A Novel Equivalent Time Sampling-Based Method for Pulse Transit Time Estimation with Applications into the...

Area of Science:

• Biomedical Engineering
• Cardiovascular Physiology
• Medical Imaging

Background:

• Cardiovascular diseases (CVDs) pose a significant global health and economic burden.
• Pulse transit time (PTT) is a crucial non-invasive index for assessing cardiovascular health and diagnosing CVDs.
• Accurate PTT estimation is vital for early detection and management of cardiovascular conditions.

Purpose of the Study:

• To develop and validate a novel image analysis-based method for estimating pulse transit time (PTT).
• To utilize equivalent time sampling for PTT estimation from color Doppler videos.
• To assess the method's efficacy in measuring flow average velocity (FAV) and pulse wave velocity (PWV) in distinct experimental setups.

Main Methods:

• Post-processing of color Doppler videos using equivalent time sampling.
• Testing the method on two setups: a non-compliant Doppler flow phantom and a compliant in-house arterial simulator.
• Utilizing an ultrasound diagnostic system with a phased array probe for data acquisition.

Main Results:

• The proposed method successfully estimated FAV in a non-compliant phantom using echogenic fluid.
• The method accurately measured PWV in a compliant arterial simulator with low echogenic fluid.
• Experimental outcomes confirm the method's versatility for local hemodynamic measurements.

Conclusions:

• The novel image analysis technique offers a viable alternative for PTT estimation.
• The method enables accurate local measurements of FAV and PWV in simulated vascular systems.
• This approach has potential applications in cardiovascular health monitoring and diagnostics.