Measuring Pulse Wave Velocity Using ECG and Photoplethysmography

Abstract

Pulse wave velocity (PWV) is a useful method to assess arterial stiffness and predict mortality of atherosclerosis-related diseases. The progression of atherosclerosis is not homogeneous. There must be difference of PWV between sites by site. Therefore we designed a multi-channel instrument to measure PWV at different sites of the body simultaneously. We measured PWV at six different regions simultaneously. Thirty four healthy adults received the measurement. We found that PWVs were higher in the large vessels, by measuring from the heart to toes and heart to fingers as compared with the measurement from the heart to the earlobes (4.76 ± 0.46 m/s; 4.67 ± 0.41 m/s; 1.10 ± 0.16 m/s). The PWV of the left and right sides were the same. Although there were statistically significances, the correlation of PWV between foot and hand is better than those between ear and foot and between ear and hand. Herein we presented a novel and reliable measurement of PWV. The changes of PWV in different regions may be used in predicting disease processes such as stroke, coronary artery diseases and renal diseases, respectively.

Automated detection of the onset and systolic peak in the pulse wave using Hilbert transform

“…These parameters are indicators that enable to measure the propagation of the pulse wave in the blood system. PTT and PWV are widely used to evaluated the arterial stiffness [6,7], heart rate [8,9], blood pressure [10][11][12][13][14] and atherosclerosis [15]. The quality of the PPG signal depends on the location and the properties of the subject skin under measurement, including the individual skin structure, the blood oxygen saturation, blood flow rate, skin temperatures and the measuring environment [16].…”

Pilot Study: Estimation of Stroke Volume and Cardiac Output from Pulse Wave Velocity

“…Clinically, one can obtain pulse transit time and PWV by using only noninvasive or minimally invasive techniques. [28] Pulse transit time can be estimated from the peak of the R wave on ECG or from the beginning of the S1 sound of phonocardiogram to the initiation of the upstroke on the radial arterial tonometry waveform (or the plethysmograph waveform). Hence the major potential benefit of our method as a clinical monitor of CO is its ability to estimate SV and CO in a noninvasive continuous way.…”

Multiscale Cross-Approximate Entropy Analysis of Bilateral Fingertips Photoplethysmographic Pulse Amplitudes among Middle-to-Old Aged Individuals with or without Type 2 Diabetes

“…The subjects were asked to refrain from caffeine-containing beverages and theophylline-containing medications for 12 h before each hospital visit. In addition, to minimize potential erroneous readings from the infrared sensors arising from involuntary vibrations of the examinees and a low environmental temperature possibly resulting in constriction of the peripheral vessels, all subjects underwent blood sampling before data acquisition and were allowed to relax in a supine position for 10 min in a quiet room with temperature control at 26 ± 1 • C. Six-channel ECG-based pulse wave velocity (PWV) was obtained through simultaneous acquisition of ECG and PPG pulse signals from bilateral index fingertips for 30 min, and was averaged for the analysis [11,12].…”

“…with temperature control at 26 ± 1 °C. Six-channel ECG-based pulse wave velocity (PWV) was obtained through simultaneous acquisition of ECG and PPG pulse signals from bilateral index fingertips for 30 min, and was averaged for the analysis [11,12].…”