A New Approach to Measure Heart-Carotid Pulse Wave Velocity by Using an Ultrasound-Based Method.

Area of Science:

• Cardiovascular Physiology
• Medical Imaging
• Biomedical Engineering

Background:

• Traditional pulse wave velocity (PWV) assessments for arterial stiffness are prone to measurement bias.
• Accurate measurement of arterial distance remains a challenge in conventional PWV methods.

Purpose of the Study:

• To develop a non-invasive method for calculating heart-carotid pulse wave velocity (hc-PWV) using electrocardiographic and ultrasonic images.
• To measure hc-PWV in hypertensive adults and compare it with literature values.
• To analyze the correlation between hc-PWV and heart-femoral pulse wave velocity (hf-PWV).

Main Methods:

• Utilized a novel image analysis technique for PWV calculation.
• Applied the technique to measure hc-PWV in hypertensive volunteers.
• Validated hc-PWV measurements against mechanotransducer data.

Main Results:

• Calculated hc-PWV values in hypertensive patients were comparable to carotid-femoral PWV (8.57 ± 0.51 m/s).
• Measured hc-PWV was higher than in healthy subjects and lower than in older hypertensive subjects.
• A significant correlation (r=0.73, p <0.05) was found between hc-PWV and cf-PWV.

Conclusions:

• A novel ultrasound-based approach for measuring hc-PWV was successfully developed.
• The non-invasive hc-PWV calculation using electrocardiographic and ultrasonic images is feasible.
• The study highlights a promising new methodology for assessing arterial stiffness.