Venous refilling time (VRT) can diagnose the presence of venous diseases in lower limbs. In order to calculate VRT it is necessary to determine the End of the Emptying Maneuvers (EEM). First Derivative Method (FDM) can be employed for automatic detection of the EEM, but its sensitivity to artifacts and noise can degrade its performance. In contrast, studies report that Area Triangulation Method (ATM) evinces effectiveness in biosignals point finding. This work compares the exactness of ATM and FDM for recognition of the EEM. The annotations made by 3 trained human observers on 37 photoplethysmography records were used as a reference. Bland-Altman graphics supported the analysis of agreement among human observers and methods, which was complemented with Analysis of variance and Multiple Comparisons statistical tests. Results showed that ATM is more accurate than FDM for automatic detection of the EEM, with statistically significant differences (p-value < 0.01).

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Area Triangulation Method for Automatic Detection of Venous Emptying Maneuvers

Venous refilling time (VRT) can diagnose the presence of venous system diseases. In order to calculate the VRT it is necessary to determine the End of the Empting Maneuvers (EEM). The automation of this process has been identified as a difficult task. Some methods described previously have some difficulties that could be solved. This paper proposes a new method for the automatic detection of the EEM. The new proposed method was compared with other based on sound signals. The annotations made by two trained human observers on 41 photoplethysmography records, were also used as a reference for evaluating the methods. The presented method was more accurate, showing a performance comparable to the observers.

Domingo Hernandez Seoane

Papers

Automatic detection of the end of the Empting Maneuvers in venous muscle pump test