Non-invasive aortic systolic pressure and pulse wave velocity estimation in a primary care setting: An in silico...

Area of Science:

• Cardiovascular Physiology
• Biomedical Engineering
• Medical Informatics

Background:

• Clinical cardiovascular evaluation traditionally relies on brachial blood pressure.
• Aortic pressure and mechanical properties, like pulse wave velocity, offer superior diagnostic value.
• Current methods for assessing aortic properties are often invasive or complex.

Purpose of the Study:

• To develop a non-invasive method for estimating central aortic pressure and pulse wave velocity.
• To utilize readily available physical characteristics and clinical measurements for this estimation.
• To bridge the gap between brachial pressure measurements and more informative aortic assessments.

Main Methods:

• Creation of a large virtual subject population using a validated cardiovascular system mathematical model.
• Fitting and statistical selection of quadratic regression models.
• Input parameters included age, height, weight, brachial pressure, photoplethysmography, and ECG/PCG data.

Main Results:

• Reliable estimations of aortic pressure and pulse wave velocity were achieved.
• The developed models demonstrated significant potential for clinical application.
• The method successfully integrated diverse, easily obtainable patient data.

Conclusions:

• The proposed technique offers a promising non-invasive approach to estimate key aortic parameters.
• This method could enhance cardiovascular risk stratification beyond traditional brachial pressure monitoring.
• Further clinical validation in real populations is warranted to confirm efficacy.