Developing technologies to assess vascular ageing: a roadmap from VascAgeNet

Serena Zanelli ^1,2, Davide Agnoletti ^3,4,5, Jordi Alastruey ⁶

¹Laboratoire Analyse, Géométrie et Applications, Université Sorbonne Paris Nord, Paris, France.
²Axelife, Paris, France.
³Department of Medical and Surgical Sciences, University of Bologna, Bologna, Italy.
⁴IRCCS Azienda Ospedaliero-Universitaria di Bologna Policlinico Sant'Orsola, Bologna, Italy.
⁵Cardiovascular Medicine Unit, IRCCS Azienda Ospedaliero-Universitaria di Bologna, 40138 Bologna, Italy.
⁶Department of Biomedical Engineering, School of Biomedical Engineering and Imaging Sciences, King's College London, London SE1 7EU, United Kingdom.
⁷Research Centre for Intelligent Healthcare, Coventry University, Coventry CV1 5RW, United Kingdom.
⁸Faculty of Medical Sciences, Newcastle University, Newcastle upon Tyne NE2 4HH, United Kingdom.
⁹Institute of Clinical Physiology, Italian National Research Council (CNR), Pisa, Italy.
¹⁰Stanford University, Stanford, California, United States.
¹¹Swiss Federal Institute of Technology of Lausanne, Lausanne, Switzerland.
¹²INSERM U970 Team 7, Paris Cardiovascular Research Centre.
¹³PARCC, University Paris Descartes, AP-HP, Pharmacology Unit, Hôpital Européen Georges Pompidou, 56 Rue Leblanc, Paris 75015, France.
¹⁴Menzies Institute for Medical Research, University of Tasmania, Hobart, Australia.
¹⁵LCOMS, Université de Lorraine, F-57000 Metz, France.
¹⁶Faculty of Medicine, Aristotle University of Thessaloniki, Thessaloniki, Greece.
¹⁷Department of Biomedical Engineering, Cardiovascular Research Institute Maastricht (CARIM), Maastricht University, Maastricht, Netherlands.
¹⁸GROW Research Institute for Oncology and Reproduction, Maastricht University, Maastricht, Netherlands.
¹⁹Faculty of Medicine, University of Belgrade, Belgrade, Serbia.
²⁰Department of Medical, Surgical and Health Sciences, University of Trieste, Trieste, Italy.
²¹Vall d'Hebron Institut de Recerca (VHIR), Barcelona, Spain.
²²CIBER-CV, Instituto de Salud Carlos III, Madrid, Spain.
²³Center for Health & Bioresources, Medical Signal Analysis, AIT Austrian Institute of Technology GmbH, Vienna, Austria.
²⁴Department of Electrical Engineering, Indian Institute of Technology Madras, Chennai 600 036, India.
²⁵Research Centre for Biomedical Engineering, City, University of London, London EC1V 0HB, United Kingdom.
²⁶Department of Heart Disease, Haukeland University Hospital and Department of Clinical Science, University of Bergen, Bergen, Norway.
²⁷Healthcare Technology Innovation Centre, IIT Madras, Chennai 600 113, India.
²⁸Clinic of Cardiac and Vascular Diseases, Faculty of Medicine, Vilnius University, Vilnius, Lithuania.
²⁹Department of Family Medicine, Semmelweis University, Budapest, Hungary.
³⁰MRC Unit for Lifelong Health and Ageing at UCL, 1-19 Torrington Place, London WC1E 7HB, UK.
³¹Polytechnic University of Coimbra, Coimbra Health School, Rua 5 de Outubro-S. Martinho do Bispo, Apartado 7006, 3046-854 Coimbra, Portugal.
³²Department of Medicine and Surgery, University of Perugia, Perugia, Italy.
³³Unit of Internal Medicine, 'Santa Maria' Terni Hospital, Terni, Italy.
³⁴Laboratory for Biomedical Microtechnology, Department of Microsystems Engineering-IMTEK, IMBIT-NeuroProbes, BrainLinks-BrainTools Center, University of Freiburg, Freiburg, Germany.
³⁵Istituto Auxologico Italiano, IRCCS, Milan, Italy.
³⁶Institute of Social Medicine, Epidemiology and Health Economics, Charitè-Universitätsmedizin Berlin, Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin, and Berlin Institute of Health, Berlin, Germany.
³⁷Department of Vascular Medicine, University Medical Center Utrecht, Utrecht, The Netherlands.
³⁸Macquarie Medical School, Faculty of Medicine, Health and Human Sciences, Macquarie University, Sydney, Australia.
³⁹Northern Vascular Centre, Freeman Hospital, Newcastle upon Tyne NE7 7DN, United Kingdom.
⁴⁰Department of Internal Medicine, Maastricht University, Maastricht, The Netherlands.
⁴¹Bernstein Center Freiburg, University of Freiburg, Freiburg, Germany.
⁴²Macquarie University, Sydney, Australia.
⁴³The George Institute for Global Health, Sydney, Australia.
⁴⁴University Hospital Galway, Cardiothoracic Surgery, Galway, Ireland.
⁴⁵Cardiology Department, Klinikum Wels-Grieskirchen, Wels, Austria.
⁴⁶Department of Pulmonary Medicine, Amsterdam Cardiovascular Sciences, Amsterdam UMC, Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam, Amsterdam, The Netherlands.
⁴⁷Department of Neonatology, Radboud University Medical Center, Radboud Institute for Health Sciences, Amalia Children's Hospital, Nijmegen, The Netherlands.
⁴⁸Department of Public Health and Primary Care, University of Cambridge, Cambridge CB1 8RN, United Kingdom.

⁰Laboratoire Analyse, Géométrie et Applications, Université Sorbonne Paris Nord, Paris, France.

Physiological Measurement +

|

June 5, 2024

View abstract on PubMed

Summary

Vascular ageing, the natural deterioration of arteries, is increasingly recognized as a cardiovascular risk marker. Developing technologies for its assessment is crucial for clinical practice and disease management.

Area Of Science

Cardiovascular research
Biomedical engineering
Gerontology

Background

Vascular ageing is the age-related decline in arterial structure and function.
This process can be exacerbated by various diseases.
Current measurements of vascular ageing show promise as cardiovascular risk indicators.

Purpose Of The Study

To outline the current state of technologies for assessing vascular ageing.
To identify challenges in the development and clinical integration of these technologies.
To propose future research directions for advancing vascular ageing assessment.

Main Methods

This roadmap synthesizes expert opinions and current literature on vascular ageing assessment.
It covers measurement technologies, the development pipeline, and clinical applications.
Expert discussions highlight challenges and future research needs.

Main Results

Technologies for measuring vascular ageing are advancing but not yet standard clinical practice.
Key aspects discussed include measurement technologies, development pipelines, and clinical utility.
Significant challenges remain in translating these technologies into routine healthcare.

Conclusions

Routine assessment of vascular ageing holds potential for improved cardiovascular disease diagnosis, prognosis, and treatment guidance.
Further technological development and validation are necessary for clinical implementation.
Addressing identified challenges will facilitate the integration of vascular ageing assessment into standard medical care.

Keywords:

ageing arterial stiffness blood pressure cardiovascular commercialisation prevention pulse wave velocity