Boosting CCA Pulse Accuracy: How ICA Enhances Reliability in Wearable Accelerometer Devices

Accurate assessment of the common carotid artery (CCA) pulse is crucial for monitoring cardiovascular health, yet wearable devices often face interference from nearby internal jugular vein (IJV) pulsations. This study applies Independent Component Analysis (ICA) to skin Acceleration Plethysmogram (APG) signals, recorded from a wearable accelerometer, to isolate the CCA component and mitigate IJV interference. An in-vivo study with 20 participants compared CCA-APG and CCA-pulse signals against reference A-mode ultrasound measurements before and after ICA. Results show a 40.6% reduction in %RMSE and 64.1% improvement in correlation (R) for CCA-APG, while CCA-pulse exhibited a 46.7% reduction in %RMSE and 62.6% improvement in R post-ICA. Statistical analysis (p < 0.05) confirms the improvements in measurement accuracy and reliability. The findings highlight ICA's effectiveness in enhancing wearable-based CCA pulse monitoring, demonstrating its potential for non-invasive, continuous cardiovascular health assessment.Clinical Relevance- This study demonstrates that applying ICA to wearable accelerometer-based CCA pulse monitoring significantly improves accuracy by reducing interference from the internal jugular vein.