A non-invasive system for assessment of aortic stiffness in clinical practice

Previously aortic stiffness is frequently assessed through pulse pressure and pulse wave velocity (PWV) measurements. However, these methods need aortic pressure obtained by catheterization. A new model has been developed to rapidly determine the aortic pressure profile and simultaneously calculate aortic stiffness. Comparison between the aortic pressure result obtained from this and catheterization data demonstrates good agreement, while this method is non-invasive. This totally non-invasive method should be useful in assessing arteriosclerotic disease in clinical setting.