peripheral edema is a swelling of the legs, feet, or hands due to the accumulation of excessive fluid in the tissues. For patients with some chronic diseases, peripheral edema is a crucial indicator of onset or exacerbation of the condition. Thus, early detection of peripheral edema is important for timely diagnosis of associated diseases. However, existing techniques for edema assessment area subjective measurement for which a human operator estimates the amount of swelling using a tape measure or by pressing the swollen areawith the tip of an index finger. As a systematic approach to assessing peripheral edema, we develop SwellFit, an experimental prototype of a novel wearable technology that monitors peripheral edema by tracking changes in ankle curvature. Through a series of proof-of-concept experiments, we demonstrate that SwellFit detects ankle swelling even in the presence of substantial noise in the raw sensor readings.
