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Difference in bilateral digital volume pulse as a novel non-invasive approach to assessing arteriosclerosis in aged
Hsien-Tsai Wu1, Kuan-Wei Lee1, Wen-Yao Pan1
11 Department of Electrical Engineering, National Dong Hwa University, Hualien, Taiwan, R.O.C.
Insights
This study validates photoplethysmography
Area of Science:
- Biomedical Engineering
- Cardiovascular Physiology
- Medical Diagnostics
Background:
- Photoplethysmography (PPG) is a non-invasive optical technique.
- Assessing bilateral blood pressure differences is crucial for cardiovascular health.
- Arteriosclerosis risk assessment often relies on invasive or complex methods.
Purpose of the Study:
- To validate photoplethysmography-based inter-digital volume pulse (IDVP) differences for assessing bilateral blood pressure variations.
- To investigate the correlation between IDVP and arteriosclerosis risk factors.
- To evaluate IDVP as a potential non-invasive tool for arteriosclerosis screening.
Main Methods:
- 111 subjects (70 healthy, 41 diabetic) were recruited.
- Collected demographic, blood pressure, anthropometric, and blood biochemical data (lipids, glucose).
- Assessed arterial stiffness using electrocardiogram-based pulse wave velocity (PWV), crest time, and IDVP differences.
Main Results:
- IDVP demonstrated high sensitivity to glycated haemoglobin levels above 6.5%.
- Significant correlation found between IDVP difference and PWV (r=0.692, p<0.001).
- IDVP difference showed stronger correlations with age, HbA1c, pulse pressure, cholesterol/HDL ratio, crest time, HDL, and systolic blood pressure compared to PWV (all p<0.001).
Conclusions:
- Inter-digital volume pulse difference is a validated non-invasive index for differentiating age groups and diabetic control.
- IDVP effectively identifies arteriosclerosis risks.
- Endorses domestic application of IDVP as a non-invasive tool for arteriosclerosis risk screening.
Objective:
This study aimed at validating photoplethysmography for assessing bilateral blood pressure differences through investigating the correlations of digital volume pulse with arteriosclerosis risk.
Methods:
Totally, 111 subjects (70 healthy and 41 diabetic) were recruited. Demographic, blood pressure and anthropometric data were recorded. Blood was collected for determining serum cholesterol, total triglyceride, total cholesterol, high-/low-density lipoprotein cholesterol, fasting blood sugar and glycated haemoglobin concentrations. Arterial stiffness was assessed with electrocardiogram-based pulse wave velocity, crest time and inter-digital volume pulse differences.
Results:
Receiver operating characteristic curve demonstrated high inter-digital volume pulse difference sensitivity to glycated haemoglobin level over 6.5%. Linear regression analysis demonstrated significant correlation between inter-digital volume pulse difference and electrocardiogram-based pulse wave velocity ( r = 0.692, p < 0.001). Compared with electrocardiogram-based pulse wave velocity, inter-digital volume pulse difference exhibited highly significant correlations with age, glycated haemoglobin level, pulse pressure, total cholesterol/high-density lipoprotein ratio, crest time, high-density lipoprotein and systolic blood pressure (all ps < 0.001).
Conclusion:
In conclusion, the results not only demonstrated successful application of a novel non-invasive waveform contour index, inter-digital volume pulse difference, in differentiating young from aged subjects and patients with good diabetic control from those with poor diabetic control but also validated its use in identifying arteriosclerosis risks. The results, therefore, endorse its domestic application as non-invasive tool for arteriosclerosis risk screening.
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