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It has been shown that in cardiovascular risk management, stiffness of large arteries has a very good predictive value for cardiovascular disease and mortality. This parameter is best known when estimated from the pulse wave velocity (PWV) measured between the common carotid artery (CCA) in the neck and femoral artery in the groin, but may also be determined locally from short-distance measurements on a short vessel segment. In this work, we propose a novel, non-invasive, non-contact laser Doppler vibrometry (LDV) technique for evaluating PWV locally in an elastic vessel. First, the method was evaluated in a phantom setup using LDV and a reference method. Values correlated significantly between methods (R 0.973 (p 0.01)); and a Bland-Altman analysis indicated that the mean bias was reasonably small (mean bias −2.33 ms). Additionally, PWV was measured locally on the skin surface of the CCA in 14 young healthy volunteers. As a preliminary validation, PWV measured on two locations along the same artery was compared. Local PWV was found to be between 3 and 20 m s −1 , which is in line with the literature (PWV = 5-13 m s −1). PWV assessed on two different locations on the same artery correlated significantly (R = 0.684 (p < 0.01)). In summary, we conclude that this new non-contact method is a promising technique to measure local vascular stiffness in a fully non-invasive way, providing new opportunities for clinical diagnosing.

It has been shown that in cardiovascular risk management, stiffness of large arteries has a very good predictive value for cardiovascular disease and overall mortality. This parameter can be estimated from the pulse wave velocity (PWV) measured between the common carotid artery (CCA) (neck) and femoral (groin) artery. However, current methods to determine arterial PWV suffer from several shortcomings. In this work, we propose a novel, non-contact laser Doppler vibrometry (LDV) technique, for evaluating carotid PWV, directly from CCA. This approach was extensively validated in vitro, and here it is tested for the first time on a small group of young healthy volunteers. Our preliminary results demonstrate that laser-based non-contact measurement of PWV is feasible, as measured PWV values are consistent with the literature. With possible clinical applications in mind, the non-contact character of the method combined with the possibility to measure carotid PWV, promises important advantages over existing methods. Moreover, measurements are straightforward and do not require intensive training

Abstract. Pulse wave velocity (PWV) of the arterial system is a very important parameter to evaluate cardiovascular health. Currently, however, there is no golden standard for PWV measurement. Digital image correlation (DIC) was used for full-field time-resolved assessment of displacement, velocity, acceleration, and strains of the skin in the neck directly above the common carotid artery. By assessing these parameters, propagation of the pulse wave could be tracked, leading to a new method for PWV detection based on DIC. The method was tested on five healthy subjects. As a means of validation, PWV was measured with ultrasound (US) as well. Measured PWV values were between 3.68 and 5.19 m∕s as measured with DIC and between 5.14 and 6.58 m∕s as measured with US, with a maximum absolute difference of 2.78 m∕s between the two methods. DIC measurements of the neck region can serve as a test base for determining a robust strategy for PWV detection, they can serve as reference for three-dimensional fluid-structure interaction models, or they may even evolve into a screening method of their own. Moreover, full-field, time-resolved DIC can be adapted for other applications in biomechanics.

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