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Proceedings ArticleDOI

Vascular compliance probe with integrated ECG for image-free evaluation of arterial stiffness

TL;DR: A novel ultrasound vascular compliance probe with integrated electrocardiogram (ECG) sensor, designed for quick and reliable evaluation of arterial compliance, can pave the way for an effective and inexpensive cardiovascular screening tool.
Abstract: Evaluation of vascular compliance is significant in cardiovascular diagnosis and screening. We present a novel ultrasound vascular compliance probe with integrated electrocardiogram (ECG) sensor, designed for quick and reliable evaluation of arterial compliance. The probe measures the compliance of the carotid artery using image-free ultrasound technique, and also measures the pulse arrival time (PAT) with the ECG signal. Automated measurement algorithms enable even general medical practitioners with little or no knowledge of vascular ultrasonography to measure vascular compliance parameters using this probe. The results of measurements performed on human volunteers by untrained personnel are reported to illustrate the practical utility of the system. The proposed vascular compliance evaluation system can pave the way for an effective and inexpensive cardiovascular screening tool.
Citations
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Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: An extension of ARTSENS is reported to enable measurement of cfPWV that now makes it the only fully automatic device that can measure both LAS and RAS and is compared with other state-of-the-art AS measurement systems.
Abstract: Arterial stiffness (AS) has been shown to be an important marker for risk assessment of cardiovascular events. Local arterial stiffness (LAS) is conventionally measured by evaluating arterial distensibility at particular arterial sites through ultrasound imaging systems. Regional arterial stiffness (RAS) is generally obtained by evaluating carotid to femoral pulse wave velocity (cfPWV) through tonometric devices. RAS has a better prognostic value than LAS and cfPWV is considered as the gold standard of AS. Over the past few years our group has been developing ARTerial Stiffness Evaluation for Non-Invasive Screening (ARTSENS), an inexpensive and portable device to measure the LAS. It uses a single element ultrasound transducer to obtain A-Mode frames from the desired artery and is fully automated to enable a non-expert to perform measurements. In this work, we report an extension of ARTSENS to enable measurement of cfPWV that now makes it the only fully automatic device that can measure both LAS and RAS. In this paper, we provide a general review of the ARTSENS and compare it with other state-of-the-art AS measurement systems. cfPWV measurement using ARTSENS was cross-validated against SphygmoCor by successive measurements with both devices on 41 human subjects and excellent agreement between both devices was demonstrated (Coefficient of determination $({\bf R}^{2})=0.70\, ({\bf p} and, limits of agreement $({\rm LoA}) m/s). The inter-device correlation between ARTSENS and SphygmoCor was found to be better than other similar studies reported in the literature.

16 citations


Additional excerpts

  • ...ECG now enables ARTSENS to measure the pulse arrival time (PAT) at the arterial site [27]....

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References
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Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: This paper summarizes the proceedings of several meetings of the European Network for Non-invasive Investigation of Large Arteries and is aimed at providing an updated and practical overview of the most relevant methodological aspects and clinical applications in this area.
Abstract: In recent years, great emphasis has been placed on the role of arterial stiffness in the development of cardiovascular diseases. Indeed, the assessment of arterial stiffness is increasingly used in the clinical assessment of patients. Although several papers have previously addressed the methodological issues concerning the various indices of arterial stiffness currently available, and their clinical applications, clinicians and researchers still report difficulties in selecting the most appropriate methodology for their specific use. This paper summarizes the proceedings of several meetings of the European Network for Non-invasive Investigation of Large Arteries and is aimed at providing an updated and practical overview of the most relevant methodological aspects and clinical applications in this area.

4,901 citations

Journal Article
TL;DR: In this paper, the authors summarized the proceedings of several meetings of the European Network for Non-invasive Investigation of Large Arteries and aimed at providing an updated and practical overview of the most relevant methodological aspects and clinical applications in this area.
Abstract: In recent years, great emphasis has been placed on the role of arterial stiffness in the development of cardiovascular diseases. Indeed, the assessment of arterial stiffness is increasingly used in the clinical assessment of patients. Although several papers have previously addressed the methodological issues concerning the various indices of arterial stiffness currently available, and their clinical applications, clinicians and researchers still report difficulties in selecting the most appropriate methodology for their specific use. This paper summarizes the proceedings of several meetings of the European Network for Non-invasive Investigation of Large Arteries and is aimed at providing an updated and practical overview of the most relevant methodological aspects and clinical applications in this area.

4,410 citations

Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: The effects of current and future cardiovascular drugs on arterial stiffness are discussed, as is the relationship between arterial elasticity and endothelial function.
Abstract: Investigation of arterial stiffness, especially of the large arteries, has gathered pace in recent years with the development of readily available noninvasive assessment techniques. These include the measurement of pulse wave velocity, the use of ultrasound to relate the change in diameter or area of an artery to distending pressure, and analysis of arterial waveforms obtained by applanation tonometry. Here, we describe each of these techniques and their limitations and discuss how the measured parameters relate to established cardiovascular risk factors and clinical outcome. We also consider which techniques might be most appropriate for wider clinical application. Finally, the effects of current and future cardiovascular drugs on arterial stiffness are also discussed, as is the relationship between arterial elasticity and endothelial function.

813 citations


"Vascular compliance probe with inte..." refers methods in this paper

  • ...This system adds estimation of PAT at CCA with other local arterial stiffness measurements performed using ultrasound [6]....

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  • ...Local arterial compliance measures are computed using the arterial distension (ΔD) and end-diastolic diameter values (Dd) along with blood pressure [6]....

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Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: The results showed that the correlation coefficients between estimated values and invasively obtained systolic blood pressure reached 0.97±0.02, and the error remained within ±10% in 97.8% of the monitoring period.
Abstract: A continuous noninvasive method of systolic blood pressure estimation is described. Systolic blood pressure is estimated by combining two separately obtained components: a higher frequency component obtained by extracting a specific frequency band of pulse arrival time and a lower frequency component obtained from the intermittently acquired systolic blood pressure measurements with an auscultatory or oscillometric system. The pulse arrival time was determined by the time interval from QRS apex in electrocardiogram to the onset of photoplethysmogram in a fingertip beat-by-beat via an oximetric sensor. The method was examined in 20 patients during cardiovascular surgery. The estimated values of systolic blood pressure were compared with those measured invasively using a radial arterial catheter. The results showed that the correlation coefficients between estimated values and invasively obtained systolic blood pressure reached 0.97±0.02 (mean±SD), and the error remained within ±10% in 97.8% of the monitoring period. By using a system with automatic cuff inflation and deflation to acquire intermittent systolic blood pressure values, this method can be applicable for the continuous noninvasive monitoring of systolic blood pressure.

397 citations

Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: This paper demonstrates that the proposed preprocessor with a Shannon energy envelope (SEE) estimator is better able to detect R-peaks than other well-known methods in case of noisy or pathological signals.

325 citations


"Vascular compliance probe with inte..." refers background in this paper

  • ...A zero crossing between these peaks and valleys gives location of R peak in ECG signal [9]....

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