Artery Research

Volume 2, Issue 3, August 2008, Pages 100 - 101

P1.36 A PRELIMINARY STUDY FOR THE EVALUATION OF LARGE ARTERY STIFFNESS: A NON CONTACT APPROACH

Authors
M. De Melis1, U. Morbiducci2, L. Scalise3, E.P. Tomasini3, D. Delbeke4, R. Baets4, L.M. Van Bortel5, P. Segers1
1Cardiovascular Mechanics and Biofluid Dynamics, IBiTech, Ghent University, Ghent, Belgium
2Department of Mechanics, Politecnico di Torino, Torino, Italy
3Department of Mechanics, Polytechnic University of Marche, Ancona, Italy
4Department of Information Technology (Intec), Ghent University, Ghent, Belgium
5Heymans Institute of Pharmacology, Ghent University, Ghent, Belgium
Available Online 15 September 2008.
DOI
10.1016/j.artres.2008.08.343How to use a DOI?
Open Access
This is an open access article distributed under the CC BY-NC license.

The evaluation of carotid-to-femoral pulse transit time (PTT) is required to estimate the carotid-femoral pulse wave velocity, a parameter considered as the gold standard for the quantification of large artery stiffness. In this study we propose a novel, non contact laser-based technique (laser class II ∼ laser pen), named optical Vibrocardiography (VCG), for evaluating PTT from synchronous recorded vibrations of the skin at the carotid and femoral artery site. It has been demonstrated that these skin vibrations are directly related to the radial displacement of the underlying arteries, and are hence related to the passage of the pressure pulse. In this feasibility study, measurements were performed on 14 young male healthy subjects (25.3 ± 0.8) using 2 commercially available vibrometers (Polytec Gmbh, Waldbronn , Germany). The obtained PTT values (74.86 ± 8.63 ms) were compared with PTT evaluated on the same subjects by means of applanation tonometry applied simultaneously on the same locations (75.85 ± 8.61 ms). The two techniques were very well correlated (r=0.89, P<0.001 , Spearman rho 0.88) and values were not statistically different (p=0.377). Our preliminary results demonstrate that laser-based non-contact measurement of pulse transit time is feasible in young healthy volunteers, and yields values that are equivalent to those measured using arterial applanation tonometry. Clinical application of this appealing non-invasive method can overcome practical and technical limitations inherent to currently used methods such as arterial applanation tonometry, ultrasound, plethysmography, requiring physical contact of the probe with the patient.

Journal
Artery Research
Volume-Issue
2 - 3
Pages
100 - 101
Publication Date
2008/09/15
ISSN (Online)
1876-4401
ISSN (Print)
1872-9312
DOI
10.1016/j.artres.2008.08.343How to use a DOI?
Open Access
This is an open access article distributed under the CC BY-NC license.

Cite this article

TY  - JOUR
AU  - M. De Melis
AU  - U. Morbiducci
AU  - L. Scalise
AU  - E.P. Tomasini
AU  - D. Delbeke
AU  - R. Baets
AU  - L.M. Van Bortel
AU  - P. Segers
PY  - 2008
DA  - 2008/09/15
TI  - P1.36 A PRELIMINARY STUDY FOR THE EVALUATION OF LARGE ARTERY STIFFNESS: A NON CONTACT APPROACH
JO  - Artery Research
SP  - 100
EP  - 101
VL  - 2
IS  - 3
SN  - 1876-4401
UR  - https://doi.org/10.1016/j.artres.2008.08.343
DO  - 10.1016/j.artres.2008.08.343
ID  - DeMelis2008
ER  -