Noninvasive assessment of vascular function

Impaired arterial compliance contributing to increased blood pressure and cardiac workload is well accepted as a major factor in cardiovascular disease. Information on local arterial compliance is obtained when analyzing the deformation of selected arterial segments under stress. A more global measure of arterial compliance is obtained by analyzing the arterial pulse by so-called pulse wave analysis. The arterial pulse, even when measured locally, carries characteristic information from the whole arterial system because of reflection of waves at distinct sites of the arterial system. Pulse wave velocity and the transfer function for pulse transmission is obtained from the combined measurement of arterial pulses at proximal and distal measuring points. Both pulse wave velocity and transfer function importantly, but not exclusively, depend on arterial compliance. The reconstruction of the aortic pulse from peripheral pulse measurements using a population-based transfer function finally provides information on central effects of reduced arterial compliance and increased peripheral resistance which may help in the diagnosis and treatment of vascular disease.