Arterial compliance probe for calibration free pulse pressure measurement

Abstract

Cardiovascular diseases are the leading cause of death around the world. Non-invasive estimation of arterial parameters is significant in the early detection of cardiovascular diseases. In this work, we present an arterial compliance probe for calibration-free evaluation of carotid pulse pressure. This novel cuffless measurement technique uses dual magnetic plethysmograph (MPG) transducers for carotid local pulse wave velocity (PWV) measurement and single element ultrasound transducer for measuring arterial dimensions. Proposed arterial compliance probe can acquire two blood pulse waveforms and arterial diameter parameters simultaneously, which are then utilized in cycle-to-cycle estimation of arterial local PWV and pulse pressure without any subject or population specific calibration. The design of compliance probe and measurement system was verified by in-vivo trials. Accurate local PWV measurement and calibration free estimation of carotid pulse pressure was also validated by in-vivo studies. Initial results indicate a strong potential of MPG - Ultrasound arterial compliance probe in continuous, cuffless evaluation of blood pressure (BP) from superficial arteries.